To be great at both xc and track (jumps) is truly remarkable. That and add who wants to live in Arkansas. Colorado and NAU have altitude. Stanford, Georgetown, and Villanova have academics. Oregon has Nike. Florida has no winter. So again to win both XC and track at the school is astonishing.
He won national championships before he had the top recruits. So yes, he was the best and its not even close. He also had guys winning in the 800-10k, true range in his coaching abilites. His ability to build and inspire a team was 2nd to none, but he got there by knowing how to train his runners.
he was also tampering w tryin to get other athletes from other schools before this whole NIL era made it somewhat more acceptable. Ask me how I know….
His best distance runners were always overaged foreigners. Dan Lincoln and Jason Sandfort was always his best home grown type runners.
Are you serious?? First of all, Lincoln was a walkon. Home grown: Joe Falcon, the Reinas, Stanley Redwine, Roddie Haley, Seneca Lassiter, Brandon Rock , Teddy Mitchell - if I thought about it I could go on and on. The jumpers were world-class. He created an environment that expected excellence and achieved it. By any metric he was the most successful track coach in NCAA history. Who else had teams that were great in all disciplines in track and field??
he was also tampering w tryin to get other athletes from other schools before this whole NIL era made it somewhat more acceptable. Ask me how I know….
His best distance runners were always overaged foreigners. Dan Lincoln and Jason Sandfort was always his best home grown type runners.
Off the top of my head Joe Falcon, Seneca Lassiter, Daniel Lincoln, Tyson Gay, and Matt Hemingway were all 23 or under Americans when they starred for Arkansas
Did McDonnell get a number of slightly older foreign runners to compete for Arkansas? Sure, but Arkansas was never like 1980s UTEP or even current day New Mexico or OK State / Iowa State.
From the little I know about McDonnel, his MO in domestic recruiting was to go for talented highschool athletes from rural/ off the beaten path areas that were better fits in Little Rock than more "sophisticated" spots like Stanford, Colorado, and Villanova.
I had a friend that was an assistant at UTenn . and recruiting against AR. during the 80s. He said that their cheating with the Tyson jobs scholarships was INCREDIBLE !!!
he was also tampering w tryin to get other athletes from other schools before this whole NIL era made it somewhat more acceptable. Ask me how I know….
His best distance runners were always overaged foreigners. Dan Lincoln and Jason Sandfort was always his best home grown type runners.
Off the top of my head Joe Falcon, Seneca Lassiter, Daniel Lincoln, Tyson Gay, and Matt Hemingway were all 23 or under Americans when they starred for Arkansas
Did McDonnell get a number of slightly older foreign runners to compete for Arkansas? Sure, but Arkansas was never like 1980s UTEP or even current day New Mexico or OK State / Iowa State.
From the little I know about McDonnel, his MO in domestic recruiting was to go for talented highschool athletes from rural/ off the beaten path areas that were better fits in Little Rock than more "sophisticated" spots like Stanford, Colorado, and Villanova.
he was also tampering w tryin to get other athletes from other schools before this whole NIL era made it somewhat more acceptable. Ask me how I know….
His best distance runners were always overaged foreigners. Dan Lincoln and Jason Sandfort was always his best home grown type runners.
Off the top of my head Joe Falcon, Seneca Lassiter, Daniel Lincoln, Tyson Gay, and Matt Hemingway were all 23 or under Americans when they starred for Arkansas
Did McDonnell get a number of slightly older foreign runners to compete for Arkansas? Sure, but Arkansas was never like 1980s UTEP or even current day New Mexico or OK State / Iowa State.
From the little I know about McDonnel, his MO in domestic recruiting was to go for talented highschool athletes from rural/ off the beaten path areas that were better fits in Little Rock than more "sophisticated" spots like Stanford, Colorado, and Villanova.