Ritz set to become new ON Running pro group coach for $150,000/year

At 150,000 Ritz could live in a used RV parked in front of Stanford on El Camino Real. It's easy to sneak on campus to grab a shower. There's plenty of Software Engineers to camp out with here.

Mr Cup wrote:

Runnerboy1 wrote:

Not really a surprise considering Brooks Running Marketing and Athlete Manager left for ON two months ago. Will be interesting to see how this plays out and the quality of product used. ON is strong in europe, but still struggling for shelf space in RSAs in the USA.

I see On shoes on prominent display at many local places here in the US. I’ve got a few friends that love them and stopped running in other brands. I just can’t make myself even try them. They seem awkward and overpriced.

I can't speak for all of their models other than to say that they win the style awards. One of the shoes in my current rotation is the Cloudflow, and I like them. They are quite firm, even for someone who likes firm shoes. But they seem to dial in well after I got about 60 miles on them. The clouds on the sole can catch rocks, but if you run mostly on pavement that isn't much of an issue.

As for the Ritz announcement, my take is that it never is a bad thing to have another business pour money into the performance end of the sport. If they want to take the money spent by buyers who are gym rats or buying for fashion, and use it to fund pro runners, I approve.

Ackley wrote:

Is this related to the Joe Klecker speculations?

What are the speculations? Him being a Tinman?

Not so much wrote:

Not very often do great athletes make great coaches. They tend to lack the patience and personality to develop long term. Also having been coached by one or two or good coaches doesn’t make a good coach either. Especially someone like Ritz who bounced around like a lottery ball from coach to coach. It shows a lack of trust. And that is a huge complement in getting an athlete to perform. I hope Ritz the best but highly doubt this will be a long term success.

I don't think its a 100% certain thing. But I do tend to agree with you.

There is a story about Michael Jordan being the owner of the Charlotte Hornets (the hornets are godawful, perennial basement dwellers). And as the story goes Jordan isn't a good coach/mentor because he cant understand guys can't do the things he can do. Stories of him getting made and the guys fighting back and saying were not Michael Jordan we just can't do that.

I think there is alot of similarities to running. The best runners alot of times just can't understand the limitations and talent levels of most runner.

My college coach is one of the best in the NCAA. He wasn't great in college, above average maybe. But it allowed him to spend alot of time figuring out how to maximize his limited talent to be somewhat competitive on the D1 level by his senior year. He learned alot about how to develop athletes instead of just oozing talent and running fast off of whatever.

That is awesome! Way to go Ritz! Well deserved, I'm sure he has plenty of knowledge to share, both from things he did well and not so well during his career.

ON shoes are gimmicky trash. Just like Newton.

Joe klecker is very excited.

Didn't Roger Federer just become a major shareholder in ON as well? And Andrew Wheating joined as the head of marketing a month ago or so too

SanDiegorunner wrote:

Ackley wrote:

Is this related to the Joe Klecker speculations?

What are the speculations? Him being a Tinman?

He is an ON athlete and there was speculation about who his coach would be.

is there a source for this? And how would we know his salary?

JamesTheAmateur wrote:

Didn't Roger Federer just become a major shareholder in ON as well? And Andrew Wheating joined as the head of marketing a month ago or so too

Wheating has been a rep for ON for some time now though he may have been promoted since I last saw him. By and large I'm not a fan of ON shoes they're too firm and flexible but I will say the Cloudstratus is the most durable shoe I've seen and their people are willing to throw big money into R&D right now. The apparel looks great but they've got exactly 1 split short in only black and it's $80, way overpriced. They also really care about their athletes as one of the founders was a pro himself, they don't have any reduction clauses in their pro contracts. In 5 years I can see them having the technology to compete with any brand.

Jordan's not a good owner because he surrounds himself with sycophants and because he thinks that the best draft pick is almost always a star player on a top ACC/SEC team that goes far in the NCAA tournament. That strategy leads to a lot of so-so or even bad players. He hit with Kemba Walker, but he wasn't a franchise player and left in free agency. The rest have done succeeded. Others get the best players, regardless of school or tournament performance. That's how you get guys like Ja Morant (Murray St.), Karl Malone (LA Tech), John Stockton (before Gonzaga was huge), Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.

The rest have not succeeded.

Looking through his instagram he joined as a sports marketing specialist. Seems like he would have been more useful as a full time tester/consultant. But, I digress. I think that high prices for small companies is basically the status quo. I like Tracksmith stuff, but not enough to drop $65 for a singlet or shorts. I do hope ON succeeds though since more competition is always a good thing

Not so much wrote:

Especially someone like Ritz who bounced around like a lottery ball from coach to coach. It shows a lack of trust.

His move from Hudson to Salazar was basically a force from Nike. “Either move to our premier coach or lose your contract/face serious reductions” kinda.

Not so much wrote:

Not very often do great athletes make great coaches. They tend to lack the patience and personality to develop long term. Also having been coached by one or two or good coaches doesn’t make a good coach either. Especially someone like Ritz who bounced around like a lottery ball from coach to coach. It shows a lack of trust. And that is a huge complement in getting an athlete to perform. I hope Ritz the best but highly doubt this will be a long term success.

Yea I would have to agree with you there mate. I don't know him but I hope it works out. $150k is a nice pay check for coaching hopefully a handful of good athletes. He will need to have success early on to get the athletes and hopefully he is a people person in that regard.

As a teacher with a side gig of online and personal coaching it can be very rewarding. I hope it works out for him.

A reminder that coaching isn't for everyone and if you aren't in it for the right reason you don't last long is my belief.

Can someone provide a link to verify this news? I don't see anything on Ritz's Twitter or ON's Athletes page on their website about this.

ON is a good brand. They have a very distinctive style of shoe. Some of the models are better for running (I use the Cloudflow and the original Cloud), while others are perhaps better for the gym or just for looks. I give them props for not going along with the cushy-mushy trend of shoes here in the U.S. (see: Brooks). ON certainly wants to tap into the athleisure market too, as these shoes are meant to look stylish, and I think they look pretty sweet.

Fun Fact: Like another user said, ON has been pretty successful in Europe and have come to be successful in the U.S. too in the last 3 years or so. I visited Spain last year, and I saw them all over the place, even in a small town in Catalonia. I was really surprised.

Upon looking at their athletes page, it looks like most of them are from various European countries, so this is no surprise.

I work in run specialty, they're crap, and I tell people not to get them. It's an aesthetic gimmick and not for serious runners.

Worst of all are the people that think they are good and actively seek them out. Hands down the most annoying customer. They're one of two types. Sometimes they are an older non-athletic person who wants them for walking around the town/golf course, being seen in them and getting off on having Harold and Linda comment on them. This person is NEVER satisfied with the color, style, or (surprise, surprise,) fit, because the shoes feel as rigid as petrified dogshit.

It's either them or the gym bro/ instagram model-girl, that levy the same style/color complaint, because she/he wants the custom sea breeze coral mist cloud-humper they saw on amazon. Usually they just come in to try them on, take a picture of them, (as my eyes burn holes through them,) then spread their Covid germs around the store on their way back out to the car where they end up buying the same thing for $15 dollars less, minus shipping.

But never fear, I'm doing my best to sabotage the brand, every avalanche begins with the shifting of a few minute pebbles.

Okay Alberto.