Coaching and running

Sorry to hear that you didn't even get an interview. Did you at least get a phone call to discuss why you thought you could be the best choice? An alumn with your accomplishments at UCLA should have at least had that consideration. Maybe next time USC calls... no, forget it. Maybe the job at UCLA will be open again in a couple years.

Steve,

That was a cheap and inappropriate shot at ONE of the new distance coaches. Where is the shot at Gray? Perhaps you have hit the nail on the head when you speak of those in charge at UCLA, namely the directors in different capacities and their hesitation at combining the program so that there wouldn't be this silliness of splitting the position. I don't, however, think you should automatically be considered because you went to school there, hold school records, or have referred 1000's of kids to go there over the years. If you had taken the USC job, you would have had the requisite D-I experience to be a player, and you may have gotten a second look, hell, you may have been a front runner for the overall Head position, but YOU made the decision to not take it, just as those in charge at UCLA made the decision to not give you a chance for whatever reason. How 'bout you give them a chance to fail, and I'll give them a chance to succeed, and we'll see where they are at in a year or two.

steve Ortiz wrote:

Perhaps my LACK of coaching experience played the major factor in not being awarded the position. We offered the position to a 25 year old ex Boise State athlete. Interesting twist since this gentleman has 1 year coaching experience. I suppose 27 years of coaching under my belt is NOT ENOUGH.

Well, since the position went to a 25-year-old with only one year of coaching, I would suppose that the major factor in your not being awarded the position was your lack of something other than coaching experience.

Sorry, but having watched the steady decline of Ucla track & field over the last 10 years I have to agree with Steve,if indeed that is Steve who posted. To my knowledge, the only proven coach that Ucla has is Anthony Curran. Having first hand experience with Johnny Gray I can tell Harvard-Westlake wasn't begging him to stay. The man couldn't even remember his top runners names he was a pretty poor coach. Only time will tell but I sure wouldn't want to be an incoming freshman distance runner. Good luck with recruiting.

Ucla Fan wrote:

To my knowledge, the only proven coach that Ucla has is Anthony Curran.

So all the All-American throwers that Maynard has produced in his career aren't enough to prove to you that he is as "proven" as Curran?

27 years of coaching: would you really be satisfied with being paid $32,000/yr.? Or even the $60,000 that was reportedly offered to the Sac. St. guy? I'm guessing they didn't give you a look in because they knew they'd likely have to pay you more than they pay a guy with 1 yr. of experience (AND who would be loyal/moldable and not question his former BSU head coach).

I do believe that, all other things being equal, a guy who was once an excellent runner and who has coached thousands of kids over several decades is likely to be more knowledgeable about how to develop someone into a fast runner than a young pup who is armed with little more than a degree or two in exercise physiology. But from what I've heard, the job of a Division I cross-country coach is considered a full-time job that involves a lot more than telling a group of kids what their workouts are going to be every day. So if a 50-year-old man comes to me and says he wants to be my full-time employee for that job, I'm probably going to want to hear a lot more than that he was a good runner 25-30 years ago and he's been coaching high-school kids part-time since then. And if I google his name and the phrase "cross country," and the first thing that I see is a myspace page that doesn't seem to fit my personal image of what I want as a college cross-country coach, I might not bother to interview him.

Anyway, that's my gut-level reaction. The NCAA Division I sports system has always struck me as an unseemly intrusion of semi-professional sports into the academic world, filled with rancorous infighting, backbiting, and patronage. Coaching high-school runners sounds like a far more emotionally satisfying and useful occupation.

If I decided not to hire someone and then saw a post like this from that person on a public forum, I would be happy knowing that I had made the right decision.

Ouch! Somebody just got embarrassed and it wasn't Avocados Number. Why are there so many under aged photos on Steve's facebook? Weird.

steve Ortiz wrote:

We offered the position to a 25 year old ex Boise State athlete...

Coach Bush understands the loyalty to his former athletes.

Apparently so does Coach Maynard!

I understand the bitterness about not being offered the job but get past it.

i suspect the job would've been yours had you taken this off your myspace account--hell, maybe git off of myspace altogether(isn't that social networking for teens?)...

ones character outweighs experience every time.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewTaggedPhoto&friendID=27564621&imageUserID=157275341&imageID=33868855#u=157275341&i=22003390

I agree the photos are a little suspect but what do you have to gain by posting the link? Seems a little like teenage behavior to me.

Gard wrote:

I agree the photos are a little suspect but what do you have to gain by posting the link? Seems a little like teenage behavior to me.

Hey, the guy took a shot at someone and his old program. On this board that makes you more than fair game. Hell, even if he didn't that makes you fair game on this board. Sometimes you gotta think before you hit that 'Post Message' button.

Yes, but I didn't think "Shorter than Frank" was the kind of guy who would post a link like that.

The UCLA coaching situation seems to be a hot and sensitive topic. I know that this board deleted all of the posts containing the name T-h-e-r-i-o-t and that you can no longer post that name at all. I wonder if he ever got an interview??

Hey looks like Mr. Ortiz has gained a few pounds. I remember him from meets I ran in, in the mid 80's, its certainly him on the my space page....too bad, he used to be quite a runner, now he's at least 4X his former self. I also remember T-h-e-r-i-o-t, ran the 800 in some meets with him, he made WAY too rapid progress in just one year, largely thought to be fueled by the juice by runners in LA at the time. His facebook page is pretty funny, has what looks to be a college yearbook pic in it, unless he's a big botox fan. Why have postings with his name been removed???

T-h-e-r-i-o-t was on here lobbying hard for the UCLA job and the debate got pretty heated. I am curious to know if he got an interview. I was a big fan of Steve Ortiz when he was at UCLA. Steve was head and shoulders above the other good runners here in So Cal and was tough at every distance from 2 miles to the Marathon. Pretty sure he ran 2:13 while still in school at UCLA. I do have to admit that I clicked on the link that was provided and moved around the my space page a little bit and it left me disappointed and a little depressed.

Gard wrote:

Yes, but I didn't think "Shorter than Frank" was the kind of guy who would post a link like that.

The UCLA coaching situation seems to be a hot and sensitive topic. I know that this board deleted all of the posts containing the name T-h-e-r-i-o-t and that you can no longer post that name at all. I wonder if he ever got an interview??

so, i'm the bad guy who provided a link to someone's very PUBLIC myspace...wtf??? i provided an explanation to why steve ortiz is out of a ucla coaching job--that's it. i don't see how that is so bad--or "teenager", as you put it. you also mention that you're "disappointed and a little depressed"--now you're making sense.

Wouldn't surprise me, I watched Ortiz run, he was quite methodical, ran very fast over long distances, probably couldn't run 400m now. maybe UCLA knew of the questions regarding T-h-e-r-i-o-t's preformances in the mid 80's.... stull don't understand why his posts would be pulled from this site though.

Shorter Than Frank wrote:

so, i'm the bad guy who provided a link to someone's very PUBLIC myspace...wtf??? i provided an explanation to why steve ortiz is out of a ucla coaching job--that's it.

No idea if this photo cost Ortiz an interview -- I'm willing to bet he's now seen as a swim coach, not a running coach -- but the fact is Ortiz himself made it public. And isn't it common knowledge that employers now routinely check Facebook and Myspace for information that might imply (whether accurately or not) questionable character? NOTE: I did NOT just say that Steve Ortiz has questionable character.