I was a member of Matt's 5 o'clock club for a number of years. He did so much for me - too bad I didn't listen to him more. Never took a penny from me for coaching as he knew I was struggling.
I always appreciated the few times he yelled at me as I was doing stupid stuff training and he was right. It showed he cared and I didn't take it personally.
His training program was pretty basic and it worked
Fun guy to be around.
I would think he is ready to relax and take it easy here on out
dil wrote:
But did you hear about the time he hung up on someone who was carrying furniture!?
The Snark is strong in this one...
Out-of-Wedlock Danny wrote:
MDrunner12 wrote:
Ask any runner from American or the other DC schools about their experience at American. Culture of abuse and harrassment at the school. There was some kind of threatened legal action which may have been the last straw.
He was the first of a slew of coaches to be fired by American U for similar issues recently. Athletic department was either grossly negligent or turning a blind eye to situations with track, swimming, and wrestling.
what kind of abuse? or was it Gen Z entitlement?
Yes always blame the victim you idiot
steve_perry wrote:
I was on one of the XC Championship squads at AU and I ended up leaving that summer. FOR ME PERSONALLY, I didn't think his coaching style was something that worked for me or a lot of people. He coaches you how he thinks he will get the most out of you, sometimes to his and your detriment. Clearly athletes like Kerri Gallagher prefer his style and have results to show for it.
A moment I won't forget is doing a workout at the AU track, and his daughter, Lauren, was working out with the girls' team. Mid-workout, he yells at her: "THIS AIN'T F@CK!N PALO ALTO" (she was competing for Stanford at the time). Can't say the guy isn't good for a few quotable lines.
I'd hate to meet the coach that DOESN'T try to get the most out of his athletes...
steve_perry wrote:
I was on one of the XC Championship squads at AU and I ended up leaving that summer. FOR ME PERSONALLY, I didn't think his coaching style was something that worked for me or a lot of people. He coaches you how he thinks he will get the most out of you, sometimes to his and your detriment. Clearly athletes like Kerri Gallagher prefer his style and have results to show for it.
A moment I won't forget is doing a workout at the AU track, and his daughter, Lauren, was working out with the girls' team. Mid-workout, he yells at her: "THIS AIN'T F@CK!N PALO ALTO" (she was competing for Stanford at the time). Can't say the guy isn't good for a few quotable lines.
My HS coach used to yell similar comments to us and all it did was make us laugh. If you've ever been around the guy (Centro), he's known to drop the occasional F bomb.
The guy's 66. Maybe it's time to kick back a little.
You guys have no idea the stuff he said, and its not worth repeating here. But it was the kind of thing that would get a coach in a prominent sport fired because it would actually get in the news and people would care.
It almost sounds like this was always the plan.
Hire Centro to get people talking about the program and hope it’s leads to recruits wanting to come to the school. If it works out, he sticks around for a bit and eventually turns keys over to Kerri. If it doesn’t work out, he retires to pursue other options and Kerri takes over. If it goes really bad, he entrenches the school in lawsuits based on the behavioral accusations some have against him. All the while, any wealthy alumni probably increased donations to get a thank you call and picture from Centro.
kheri gallagher used to run in Matt Centro's dc-based training group if that helps explain anything
MDrunner12 wrote:
Let it Rupp wrote:
Do you know why he was fired?
Ask any runner from American or the other DC schools about their experience at American. Culture of abuse and harrassment at the school. There was some kind of threatened legal action which may have been the last straw.
He was the first of a slew of coaches to be fired by American U for similar issues recently. Athletic department was either grossly negligent or turning a blind eye to situations with track, swimming, and wrestling.
You are just making up lies. Want proof? They hired one of Centro's former assistant coaches to be the head coach. Sean Graham was an assistant at American for 3 years.
If Centro was abusive and harassing athletes like you claim, why would they hire someone that Centro mentored to replace him? You'd expect AU to go far in the opposite direction. AU wanted MORE of Centro and that's why they hired the guy he mentored.
truth here wrote:
MDrunner12 wrote:
Ask any runner from American or the other DC schools about their experience at American. Culture of abuse and harrassment at the school. There was some kind of threatened legal action which may have been the last straw.
He was the first of a slew of coaches to be fired by American U for similar issues recently. Athletic department was either grossly negligent or turning a blind eye to situations with track, swimming, and wrestling.
You are just making up lies. Want proof? They hired one of Centro's former assistant coaches to be the head coach. Sean Graham was an assistant at American for 3 years.
If Centro was abusive and harassing athletes like you claim, why would they hire someone that Centro mentored to replace him? You'd expect AU to go far in the opposite direction. AU wanted MORE of Centro and that's why they hired the guy he mentored.
This is not proof of anything.
Like I said, that whole athletic department has a problem. So just because they got fed up with Matt Centrowitz doesnt mean they turn around and suddenly hire a perfect new guy. That said, it is crazy to say just because they hired a coach who used to work for Centrowitz that he is a continuation of Centrowitz. Graham probably just wanted to work at American U again and there was a job opening.
If they wanted more of Centro they could have hired his long time assistant coach (who stayed as an assistant when they hired Graham). Or they could have just not fired Centrowitz.
MDrunner12 wrote:
This is not proof of anything.
Like I said, that whole athletic department has a problem. So just because they got fed up with Matt Centrowitz doesnt mean they turn around and suddenly hire a perfect new guy. That said, it is crazy to say just because they hired a coach who used to work for Centrowitz that he is a continuation of Centrowitz. Graham probably just wanted to work at American U again and there was a job opening.
If they wanted more of Centro they could have hired his long time assistant coach (who stayed as an assistant when they hired Graham). Or they could have just not fired Centrowitz.
This again proves you don't know anything. The "longtime assistant" was a volunteer. He had a full time, non-coaching job.
truth here wrote:
MDrunner12 wrote:
This is not proof of anything.
Like I said, that whole athletic department has a problem. So just because they got fed up with Matt Centrowitz doesnt mean they turn around and suddenly hire a perfect new guy. That said, it is crazy to say just because they hired a coach who used to work for Centrowitz that he is a continuation of Centrowitz. Graham probably just wanted to work at American U again and there was a job opening.
If they wanted more of Centro they could have hired his long time assistant coach (who stayed as an assistant when they hired Graham). Or they could have just not fired Centrowitz.
This again proves you don't know anything. The "longtime assistant" was a volunteer. He had a full time, non-coaching job.
The longtime assistant was Chris Kwiatkowski. He was a full time, paid assistant coach. Maybe he started as a volunteer, but he was paid for multiple years. He probably wanted the head coaching job but stayed as Sean Graham’s assistant when Centrowitz was fired.
truth here wrote:
MDrunner12 wrote:
This is not proof of anything.
Like I said, that whole athletic department has a problem. So just because they got fed up with Matt Centrowitz doesnt mean they turn around and suddenly hire a perfect new guy. That said, it is crazy to say just because they hired a coach who used to work for Centrowitz that he is a continuation of Centrowitz. Graham probably just wanted to work at American U again and there was a job opening.
If they wanted more of Centro they could have hired his long time assistant coach (who stayed as an assistant when they hired Graham). Or they could have just not fired Centrowitz.
This again proves you don't know anything. The "longtime assistant" was a volunteer. He had a full time, non-coaching job.
This is funny because everyone in DMV running community knows Chris K. Great runner and person. You are the person that doesn't know anything.
MDrunner12 wrote:
truth here wrote:
This again proves you don't know anything. The "longtime assistant" was a volunteer. He had a full time, non-coaching job.
This is funny because everyone in DMV running community knows Chris K. Great runner and person. You are the person that doesn't know anything.
Yeah he was a volunteer. They might have found money for him his last year with Centro. But they were not going to hire as head coach a kid with one year experience as a paid coach.
MDrunner12 wrote:
When he "stepped down" at American U, he had actually been fired/told by the athletic department that he had to go. Would not be suprised if the same happened here.
Your posts are b.s. You are posting under a faux handle. Just state what you have to state if you know something!
He did say it and you quoted it. The man was forced out.
I was an athlete during the Centro era and Graham transition.
This is the fact:
Centro was forced out, but allowed to pick his replacement.
Graham had been let go at Kentucky (our team's assumption) but Centro helped him get the AU job. Centro was a loyal guy in that way.
Graham had to tell us a few times not to talk to media about why Centro left because stories could be manipulated by the reporter.
Chris K was full time at AU not a volunteer.
Graham was able to hire a 2nd full time coach and also some more volunteer coaches or maybe they are paid some how? Not really sure but it looks like they have quite a few people listed on their roster page now.
Centro and Graham have similar personalities, but coaching results haven't been the same.
dil wrote:
He did say it and you quoted it. The man was forced out.
No. Mad Dog runner 12 is dancing around and only hinting at WHY Centro Sr. was forced out. If Mad Dog runner 12 knows, state so or else Mad Dog is just hinting at rumors.
Former AU athlete wrote:
I was an athlete during the Centro era and Graham transition.
This is the fact:
Centro was forced out, but allowed to pick his replacement.
Graham had been let go at Kentucky (our team's assumption) but Centro helped him get the AU job. Centro was a loyal guy in that way.
Graham had to tell us a few times not to talk to media about why Centro left because stories could be manipulated by the reporter.
Chris K was full time at AU not a volunteer.
Graham was able to hire a 2nd full time coach and also some more volunteer coaches or maybe they are paid some how? Not really sure but it looks like they have quite a few people listed on their roster page now.
Centro and Graham have similar personalities, but coaching results haven't been the same.
If you are being truthful, then share the exact reason Centro was forced out. If it was something they didn't want shared with a reporter, then it must be pretty big. He's retired now, there's no reason to keep the secret.
Chris K was a volunteer until the start of the 2016 year according to his bio "Kwiatkowski began as a volunteer assistant coach with the Eagles before moving into a full-time assistant coaching role in 2016."
https://gohuskies.com/staff-directory/chris-kwiatkowski/4593