Which NCAA coaches were fastest in their prime?

Distance - Lagat and it’s not even close

Sprint - Joanna Hayes

Which ironically also answers the second question: no, not one single iota.

Carl Lewis..end of thread

No it doesn't make a difference, but Alan Webb and Marcus O'Sullivan are coaches. Some of the best coaches were not great runners. I don't know what Alan Webb has accomplished as a coach, but O'Sullivan is doing a great job at Villanova, I just wish they would try harder with their recruiting. It just doesn't seem like they try to put together a strong cross country team, but the kids that do go there develop a lot.

Kevin Sullivan (Sully) of Michigan was pretty good back in the day.

Flanagan

Yeah, being a former high level athlete certainly can help as a coach. Doesn't mean it will help. I think if you were to find any correlation its mostly just a matter self-selection (i.e. someone that competes for a long time and at a high level as an athlete will be more inclined to pursue a career as a coach).

But I've seen plenty of former great athletes be terrible coaches and plenty of mediocre athletes be great coaches.

probably Henes 2nd behind Flanagan

To the second part of the question, coaches wear so many hats, it has to help in many ways...for training, competition, logistics, recruiting, dealing with injuries, overcoming problems. They’ve all been there and they have experienced a lot. And as a fan, I really like seeing these guys out there. Their competition days may be way in the past, but we were with them in those races. Sure, we’re all cheering on new athletes today, but we don’t forget.

yeah, it's a goofy thread, carl coaches UH and put kids in the last olympics.

re the secondary question, i think quality has increased, and the gap from front to back in a NCAA (or olympic, for that matter) final has narrowed. i think in older days when it was more about talent, coaching mattered less, and the coach didn't have to be some sporting genius, he just had to deliver you to nationals unhurt, at which point you nlow their doors off.

i think NCAA races are getting ever-faster and tighter at which point you need some edge. coaching, training, details, all matters. at which point it takes a high degree of knowledge of training and an event to add anything, and the odds favor that being a former successful athlete at a fairly high level. you have to be able to detect even small issues or missed opportunities. i don't think a former football player kineez major catches that.

that being said, being fast doesn't mean you'd be a good coach. you could be disinterested, dumb as a brick, impatient, uncoachable, unorthodox, understand the sport more through your specific attributes, not very verbal, or operate on an intuitive level you don't notice the details of or can't explain.

Let me rephrase the question: Are there NCAA coaches who were former college greats that are excellent NCAA coaches in terms of training, psychology, and tactics (not recruiting)?

Yup-Carl. Does Ritz coach any ncaa? Magness at Houston? But if Lagat is coaching, its game over.

Remember, Gretz was not a good coach.

Ed Eyestone made two Olympic teams.

I love when this question comes up now and again. If you really understand the question, and apply common sense, the answer is YES! That being said, it's not as straight a forward question with an obvious answer as it seems. There's a few variables that come into play. For example, if you're learning how to drive, who do you want to be your instructor? A retired successful F-1 race car driver, or a retired high school English teacher looking to make a few extra bucks, and is a really good driver? Hmmmm.... I dunno about you, but I'm going with the F-1 driver. To answer the other side of the OP's question, being a great runner doesn't guarantee or equate to being a great coach. Being a great coach involves a lot more than just being able to run fast, or have run fast. I believe the X-factor is whether the former elite runner understands "Why" and "How" they ran fast, and have the ability to communicate that to their athletes. This is why Lagat wasn't a good coach, he clearly checked the box for his success as an athlete, but couldn't translate it to his athletes as a coach because his success was mainly due to his natural talent. Lagat never had to go through the grind and process of developing his talent as the majority of elite athletes have to do. If you don't understand the grind and the process of training and racing, which is a vital component to being a successful coach, you can never apply and teach it to an aspiring elite runner. I think the true answer is to find a coach who has both the experience AND ability to understand and communicate the process.

If I was an athlete looking for a coach, I'll start with experience and then knowledge, but both need to be key ingredients.

Chris Solinksy, Robert Gary, Shalane Flanagan, Ed Eyestone, Bernard Lagat, Alan Webb are certainly well-accomplished runners who coach collegiately.

he doesn't coaching the NCAA

Solinsky is coaching , Lagat is also. I longer coaching and Webb doesn’t coach in the NCAA