Mike Torchia

mn fan wrote:

In my opinion plas is a pretty average coach. Most of the people I've talked to that have run for him just flat out don't like him. That is why there is a thread on letsrun about once a year bashing the guy...its more about his personality than his coaching it seems like that make people bitter.

This has been my experience as well. Some people on the team simply don't like him, not without reason. It seems he can be very immature and kind of an ass. Indeed, he has had success with some, but has definitely dropped the ball with others. In other words, he's a pretty mediocre coach.

If you are familiar with the program, you can just laugh at these post because it's pretty funny how unfamiliar they are with Plas. With the exception of Schmidty Poo, I don't know a single person who doesn't like plas from the team in the last 5-6 years. Maybe some people didn't like him when he was training still and coaching at the same time, because lets face it he was a crazy man while he was training. But recently I don't know of anyone having trouble with him. Quit living on past arguments and what you have heard from people who aren't even part of the system. I know more than a few people that wanted to train more but he wanted to keep them in check, so please ignore any posts that involve over training, its about as far from the truth as possible.

-3 time All American coached by Plas. Chances are you could've beat me in high school.

you also set the state A mile record, so you were hardly a scrub.

I have all the respect in the world for Plas. People that come on these boards and try to talk a lot about what they "know" or what they have heard of are just trying to spark something negative and I don't understand the point. As a former Gopher I have to say that my tenure with Plas was great. He always had time to listen to what I had to say and how I wanted to approach my training. I swore I would never post on these boards on such a subject, but it's just sad to see how people can be so rude when all they can go off of is rumors and stories that happened 10 years ago. Plas is a great guy as a coach and a person. I wonder how many of his former athletes have to post before people realize that.

mn fan wrote:

In my opinion plas is a pretty average coach. Most of the people I've talked to that have run for him just flat out don't like him. That is why there is a thread on letsrun about once a year bashing the guy...its more about his personality than his coaching it seems like that make people bitter.

It's not a coincidence that Plas gets bashed so much on here. All the poeople trying to defend him and the program are wondering why Minnesota gets bashed more than most programs on here. They must not be reading into what's going on. I can't say one way or the other about how good Plas' training philosophy is, but I can say that he is not an easy guy to get along with. A lot of coaching is personality and being able to relate to the athletes and he does not do a good job at this, bottom line. This same principle goes for recruiting and I know from personal experience (myself and people I know) that recruits go elsewhere because of their experience with Plas during the recruiting process.

my guess is people ripping on plas and the U of M are from other schools, and find it fun to rip on a program simply to prevent guys from going to that school. seriously, this is just pathetic. that is why there is still a thread going and not because he is a bad coach. Im guessing the only guys who have posted on this thread that ran at the U are Robeck and Ford, both of which had great things to say. If you are man enough to bash him and say that you ran for him, you must have hated college because you did it for 4-5 years. You want to know about the U's program? Why dont you ask some guys who ran there? He doesnt pull in some of hte top recruits in the nation without support from his runners.

No runner at the U is going to waste their time ripping on their own damn team on the internet. I cant believe I wasted my own time, and Im not even affiliated with the U; I am simply from Minnesota.

Show some maturity.

It's easy to rip on the Gophers, as we're neighbors, and we run their furry Gopher ass into the ground year after year. Badgers are tougher than Gophers, it's a fact of life. Whether the Torchinator had run or not, if we would have run Griak, we would have won, while only giving 80% effort. I suppose this post might rile up some Gophers, but who the hell cares. Riled up Gophers are more a nuisance than a threat.

ha wrote:

you also set the state A mile record, so you were hardly a scrub.

Actually the only records I was ever involved with were relays, one being the 4x400 which i think still stands. that may have been something to do with someone named Mitch something something.

piracy nation wrote:

Riled up Gophers are more a nuisance than a threat.

Is that what Solinsky and Eagon said after the Big Ten meet last year?

piracy nation wrote:

It's easy to rip on the Gophers, as we're neighbors, and we run their furry Gopher ass into the ground year after year. Badgers are tougher than Gophers, it's a fact of life. Whether the Torchinator had run or not, if we would have run Griak, we would have won, while only giving 80% effort. I suppose this post might rile up some Gophers, but who the hell cares. Riled up Gophers are more a nuisance than a threat.

Have you noticed the Gophers only decent runner is from Wisconsin. Coincidence? I think not.

MSK wrote:

piracy nation wrote:

Riled up Gophers are more a nuisance than a threat.

Is that what Solinsky and Eagon said after the Big Ten meet last year?

Trust me, no one was worried about the Gophers. They were more worried about Solinsky's health. He was sick as hell.

I can recall the names of a handful of "top" minnesota high school recruits that went to Wisconsin that burned out, quit, transferred, or achieved nothing. Wisconsin is a dynasty and they get loads of top recruits because of it. The percent of roadkill is just as high but nobody scrutinizes because of their success.

I give Plas credit. He is slowly piecing together a good group and starting to win recruits away from other schools.

that post made me laugh...i could see it now..."why did u decide on the U?"

"because it sucks so much and plas is an ASS!!"

yeah definitely every single person on the U team would never bash it!

The only U of Mn bashers on here are clearly from wisconsin...lord knows the very world "gophers" makes them shit themselves in fear for the big ten meet.

Robeck wrote:

Chances are you could've beat me in high school.

i wish, asshole.

The only U of Mn bashers on here are clearly from wisconsin...lord knows the very world "gophers" makes them shit themselves in fear for the big ten meet.

Fear of the Gophers, ha ha ha!

Wisconsin Badgers = 2006 Big Ten Champions, 2005 Big Ten Champions, 2004 Big Ten Champions, 2003 Big Ten Champions, 2002 Big Ten Champions, 2001 Big Ten Champions, 2000 Big Ten Champions, 1999 Big Ten Champions.

What in the hell is there to fear? We own the Big Ten Meet. It's amazing the Gophers bother to still show up at all. They must be masochists.

piracy nation wrote:

The only U of Mn bashers on here are clearly from wisconsin...lord knows the very world "gophers" makes them shit themselves in fear for the big ten meet.

Fear of the Gophers, ha ha ha!

Wisconsin Badgers = 2006 Big Ten Champions, 2005 Big Ten Champions, 2004 Big Ten Champions, 2003 Big Ten Champions, 2002 Big Ten Champions, 2001 Big Ten Champions, 2000 Big Ten Champions, 1999 Big Ten Champions.

What in the hell is there to fear? We own the Big Ten Meet. It's amazing the Gophers bother to still show up at all. They must be masochists.

Who is saying anything about the Gophers beating Wisconsin? I have no clue how this became part of this thread.

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit.

i love the continuous excuses. the badgers are doing it off a dynasty.... come on. bottom line is that when steve starts to get the recruits and develop them, the goph's will win. until then, the top guys will continue to go elsewhere and the u will remain a trophy caliber DII team (yes I mean DII as in Adams, Western, etc.).

wisconsin is just pissed they didnt land rombough. the last thing they want is another wisconsin guy running for the U of M. just imagine if rombough actuallywent to wisconsin. they may actually have won nationals. hard to know if rombough would have been as good under wisconsin training though...everyone is different.