This thread has gotten so long and heated, I figured I'd weigh in:
IMO, Here is Tony's problem. He doesn't give walk-ons the attention they deserve. He lets them on the team but doesn't look 'em in the eye after that.
I think he feels like his time with recruited/scholarship athletes is more precious since he is giving them money?
If you walk on at Cal, you're probably a really motivated person. After all, you got into Cal. And it's not like the distance team is that big (like it is at Oregon, where money is practicallyunlimited). If you have a decent guy (I'd say you need to be sub-1:56, sub-4:20, or sub-9:30 in HS to walk on at Cal) who is willing to put in 20-40 hours of his week for you at no cost, the least you could do is help him to develop because he very well could become a point scorer for your team. Sandoval simply uses these guys as filler at low level local meets instead of taking an interest to their development. He doesn't understand that a 1:55 guy or 9:25 guy might develop into an all-American with the right workouts, guidance, and increased mileage. Sandoval takes these "roster fillers" for granted, even though most of them could have gotten full rides at D2 or smaller D1 schools. He must have a notion that a walk-on can't beat a scholarship guy. He only seems to care about his scholarship athletes. He doesn't really develop his whole team--just a select few.
Not every walk on becomes an All-American. But some do. And when they do, you get depth. I don't see why a hard-working 4:20 guy (who had a lousy HS coach) couldn't get down to 4:02 4:03 in the mile. But Sandoval writes them off before they even show up for the fire trail time trial.
What ends up happening? These walk on guys get frustrated with Sandoval and quit (a few hang around all four years, but they are the exception). I've seen it happen on many occasions. They feel like they are giving their time to someone who doesn't appreciate it. They feel like committing time to Sandoval's practices and meetings is forcing them into undesireable classes/sections. They start worrying about getting a high GPA to go with that diploma (remember, at Cal, walk-ons are usually academic/brainiac types). They don't feel the commitment is worth the sacrifice anymore. And there goes your team's depth potential. Even if you get three FL guys every year, you're not going to win team competitions unless you have true depth. Sandoval doesn't care enough about a potential source of good, CHEAP (essentially free) depth: walk ons!
I'm not trying to bash Sandoval--he's a perfectly nice guy with good intentions. He just doesn't give walk ons a true "chance", doesn't seem to value their input, doesn't care what they run, and as a result, he doesn't generally get production from them. He doesn't seek the full potential of every athlete on his squad. Look I know its not kindergarten, and he shouldn't have to "hold everyone's hand", but you only get as much out of walk ons as you put into developing them. Walk ons are "free" talent that should be used.
Only speaking from personal experience.