Haverford Coach profiled in NY Times

Proud to say, "That was my coach"

A very straight-forward guy who can get you to believe in yourself.

Haverford sucks this year. I keep hearing all this talk about their great recruits now but this guy isnt doing anything with them. He can take ok guys and make them very good, with the exception of Maree/Marcus, who would have been good if anyone coached them.

Nice guy, overrated coach.

Wrong. Great coach....great guy....and tough as nails in his day.

P.S. Karl Paranya for one. I remember another nice sub 4 guy in the eighties ( Kevin Sullivan?)

Foley! That's it...sorry posted before reading the article. Great runner Foley was....skinny w/long hair. I remember watching him work out alot with Tom Glaser (sp?) who I believe was killed in the 9/11 attacks.

Not convinced. Look I know he is a great guy and an inspiration for tons of kids. All I am saying is that he isn't the great technical coach people make him out to be.

Great Article, thanks for posting. He's a hell of a coach.

yeah but ummm wrote:

Haverford sucks this year. I keep hearing all this talk about their great recruits now but this guy isnt doing anything with them. He can take ok guys and make them very good, with the exception of Maree/Marcus, who would have been good if anyone coached them.

Nice guy, overrated coach.

Iron clad reasoning if I've ever seen it.

If you want to find a fault with this guy, it should be that Haverford tends to bomb at xc nationals (well they won't this year, because they won't make it). But a typical scenario would be for Haverford to tempo-run conferences and sweep it, tempo-run the first half of regionals and win solidly, then go all-out at nationals but finish around 15th. This didn't happen every year but it happened a lot.

At track nats they would do fine; there was just something about Thanksgiving weekend that didn't work for them.

And, none of this eradicates the amazing job they do of taking 10:00 hs guys and making them into all-americans.

Last 3 years at XC nationals: 4th, 3rd, 2nd.

Anyone who would say a negative thing about Tom Donnelly, whould be banned from here for good.

They would be as clueless as their posts sound.

Guy could run on a National Cross Team and on the 4 x 8, 1:48, he was great and an even better coach , acknowledged by most as clear Upper Tier.

Haverford Men's XC was 10th in 2006

'Here is the thing: Haverford has never, I don\'t think, had a sub-4:20 recruit. Foley, Paranya, all were not under 4:20 in HS and Tom made them sub-4 caliber guys.

And the current teams have been a bunch of decent guys in high school - 9:45/4:30 type guys - who become D3 ballers.

How many coaches in the country can do what he does with NO top tier guys?',

I know they had a 4:14/1:54 guy and a 4:00 1500 guy a couple years ago. Don't know how they're doing though.

heres the best part wrote:

'Here is the thing: Haverford has never, I don't think, had a sub-4:20 recruit. Foley, Paranya, all were not under 4:20 in HS and Tom made them sub-4 caliber guys.

\,

If one guy from Haverford got on here and was bitching about how they were poorly coached I would spend a minute thinking that maybe there is something wrong with his coaching. 20 years as a coach, at a good school, producing some great runners. He sounds like the real deal to me. If just one guy who has his credentials came on this board and said he sucks then I might question his coaching. He is a D3 coach that makes shit money. He is coaching because he loves trying to help kids be better runners. Until one of you can prove that you are better you should shut up except to say thanks for trying to help mostly average runners become better. He is a credit to our sport and you should be thankful that any paper is acknowledging him and his work.

WTF is a technical coach. He has made lots of average runners into quality milers. Unless you have taken one of his runners and made him better you are just talking out of your ass. I don't know the guy, never even met him. Have you coached more good runners? Until you do its not technical its fact that you are a loser with a big mouth.

I ran for Tom in college and it was a fantastic experience. I was pretty mediocre (unlike many of my teammates), but because of Tom I will continue to run the rest of my life.

I ran for a University in the now-defunct Middle Atlantic Conference, formerly the largest D3 conference in the country and I competed against Haverford...I was an all-conference type of runner, top 20ish in XC and top 6 in the 1500 and 5000 at teh MAC meet several times during my 4 years...

TD a PHENOMENAL coach, and he actually has a great memory too. I ran into him 6-7 years ago at a track meet, and spoke with him...Not only did he recall who I was, he was able to recall who I ran against from his team, and knew approximately what my 1500m PR was...He got the most out of the talent and hand that was dealt to him, more than I have ever seen at that level...Foley, McEllighott, Paranya, Leheninger, Persick, O'Neill...all excellent runners...The list could go on...

Let's not forget this either: Not only is Haverford one of the smallest (enrollment-wise) D3 schools in the country, but Haveford College is one of the most selective schools in the NATION...They don't accept any Tom, Dick, or Harry that applies...This further limited his pool of runners, and makes what he has done that much more astonishing.

God, I hated having my behind handed to me by about 4-5 Haverford runners at every MAC XC meet, and 1-2 always found their way in front of me in the 1500m and 5000m in track...

I was, on my better than average days, a 4:35, 9:50, 17:0x guy in high school.

I graduated Haverford a 4:04 1500, 14:54, 30:56 guy who got 10th at track nationals in the 10k.

Any and all success that I had and continue to have as a runner are the result of Tom's coaching and influence. I would also say that my academic success was due to Tom's requirement that we pursue excellence both on and off the track.

Ask Tom McDonnell, Marcus O'Sullivan, Al Carius, etc. what they think of Tom. That might overshadow what a nameless mudslinger on a message board thinks.

I second the positive comments made about Tom on this thread. Although I eventually went to Brown because it was socially a better fit for me (and I didn't run there), I often think back on my choice, since it came down to Haverford and Brown. I had a great visit at Haverford in the mid-90's, when Paranya was there and a slew of other great guys. My friend who I stayed with during my visit was a 1:58 guy in high school who eventually got down to about 1:54. Yes, that's not national caliber by any standards but he was indicative of the type of approach that Tom took. Tom had an uncanny ability to take slightly above average hs runners and teach them and train them to get the most out of their bodies. The guys on the team were approachable, from Paranya to the guys who couldn't break 5:00 in the mile, and yes, there were guys like that too. Tom was very eager to have me visit and I could tell that he was a great coach by the way the guys talked about him and the way he approached the sport. I was only a 51/52 guy in high school and he made me feel like a superstar during my visit. Alas, I didn't choose the school, as I said earlier, mainly due to social fit and size, and I sometimes think back and ask could I have broken 50 with Tom?