Diljeet Taylor turned down the distance job at Oregon

It’s hard to find someone willing to work for Robert Johnson with no real job title and subsequent lack of bonus structure.

BYU is objectively a better gig for the women's team. They get more scholarships for distance, altitude training, and their athletes are older due to religious missions (or pregnancy as Birk was 26 in her last year of eligibility).

BYU women were dominant in the NCAA 20 years ago. Between 1997 and 2003 they were either 1st or 2nd in the nation in cross country w/ 4 team championships. Diljeet Taylor is doing well but is still a LONG way from their previous success.

Former Eugene resident wrote:

In 2018 Taylor turned down Oregon to replace Maurica Powell. Instead the Ducks hired Helen Lehman-Winters. Look at the trajectory of the two programs since then. Bummer.

i wonder if administrators consult former athletes they've coached at random before hiring someone. oregon would have made a different decision

Memories. An sleepy, uneventful era long forgotten.

hurrikane wrote:

BYU is objectively a better gig for the women's team. They get more scholarships for distance, altitude training, and their athletes are older due to religious missions (or pregnancy as Birk was 26 in her last year of eligibility).

BYU women were dominant in the NCAA 20 years ago. Between 1997 and 2003 they were either 1st or 2nd in the nation in cross country w/ 4 team championships. Diljeet Taylor is doing well but is still a LONG way from their previous success.

Interestingly, many of the women do not go on missions.

Provo canyon wrote:

Interestingly, many of the women do not go on missions.

Judging from the women I looked up that ran NCAAs this weekend, their mission appears to be getting married before graduation.

Former Eugene resident wrote:

In 2018 Taylor turned down Oregon to replace Maurica Powell. Instead the Ducks hired Helen Lehman-Winters. Look at the trajectory of the two programs since then. Bummer.

The bigger shocker to me is she turned down the Director job at Stanford as well.

I can see turning down an assistant job, but she described Stanford as her 'dream job'.

I guess she factored in how much she likes Utah, cost of living, etc and made the decision to stay in Utah. I'm impressed with everything she's doing.

Her husband's family also lives there, or did when she first moved there.

At the end of the day, family matters. And it sounds like Eyestone runs a good ship.

wejo wrote:

The bigger shocker to me is she turned down the Director job at Stanford as well.

I can see turning down an assistant job, but she described Stanford as her 'dream job'.

I guess she factored in how much she likes Utah, cost of living, etc and made the decision to stay in Utah. I'm impressed with everything she's doing.

Both of those gigs sound like poisoned chalices.

You'd think Stanford would be a dream job with smart kids, good weather, great facilities, etc. but administrators have been a headache for at least several decades, and are what drove Vin out. Tons of turnover since then with people leaving for the greener pastures of ... Lexington, Kentucky?

At Oregon, as previously mentioned, you are working for a egomaniacal idiot. Team culture is poor with a lot of one-and-done grad transfers coming in and out and most of the rest of the roster entitled and drunk on the swoosh koolaid

Plus, Bay Area or Oregon? I'm not conservative but I could never live in either of those places, never mind the cost of living.

wejo wrote:

Former Eugene resident wrote:

In 2018 Taylor turned down Oregon to replace Maurica Powell. Instead the Ducks hired Helen Lehman-Winters. Look at the trajectory of the two programs since then. Bummer.

The bigger shocker to me is she turned down the Director job at Stanford as well.

I can see turning down an assistant job, but she described Stanford as her 'dream job'.

I guess she factored in how much she likes Utah, cost of living, etc and made the decision to stay in Utah. I'm impressed with everything she's doing.

I thought she was offered the women's coaching job at Stanford, not the director.

Everyone turned that down because nobody wants to work for Clark.

hoy-yes wrote:

Plus, Bay Area or Oregon? I'm not conservative but I could never live in either of those places, never mind the cost of living.

COL in Eugene/Springfield is not bad, don’t confuse it with Portland

Paid off well. Congrats to her. Hope there's a nice NCAA title bonus.

She also turned down her "dream job" at Stanford.

https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6606708-diljeet-taylors-unconvential-path-to-coaching-stardom

Huge win. She’s a great fit for the BYU women’s program.

Not all that glitters is gold

it wouldn't have been hard for her to do some good diligence on both those situations. seems like she made the right call.

Between indoor nationals and this dominant XC win, Taylor can ask for whatever salary she wants at this point. Dear god, what a team!

And on that point, dear god, what depth!

I listened to Diljeet Taylor's post race interview while in the car. BYU hired a high quality person, and the BYU women get that it takes a blend of humility and ego to do well. Credit goes to both the BYU women and the coach. Note what wins championships. Sara Musselman was well back in the back in her prior NCAA XC races. She finished 33rd today. She has to feel awesome making her team win.

By the way, I find BYU an incredibly strange place, and not one I could have attended (I had many scholarship offers in my day). But I think their lifestyle supports distance running, and while BYU is in no way my cup of tea, I am impressed by their accomplishments.

Conner Mantz didn't just win; he dominated a strong field. And his age is no different than many a redshirt senior. He is simply that good.

One other thing. Kelsey Chmiel is a cross country runner. She was running inconsistently all year, but on a tough course talent shows up. She reminds me of Nick Rose, one of the best XC runners I ever competed against.