UW-WSU

Well, I've been both places, ran at both places. I'm not going to comment on Drake because I don't know him or anything about his runners. I do know Metcalf but no need to comment about him, like anyone there are positives and negatives.

Pullman, however, as boring as it may be to live there, is a great place to train. Much better than Seattle. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is a lot of fun...which is a big part of the problem. In Pullman, not much to do except school and running. You just get more focused there.

Being a parent, I would disagree that Pullman is a bad place to raise a child. It is probably much cheaper, quieter, and safer. Small children don't need big city action to thrive...it's the opposite actually.

It's official.

that 06` National team were all of his athletes that he recruited and coached. You have no clue what went wrong that season! Two of the top guys were injured that season and one guy didn't even start running til a few weeks before Pac 10's. The fastest scoring guy on that team in h.s. was a 9:17 2 miler. His first season where all the recruits were his athletes, and he takes them to Nationals.

All that being said I hope the worst for UW!!

Anyone who says Pullman isn't a great place to raise a kid doesn't know much. While the entertainment options are minimal, Pullman High School has one of the highest student-to-college ratios in America and has an extremely high SAT average for students, one of the highest on the West Coast.

I'm from the Palouse and I'll admit it does get boring here, but it's much safer to raise a kid in Pullman than Seattle-Tacoma.

As for Drake, he's done a solid job at WSU, as noted much of it on the women's side. WSU doesn't pour a lot into X-C. I'd like to see him finish the deal instead of take off for a paper pushing job (if that's what it is). If you really like coaching runners, you coach them, you don't take an office job.

As for a possible replacement? No idea. Maybe Lanana has a guy in the ranks who could do the job, or perhaps someone else from a distance school.

I heard it was a straight up swap - Jimmy Bean for Jason Drake!

On paper, I like the idea of Pat Tyson as the new head coach at WSU. I've crossed paths with him a number of times but wouldn't go so far as to say I know him. He's a great guy and enthusiastic about running.

One of the problems with that would be the obvious one of leaving Gonzaga in the lurch. It definitely sucks to do that, but the only way you ever get to where you want to go is by taking opportunities when they come. Kind of like when Dennis Erickson coached WSU football to a miracle season, said he would never leave Pullman, then signed a contract with Miami a week later. If Tyson is ever to become coach of a major D1 program, he has to get into a big-time school. WSU is kind of in the sticks, but it is in the PAC-10, and at least has a history of distance running success. It's also pretty close to Spokane, and Tyson has very deep roots with the Spokane high school coaches who can influence their local talent in his direction.

The question is: can he coach steeple, 5000m and 10000m, and 8k-10k cross country? He has proven success in 1600m, 3200m, and 5k cross country. Can he scale that program to college distances?

Anyway I don't know much about the politics of NCAA coaching or the motivations of said coaches. So this next question comes from a naive viewpoint: why wouldn't someone like Rob Conner apply for the WSU job? Is it better for him to be at UP or in the PAC-10? I can understand the obvious answers like "he likes Portland" or "he wants to stick with his runners" but from a professional standpoint wouldn't the next challenge be to move into a major conference and build a winning program there?

You people saying Tyson should move to WSU must be high. The guy has a niche coaching 15-18 year olds and is not equipped to handle anyone beyond the 4:10, 9:00 range. Don't believe me?

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/gonz/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/cumulative-stats.pdf

Morning Zoo w/Dick Gobbler wrote:

You people saying Tyson should move to WSU must be high. The guy has a niche coaching 15-18 year olds and is not equipped to handle anyone beyond the 4:10, 9:00 range. Don't believe me?

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/gonz/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/cumulative-stats.pdf

Perhaps you're right. But look at the history of WSU coaching as far as athlete development is concerned...were Chaplin, Li, or Drake renowned developers of athletes? Li did a good job with Lagat, but who else...

I don't know Drake's history so feel free to enlighten me if I'm mistaken there...I just presume that since I have not heard of anyone at WSU doing much on the national level that not much has occurred there under his tenure...

I've know most of the parties involved in all this fairly well....friends with Tyson, know Metcalf & Drake pretty well....as well as the "other" candidate.

If you don't think Tyson knows that he's jumped around a lot since leaving Mead, you're wrong. He's well aware of it, and really doesn't want to leave Gonzaga in a bad way. If he had been offered a spot at UofO, he would've been there in a heartbeat.

After leaving UofO, he went to Kentucky....and given that the position opened up at Gonzaga, why in the world wouldn't he move from Kentucky to Gonzaga - in his home town (well, kinda anyways).

Going to Gonzaga was a logical move.

WSU...hmmmm...that's a tough call. I'd be concerned just because he'd be subject to the whim of the athletic director in a big way....while in Spokane, any athletic director would be crazy to get crossways with him, due to public perception.

Anyway, Tyson will do what is right for Tyson - which ultimately will result in success for the kids he coaches. He's a good guy who really focuses on doing the right thing....

As for Drake - I think a lot of why he's going to Seattle has to do with a job position for his wife....at this point, money is important, and Seattle is a pretty good place to live.

Metcalf wanted to hire Drake a few years ago...but that job fell through, and Drake took the WSU position...now, that job came back, and Drake took it....

Pete Julian

I think Pete will put together a way better team than JD ever did. I guess we'll see who takes the Metro State job.

Tick Stab wrote:

I think Pete will put together a way better team than JD ever did. I guess we'll see who takes the Metro State job.

So is this kind of a "hand-off" in that I'm sure JD knows Pete from his Colorado days and did him a solid by mentioning his name to Sloan as a candidate? I'm not familiar with Julian's success at Metro. Any big hitters? I don't remember the cross country team being a factor on the D-II scene in Colorado? What is the scoop there?

B Hudson?

West Coast Runner wrote:

Anyone who says Pullman isn't a great place to raise a kid doesn't know much. While the entertainment options are minimal, Pullman High School has one of the highest student-to-college ratios in America and has an extremely high SAT average for students, one of the highest on the West Coast.

I was born and raised in Pullman, and boy does my life suck. Great educational opportunities at PHS and low crime really screwed me over. Two advanced degrees later and a nice salary in my late 20's couldn't be any worse. I wish I was raised in a respectable ghetto community.

/sarcasm

Henry Rono?

Stick Tab wrote:

Pete Julian

So is this a done deal? Backroom deal? I didn't even have time to dust off the old resume!

I agree with "runtyson", I think Tyson would be a great fit at WSU, the problem he has at Gonzaga is $$$, I think he has 1 scholarship for men and 1 for women, no matter how good a coach or recruiter he is, the money issue will always be his achilles heel at Gonzaga, its time he moved to a D-1 Pac 10 school so we can really see what he's got. As my name suggest I ran for Mead a long time ago, and the last place I wanted to go was WSU, Pullman is a tough sell, but I think Tyson could do it. Everytime we would complain about running in the weather of eastern washington, he would shut us up and make everyone appreciate it and use it as motivation when we raced the "softies" from seattle or california. I could see him being an excellent recruiter if he went to WSU and had an equal playing field in a money sense. If your reading this Tyson- Get out of Gonzaga while you still have the chance, this is a rare oppurtunity, tell GU, no money, no Tyson!

If you think Tyson will get much more than 1 scholarship to spend on cross country/distance track and WSU, you're mistaken.

hjgjhgj wrote:

Anyway I don't know much about the politics of NCAA coaching or the motivations of said coaches. So this next question comes from a naive viewpoint: why wouldn't someone like Rob Conner apply for the WSU job? Is it better for him to be at UP or in the PAC-10? I can understand the obvious answers like "he likes Portland" or "he wants to stick with his runners" but from a professional standpoint wouldn't the next challenge be to move into a major conference and build a winning program there?

Conner seems to have a great situation at Portland.

He can build his roster as big as he pleases, he can spend every cent of

scholarship money on distance runners, and most importantly,

he doesn't have to answer to a head track coach.

I'm willing to bet there are very few programs in the country he'd

rather work at, because these luxuries listed above are very difficult to find,

and they're probably even more difficult to come by at bigger programs.

For a pure cross country/10k distance oriented coach, the Portland situation is tough to beat.