Dartmouth Names New Men's Distance Coach: Justin Wood

Note: they never did have scholarship money of any kind. They were NJCAA Division III. Everything else is accurate tho

I know people will be surprised by this hire, but Justin Wood is a really good coach. He's been successful everywhere that he has coached. I bet he crushes is at Dartmouth. Also contender for best looking cross county coach in the nation.

I second this. The dude is just objectively really good looking.

It will be interesting to what he can do with all the Massachusetts recruits Dartmouth has got recently. Their current freshman have a couple top Massachusetts boys, most notable a NXN qualifier. They also snagged a another Mass kid who's a senior now, who ran 4:20/9:20/16:00 when they recruited him, but this fall/summer has ran 4:15/9:07/14:54

...has run...

massachusett man wrote:

It will be interesting to what he can do with all the Massachusetts recruits Dartmouth has got recently. Their current freshman have a couple top Massachusetts boys, most notable a NXN qualifier. They also snagged a another Mass kid who's a senior now, who ran 4:20/9:20/16:00 when they recruited him, but this fall/summer has ran 4:15/9:07/14:54

that would be Alex Craig

Also have another kid who I was beating last fall. He went from like 16:59 pr in xc to 1:56/4:20/9:28 800/mile/2mile just 5-6 months after xc, continuing to improve at a crazy rate

FactCheck wrote:

Note: they never did have scholarship money of any kind. They were NJCAA Division III. Everything else is accurate tho

So he was in the weakest section of the weakest category (juco). Hardly impressive.

Who did you expect to take this job when 60k was being offered?

again wrote:

Who did you expect to take this job when 60k was being offered?

Oh I'm sorry, you're right. 60k is way below the poverty level. This poor man will have to live on food stamps. Should we start a gofundme so he can afford to heat his house in the cold new hampshire winter?

I see coaching positions paying 40k get 300+ applications. But those are probably all people with huge trust funds from their parents. I'm sure dozens of them are lottery winners who are just looking for something to do in their retirement.

And it's not like we are in a nationwide pandemic where unemployment doubled. I'm shocked they could even find someone with previous coaching experience for only 60k.

name check wrote:

again wrote:

Who did you expect to take this job when 60k was being offered?

Oh I'm sorry, you're right. 60k is way below the poverty level. This poor man will have to live on food stamps. Should we start a gofundme so he can afford to heat his house in the cold new hampshire winter?.

Excellent reply!

The IV league schools (yes I know that there are more than 4 now) make strange hiring decisions, if the objective of mind-body-spirit in balance is to be achieved. The coaches in the IV league are not at the same level as the academics, IMO.

At least one post referenced a much better candidate for this position at Dartmouth not getting the job.

If anyone knows the answer, I would like to read their post.

Hypotheses:

1. When the ASU asst coach was fired in 1977, after just leading the team to the NCAA Ititle, some great candidates applied, but the one who was willing to accept the lowest salary was hired. He was not good enough, got fired a couple of years later, put in charge of the women's team, and fired again after 2 more years.

1a. So maybe IV league schools don't think they can attract top talent?

Perhaps it is noteworthy that this hire at Dartmouth was already working with the level of athletes that are expected to be recruited, even though the academic standards of the athletes the new coach was working with were fall below that of Dartmouth.

I know this is an issue in football and basketball, so that the best coaches gravitate toward the big programs, and the IV league is an afterthought.

What about Judy Pendergast, who was so highly rated coming out of HS, only to have substandard coaching experiences? Even at Oregon, despite her early successes in running a fast 5K, she ends up running the 3K steeple. She does have the IV league degree now, and that is a big deal in the job hunt, but her running career has stalled.

outsider 2482947 wrote:

They hired a MEN'S coach whose primary coaching accomplishments have been with WOMEN (in particular one female athlete).

Great job, Dartmouth.

What difference does it make, women are hired to coach men which is a good thing. Besides, men are a hell of a lot easier to coach/manage.

When all these inexperienced women get hired for P5 positions we accept it, well let’s accept this and move on. He at least has some years under him so until he doesn’t get it done let’s give the man a chance.

Asking for a friend wrote:

outsider 2482947 wrote:

They hired a MEN'S coach whose primary coaching accomplishments have been with WOMEN (in particular one female athlete).

Great job, Dartmouth.

What difference does it make, women are hired to coach men which is a good thing. Besides, men are a hell of a lot easier to coach/manage.

When all these inexperienced women get hired for P5 positions we accept it, well let’s accept this and move on. He at least has some years under him so until he doesn’t get it done let’s give the man a chance.

The Dartmouth top 5 last year averaged a time faster than any athlete Wood has ever coached.

In every event indoors last year Dartmouth athletes were faster than any athlete Wood has ever coached.

How will he do against Dolan, Vig, Gibby and others? Not well.

I talked to members of the Dartmouth team. They said out of all the candidates they interviewed, the team liked Justin Wood the least.

Justin Wood is an excellent hire and will do very well at Dartmouth. Looking forward to pulling this thread back up in the near future.

harvard red wrote:

I talked to members of the Dartmouth team. They said out of all the candidates they interviewed, the team liked Justin Wood the least.

not what I heard.

my son runs for him and loves him. good enough for me!

name check wrote:

new coach wrote:

https://dartmouthsports.com/sports/mens-cross-country/roster/coaches/justin-wood/8219

Discus.

Other Ivy League schools are rejoicing this hire....because it's clear that Dartmouth will now be a perennial BOTTOM FEEDER in cross country.

this aged well...

Dartmouth distance men looking really strong so far this season, highlighted by 4:02/8:00/8:02 performances

Not to mention all who ran yesterday except 1 are returners......

check yourself wrote:

this aged well...

Dartmouth distance men looking really strong so far this season, highlighted by 4:02/8:00/8:02 performances

https://www.tfrrs.org/top_performances/NH_college_m_Dartmouth.html?list_hnd=3501&season_hnd=548

Yes it did. Those are great DII times. Of course when you average the expectations of high level DI and DIII/Juco, this is what you get for results. This is Dartmouth for God's sake! 4:02/8:00 and 14:21 just won't do.