Well said, outsider. Listen, here is how it works. The frosh come in and do far less workouts thant the upperclass runners. Those few who show real talent and drive might get a bit of a boost in their training in order to keep their fires going. Newton is aware of good runners as early as 7th or 8th grades. My kids were invited to his summer running program before they entered high school and that summer (between 8th and 9th grades) they ran around 360 miles total (next summer, 1035; then 1311, and finally 1100). With their talent and drive they just worked harder and harder so Joe bumped them into workouts with some older runners. But not every frosh did that. Sure, some join for the team cameraderie and have little intention of being top runners. But they stick it out and lkeave with skills and memories. Team 6 runners (there are 6 training teams) are running basically to stay in shape, ie. shot putters, and the like- but even they run as hard as they can.
I've heard the Newton burnout thing for years. It is just not true. We keep forgetting that running will not be everyone's life once they leave hs. My kids love running but at age 23 and not with world class talent, what do they do? They coach. This year, Jim Akita is an automatic qualifier in d3 at both 5 and 10k (14.26/30.37) and he ran with my kids. Sage is a phenom. Cioni has run at Princeton, Lucchesi was a fine runner for U Illinois, Roche is at Iowa, Palumbo is at Illinois, Marotta ran for Iowa, Hobbs is at Illinois, etc. etc. These were all top 7 runners and they all kept running.
All that Newton ever asks is that you do your best. Sage may run 25 quarters at less than 70 pace, but not everyone else does. They just do their best. His attitude is that for those that will not run when they leave HS, he has given them training and skills that will help them through life and has given them memories to cherish. Those that continue to run find college training less of a challenge than those who have not worked as hard, and they have a work ethic second to none. My son was frustrated during his captainship at Grinnell to find runners who were late to practice and did not take it seriously. That never happens at York.
Newton and Coe are indeed friends. He has Peter Coe out to talk to the team every year or so. Coe finds much to admire with Joe's approach and when he talks of how he trained his son, the runners are in awe of how hard Seb worked- harder than they did and they work hard.
In 47 years as a coach, Newton has won 22 state titles and finished 2nd an additional 19 times. He has never finished lower than 5th and IL is a very tough running state. Find me any other coach like that. We only have 2 classes for the entire state as well. Why do kids run with him- tradition. He is a tough coach- his rules are simple. You do not miss practice. Ever (save for death, illness, or one college visit per senior season). Not for vacation, not for family parties. You keep your hair trimmed, no bears or mustaches, no jewelry. Race day you wear a sport coat and tie. You shake the coach's hand before you leave practice. You must have a C average weekly (as opposed to all other sports where this is on a term basis). Violate a rule and you are off the team. No one breaks the rules. I am an old hippie, but his way works for him. He is old school as they come. He couldn't change if he wanted to- and he doesn't use computers, and usually can't find his car keys. But he will sit there at meets and cheer on the runners from even the opposing teams. With his bellow.