With all the excitement and focus (read: distractions) involving athletes and rules of sponsor logo size on competition vests this weekend at the USATF Annual Meeting, many but a select few have become aware of a very intriguing development in the organization that it is essentially set for Vin to take over at the end of 2012 as the CEO of USATF.
There is a greater realization among several (read: admins and athletes alike) in St. Louis about this "off the record" / back door agreement that has become typical USATF. Once the tracktown12/Olympic Trials production and then Olympic Games are concluded in 2012 the USATF board of directors will "reopen" their CEO search and quickly close it to put Vin in place by next year's USATF annual meeting in Daytona Beach. Vin's ever growing UO t&f coaching staff (now at 13 coaches(!) + 6 admins...see:http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=243&SPSID=4363), his overseeing of 25 USA medals at worlds as team USA head coach this past summer (this is a HUGE deal to USATF as it significantly increase their funding from Sponsors moving forward), the recent departures of his long time right hand man, Mike Riley, as well as Luke V., and now Centro (expect him to be coached by his father) all signal Vin is timing his departure from UO to USATF within a year's time.
Vin will deny it in public, just as he did with his 2005 hiring at UO, as he is still 'working as diligent as ever' to maintain and elevate the UO track/xc "tradition excellence." Expect him to lure in a big time transfer (poor bloke) to replace the hole left by Centro/Luke V. for Vin's final run for m&w outdoor track titles this season as UO head coach only to depart and leave the Men & Women of Oregon in the hands of Robert Johnson, Andy Powell and Pole Vault/Mid-D/XC coach Jenni Ashcroft(<---who?).
Remember, he denied leaving his position as Athletic Director at Oberlin in 2005 only to be so moved "after listening to the vision that Bill (Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos) has about what the American track and field capital can be and should be, there's no other place better to do it than Eugene," Lananna said. "There's an amazing love of the sport in this community that you can't find anywhere else. I'm excited about extending the program's tradition of excellence at the national level year-in and year-out so it spills over to the national arena." ...
http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=14131&p=197498
I for one honestly do think Vin will be an excellent CEO for USATF as he gets track, gets we need to promote it, and has all the connections to do it successfully. It is a shame USATF has to wait a whole year to make it official (honestly!).