Mackenzie Pierce Wartenberger has left Women's coaching post at Wisconsin

Anyone who's coached at a moderately high collegiate level knows how plausible it is...that someone would quit to concentrate on family. Steady 70-100+ (when traveling) hrs/wk takes a toll.

Ha ha. How many hours per week did she work from June-August? How about December?

You work some reduced hours during those time frames but you are spending those hours on recruiting, season planning, travel planning, budget planning, etc. In addition, you are also giving and monitoring workouts during those times in preparation for the upcoming season (XC and Indoor). Collegiate coaching isn't like a high school gig where most coaches just stop cold turkey because they are not getting paid, don't care what the athletes do or don't do in the off season, or are prohibited from contacting/working with serious athletes due to archaic school sports rules.

My high school team practices every day in the summer. I spend 3 hours per day coaching while most college coaches do nothing for weeks at a time during the summer. I have several friends who are D1 coaches.

but but wrote:

My high school team practices every day in the summer. I spend 3 hours per day coaching while most college coaches do nothing for weeks at a time during the summer. I have several friends who are D1 coaches.

You are one of the good ones. Kudos! I have seen far too many dispassionate stipend collectors in my day and have seen good coaches quit because of state and district rules that forbid them from "burning out" the kids with supervised year round training.

IMHO - 1 of 5 coaches at the high school or college level are actually dedicated and competent.

The Ghost of Randy Savage wrote:

but but wrote:

My high school team practices every day in the summer. I spend 3 hours per day coaching while most college coaches do nothing for weeks at a time during the summer. I have several friends who are D1 coaches.

You are one of the good ones. Kudos! I have seen far too many dispassionate stipend collectors in my day and have seen good coaches quit because of state and district rules that forbid them from "burning out" the kids with supervised year round training.

IMHO - 1 of 5 coaches at the high school or college level are actually dedicated and competent.

It is not really a badge of honor to work for pennies an hour. That stipend is a joke.

Take it at face value, I don't think anything nefarious happened. She does not want to continue to do it anymore. Would have been better for her to come to this conclusion in the summer, but it is what it is.

Coaching is one of those things that can be all consuming, if you let it. Most of the old timers strike a balance, or don't have families of their own. But a lot of coaches in the late twenties to mid thirties come to the conclusion that they are emotionally drained and worn out, and its not worth the pay.

For those who have the propensity to find balance, shut off from time to time, and make it work it can be great. But if you can't say no, or learn to have some separation or disassociation, you eventually get burned out.

King Hall AC wrote:

She posted online that she wishes to concentrate on her family. But we all know that is some smoke and where there is smoke there is usually fire. What really happened???

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJBKLUHXwAI_OO4?format=jpg

it is very easy for me to believe the constant worrying about everything wore her down to the point where she could walk away. especially these days.

What are you inferring? Constant worrying about what?

harvard of the tropics wrote:

Ha ha. How many hours per week did she work from June-August? How about December?

Mac likely would have been working about 40 hour weeks at that time - like a job well done demands. I’m a peer & 100% take this at face value…probably just like everyone else that has left their job or not returned to the work force during Covid, she could have easily decided that family/life was more important. Plus, she knows she can click her heels and get back in whenever she wants. Mick likely retiring this or next summer probably didn’t help convince her to stay on longer when she would have had zero job security.

Your last two sentences are completely contradictory.

You are silly to think that she was working 40 hours June-August. There is no recruiting and no practice.

Big 10 power wrote:

You are silly to think that she was working 40 hours June-August. There is no recruiting and no practice.

That’s what most of my successful peers work over the summer recruiting. And yes, just like any professional job, you include the time spent traveling to recruit home visits on planes, in hotels, away from your family, etc. When deciding whether to stay or leave, she probably considered that Mick is retiring soon & that often means the whole staff is gone. Or at least leads to a very stressful couple months. I can easily see a scenario in which she didn’t want that in her life right now.

There is no recruiting going on June-August. None. She isn't travellig. Those are complete down months..

You said that she can have a job wherever she wants. Then saying that the job you hold is not safe is about as far from that as possible.

No recruiting June-August? That couldn't be more inaccurate. There is a quiet period during part of August but that's it. July is the prime time for home visits, especially for big time programs. Coaches are at state meets (CA especially), NB nationals, and other end of season meets in June. You are either not a college coach or bad at your job.

but but wrote:

There is no recruiting going on June-August. None. She isn't [travelling]. Those are complete down months.

I can almost admire someone who is willing to advertise his/her ignorance in this public way.

There are about 2000 D1 head and assistant coaches. Have you attended Brooks or New Balance or the Dream Mile? There aren't more than 50 coaches there. That's about 1 out of every 40 coaches. About 1/2 of state meets are in May.

But, but - are you really that clueless about college coaching? No recruiting during the summer? Hahaha!

Coach Wartenberger decided to focus on her family what is wrong with that? She felt the need to focus on something more important than her coaching career which is commendable. She left the program in better place and is moving on. Job security was not a factor because (1) she was doing a good job with the women (2)Mick’s not going anywhere and will be coaching at the 2024 NCAA XC Championships at Zimmer.