The quote on the front page proves that Squires is delusional and drowning in self aggrandizement. Who the hell is he kidding? Salazar, Rodgers, Meyer and Beardsley had incredible talent. Talent to absorb training and become phenomenal endurance athletes. Squires may have been a very good coach. He was NOT a miracle worker. Sorry Bill, but you sound as if you think you were some sort of Messiah.
At the time Squires coached he got a lot of results. Who else out there even knew anything about coaching the marathon? He figured it out. He had great talent to work with but he didn't have all the great talent. His guys overall were more successful. He managed his workouts with an intuitive feel. Something I don't think Alberto Salazar or Vigil even can grasp at the level Squires did.
He had a rare gift. Give him some credit.
jesse was a friend wrote:
The quote on the front page proves that Squires is delusional and drowning in self aggrandizement. Who the hell is he kidding? Salazar, Rodgers, Meyer and Beardsley had incredible talent. Talent to absorb training and become phenomenal endurance athletes. Squires may have been a very good coach. He was NOT a miracle worker. Sorry Bill, but you sound as if you think you were some sort of Messiah.
Yeah! He just got lucky having all those guys just show up and be amazing! That's why there's AT LEAST six other American marathon coaches have 3-4 2:08-2:09 guys just show up.
. . . give me a break.
Squires may have been a very good coach. Did you read the front page quote? To imply that he did not have talented athletes shows that he is simply puffing himself up, and I do NOT respect this revisionist history, and you're a fool if you do.
craigmac4h wrote:
Yeah! He just got lucky having all those guys just show up and be amazing! That's why there's AT LEAST six other American marathon coaches have 3-4 2:08-2:09 guys just show up.
. . . give me a break.
Exactly. x100
It always amazes me how people give Salazar crap because this guy underperformed or THAT guy didn't beat the Kenyan he was supposed to. But then you take a coach who DID produce world beaters and oh, he was just lucky. There's the internet for you. It gives every know-nothing a voice.
Bill Squires knew how to get the most out of his athletes and he did get the most out of them. Case closed.
Well, look at the 10k prs that Meyer, Hodge, Beardsley had and look at the number of 2:09-2:14 marathoners he coached and contrast that what coaches are working with today and who is better?
I guess he got really lucky getting that talent to come to him.
Lets look at the other top marathon coaches today. Mahone, Salazar, Larson, Hudson, the Hanson group, Joe Vigil recently. Other than one standout what else?
There's a "talent" in that no, Rodgers wasn't a 5:00 miler in college, but there's "talent" like German Fernandez running 8:34 in high school despite being injured half the time.
I read the whole article, and no, I don't doubt what Squires claims. He might not be the greatest communicator of the 20th century, but I challenge you to name one coach who has had more consistent success in terms of coaching marathoners than Squires. You could make a pretty good argument for Bob Larsen, who addition to Meb coached Kirk Pfeffer and Ed Mendoza to sub-2:10 marathons. The Hansons have done a great job with 2:15-2:16 guys, but I think Sell was the only one they've had under 2:12 so far (though I don't mean to sound like I'm criticizing them, I think they do a great job and will continue to do a great job). What other coach can we even bring up here? Plenty of coaches have had one off success, but as the number of great athletes a coach guides rise, surely it reflects better and better upon the coach?
I think your attempt to trash Squires makes you the fool.
Another moron chimes in. Nobody said he didn't coach well or get the most out of his athletes. Squires claims they weren't very talented. What a bunch of crap, and you're just stupid enough to swallow it hook, line and sinker.
I am NOT trashing Squires. He makes himself sounds as if he is the greatest coach of all time in that he took these no-talents and shhhhhhhhhh...don't tell anybody what we're doing, because you guys have no talent, it's all my system....you guys are not astute thinkers if you fall for this b.s.
jesse was a friend wrote:
Another moron chimes in. Nobody said he didn't coach well or get the most out of his athletes. Squires claims they weren't very talented. What a bunch of crap, and you're just stupid enough to swallow it hook, line and sinker.
Don't be so hard on yourself. You're not a moron, just a know-nothing.
Beardsley certainly wasn't very talented. The more he ran, the more "talented" he became. Hmmm... where have we heard that before?
jesse was a friend wrote:
Another moron chimes in. Nobody said he didn't coach well or get the most out of his athletes. Squires claims they weren't very talented. What a bunch of crap, and you're just stupid enough to swallow it hook, line and sinker.
He's not saying they're no-talents, but that they weren't the most talented out there. He was right.
Squires sounds like an insecure control freak. "Shut up or they'll kick your can. They're better than you." What a crock of shit. I have always believed that Squires was an excellent coach. He doesn't need to distort the truth to make himself look better than he was.
No doubt Bill will be as crushed by your disappointment as the rest of us are.
jeez wrote:
No doubt Bill will be as crushed by your disappointment as the rest of us are.
You are an idiot, and this is irrefutable. I am not disappointed. You, with your low intelligence, possess a propensity for imputing traits to others predicated on nothing.
What he said is very true. How many marathons are being won by Kenyans? Rodgers was special in our time, for sure, but he could never survive in the sub 2:07 world my friend.I remember one time I was visiting Boston for work and met up with a friend at Elliot's and we got to talking with this old guy for an hour at the bar. He was a crackup, said some really interesting things about running and was not pretentious or anything.My friend was surprised I didn't know it was Squires. It was a fun night, just talking with a guy on a stool next to us.The quote of the day should be quote of the year, what a character.
jesse was a friend wrote:
Squires sounds like an insecure control freak. "Shut up or they'll kick your can. They're better than you." What a crock of shit. I have always believed that Squires was an excellent coach. He doesn't need to distort the truth to make himself look better than he was.
Rodgers wasn't competing against sub 2:07 runners so I don't understand why this is relevant. Squires also says in that article that Lydiard learned more from him than he learned from Lydiard and that Bowerman basically knew nothing...Squires is delusional, but I should factor into the equation that he might be slightly off his rocker.
About Arthur Lydiard, he says, "Arthur learned more from me than I did from him." Of Bill Bowerman, coach of Steve Prefontaine, he says, "Bowerman didn't know horsecrap."
That pretty much says it all. This coming from a guy who never coached an international medal as far as I know. We are not talking about Dr. Vigil, who had a direct hand in the revival of US distance running and kept up to date weekly on the latest research. In Squires, I see an angry old man whom time has passed by.
jesse was a friend wrote:
Rodgers wasn't competing against sub 2:07 runners so I don't understand why this is relevant.
I do not understand why people on this site can not comprehend that runners from a different era would likely have been competitive today. I think you need to compare guys like Rodgers, Beardsley, etc. against the records and crop of runners that existed when they ran.
Lip Kitten wrote:
jesse was a friend wrote:Rodgers wasn't competing against sub 2:07 runners so I don't understand why this is relevant.
I do not understand why people on this site can not comprehend that runners from a different era would likely have been competitive today. I think you need to compare guys like Rodgers, Beardsley, etc. against the records and crop of runners that existed when they ran.
You're another one who cannot read with comprehension. Try to understand that I was praising Rodgers for having talent in response to the moron's point above me...
coach d wrote:
About Arthur Lydiard, he says, "Arthur learned more from me than I did from him." Of Bill Bowerman, coach of Steve Prefontaine, he says, "Bowerman didn't know horsecrap."
That pretty much says it all. This coming from a guy who never coached an international medal as far as I know. We are not talking about Dr. Vigil, who had a direct hand in the revival of US distance running and kept up to date weekly on the latest research. In Squires, I see an angry old man whom time has passed by.
Not an "angry old man" at all. Coach, was saying the same stuff 30 years ago. He was on to something regarding the marathon that perhaps Bowerman & Lydiard were not.
Squires was not up to date on the "latest research" he was ahead of it. He performed the latest research and we were his subjects.
Focus on the belief part of the quote. Sometimes a coach or teacher comes along and can make others believe and that is their gift.