So...was Tony Sandoval Not the Issue at Cal All Along?

Dunbar and Lockhart were solid athletes back in the day, but it wouldn't surprise me if they may not be the best recruiters. At OSU I'm certain that Big Dave handled that end of things.

Can someone confirm that they really don’t have any distance recruits? I feel like when Tony was there they could always manage a couple blur chip kids? Also did anyone else notice lots of cal kids running unattended? Was this a covid thing or new head Robin just not caring to invest in mediocre distance kids?

I highly doubt this is a coach issue. It seems like a university issue. Cal is an academic school that pretends to care about D1 sports when the entire campus culture is anti anything athletics. It’s crazy people want to play sports there. Probs getting kids who just wanna wear the Cal “power 5” uniform, then they get little support and well- there you have the last 30 years of Sports at Cal,

chillpilll wrote:

I highly doubt this is a coach issue. It seems like a university issue. Cal is an academic school that pretends to care about D1 sports when the entire campus culture is anti anything athletics. It’s crazy people want to play sports there. Probs getting kids who just wanna wear the Cal “power 5” uniform, then they get little support and well- there you have the last 30 years of Sports at Cal,

IDK anything about the coach, but the rest of the comment is spot on. Why a runner, or any athlete would choose to go to Cal is beyond me. There are similar schools of academic prestige that aren't outright hostile towards athletics.

Cal is overrated as a university They are full of themselves. You should come to Cal cuz we're Cal just doesn't work anymore.

OC4 wrote:

chillpilll wrote:

I highly doubt this is a coach issue. It seems like a university issue. Cal is an academic school that pretends to care about D1 sports when the entire campus culture is anti anything athletics. It’s crazy people want to play sports there. Probs getting kids who just wanna wear the Cal “power 5” uniform, then they get little support and well- there you have the last 30 years of Sports at Cal,

IDK anything about the coach, but the rest of the comment is spot on. Why a runner, or any athlete would choose to go to Cal is beyond me. There are similar schools of academic prestige that aren't outright hostile towards athletics.

Cal has higher academic standards which hinders their recruiting but what makes you think they are hostile towards sports? Their football teams are reasonably competitive and people attend the games.

BuckleUp wrote:

Dunbar and Lockhart were solid athletes back in the day, but it wouldn't surprise me if they may not be the best recruiters. At OSU I'm certain that Big Dave handled that end of things.

It seems like there is no correlation between how good an athlete someone was to what kind of coach/recruiter they would be......imagine that 😏

I mean seriously kids today have no idea who Lockhart or Dunbar were as athletes 😅

I recruited an athlete (a CA state champ) that ultimately chose to go to Cal. He was a great athlete and seemed like a nice kid, but when he told me he was going to Cal my jaw hit the ground.

He had about a 3.5 GPA in a low-profile school and <900 on SAT. From that moment on, any notion that Cal has rigorous admissions standards or is academically elite went out the window for me.

My guess is Cal just suffered a lot from COVID. they will be back at nationals soon enough. They were regulars a few years back. A lot of schools got screwed by COVID and admins making dumb policies. Let's just wait and see how this coming year turns out. Cal is easily one of the best programs on the west coast when firing on all cylinders. They have a lot of women returning if not all of them as well, which could turn into a NCAA run if they are fit and healthy. I don't think they have a single senior.

coach of xc wrote:

I recruited an athlete (a CA state champ) that ultimately chose to go to Cal. He was a great athlete and seemed like a nice kid, but when he told me he was going to Cal my jaw hit the ground.

He had about a 3.5 GPA in a low-profile school and <900 on SAT. From that moment on, any notion that Cal has rigorous admissions standards or is academically elite went out the window for me.

This *does* seem exceptional, but sports grease the wheels to entry at elite institutions, as exemplified in the whole varsity blues scandal.

See:

They have pretty good swim teams.

You're right and SDSU Aztec is wrong. Not knocking Cal and UCLA, which are incredibly prestigious and well-regarded universities, but they have almost no admissions standards whatsoever for recruited athletes. This has always been true. I coach in California too, and have had kids recruited to Cal. Nice kids and good runners, but not impressive students at all, especially when compared to the non-athlete kids from our high school that have gone there.

coach of xc wrote:

I recruited an athlete (a CA state champ) that ultimately chose to go to Cal. He was a great athlete and seemed like a nice kid, but when he told me he was going to Cal my jaw hit the ground.

He had about a 3.5 GPA in a low-profile school and <900 on SAT. From that moment on, any notion that Cal has rigorous admissions standards or is academically elite went out the window for me.

OK, maybe I was wrong about the academic standards but what is the hostile environment for athletics the other poster was talking about?

Are there decent running routes from campus?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

OC4 wrote:

IDK anything about the coach, but the rest of the comment is spot on. Why a runner, or any athlete would choose to go to Cal is beyond me. There are similar schools of academic prestige that aren't outright hostile towards athletics.

Cal has higher academic standards which hinders their recruiting but what makes you think they are hostile towards sports? Their football teams are reasonably competitive and people attend the games.

First off “their football is reasonably competitive and people attend the games” gtfoh in 2019 they nearly beat uc Davis and north tx in front of crowds of 44k and 35k but that is beside the point students and faculty on campus and the community don’t care for or support their athletics programs at the level of most competitive mid-majors.

But back to track/xc do you think cal has lost 3 distance coaches in about 15 months because they are supporting the program, my guess is no.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

OK, maybe I was wrong about the academic standards but what is the hostile environment for athletics the other poster was talking about?

Are there decent running routes from campus?

"Hostile environment" is probably code for liberal, poster is just being an idiot.

Lots of good running. Trails in the hills, nice small streets near campus.

I don't know what the deal with coaching is at Cal but recruiting is probably just as important as the actual workouts and Sandoval was great at getting top recruits. The criticism was that they weren't amounting to as much as they should have been.

Cal has got to be one of the easiest places to recruit. Very high reputation, relatively low standards for recruits, a wide range of courses, a nice college town in a metropolitan area with lots of jobs nearby, no weather to speak of, tons of beautiful trails, an outdoor track, a dirt track, a diverse student body...

what team am I on wrote:

Can someone confirm that they really don’t have any distance recruits? I feel like when Tony was there they could always manage a couple blur chip kids? Also did anyone else notice lots of cal kids running unattended? Was this a covid thing or new head Robin just not caring to invest in mediocre distance kids?

Bump… lots of posts and random thoughts/comments but I’m still wondering if they really don’t have any incoming distance kids (I haven’t been able to find any of note) and I am still wondering why so many kids ran unattached this track season? I’m sure one of you “insiders” has this info!

what team am I on wrote:

what team am I on wrote:

Can someone confirm that they really don’t have any distance recruits? I feel like when Tony was there they could always manage a couple blur chip kids? Also did anyone else notice lots of cal kids running unattended? Was this a covid thing or new head Robin just not caring to invest in mediocre distance kids?

Bump… lots of posts and random thoughts/comments but I’m still wondering if they really don’t have any incoming distance kids (I haven’t been able to find any of note) and I am still wondering why so many kids ran unattached this track season? I’m sure one of you “insiders” has this info!

A senior girl from our team was admitted to both Cal and USC. She’s run 2:15 and 4:57 and she’s a strong xc runner too. According to her mom, Cal coaches told her she could not walk on, but USC coaches are welcoming her to walk on. She is going to USC.

Wise Old Man wrote:

what team am I on wrote:

Bump… lots of posts and random thoughts/comments but I’m still wondering if they really don’t have any incoming distance kids (I haven’t been able to find any of note) and I am still wondering why so many kids ran unattached this track season? I’m sure one of you “insiders” has this info!

A senior girl from our team was admitted to both Cal and USC. She’s run 2:15 and 4:57 and she’s a strong xc runner too. According to her mom, Cal coaches told her she could not walk on, but USC coaches are welcoming her to walk on. She is going to USC.

You really can't compare U.S.C. and Cal. I don't recall U.S.C. ever having a good runner, it's near blighted neighborhoods and any run would be all pavement.

Put Put wrote:

Cal is overrated as a university They are full of themselves. You should come to Cal cuz we're Cal just doesn't work anymore.

It's Rice U or Vandy with nicer weather.