2012 Coaching Openings

Coaching insider wrote:

So word is Oh St has Robert Johnson as finalist and Kentucky has him on their early wish list.

Vin is off to Stanford to be AD so who will be left in Eugene when they turn out the lights from the Trials? Note very little in the way of future big meets set for Eugene. Reason - Vin has had a foot out the door for some time now.

This is, of course, the juiciest rumor. Is it pure BS?

Normally I would say its BS but something has seemed different about Vin the past few months than his attitude his previous years here. I think if he is offered the AD's job as many I hear say he has then he will be gone but he doesn't want this to take away focus from Trials so we will have to wait until early July for the answer to your question.

RoJo is gone from Oregon as its been made clear the expectation at Oregon is that a distance coach will always be in charge of this program no matter what success they have in other events. RoJo can pick his landing spot so I hear and is just waiting to negotiate the final arrangements.

So if you were to pick from:

Ohio State-Men / Kentucky-M/W / UNC-M/W

How do you rank them?

Anyone heard anything about the Texas A&M-Kingsville opening? I know D2 is often ignored on LR, but the men's team did pretty well during this past outdoor season.

Educated Guess wrote:

So if you were to pick from:

Ohio State-Men / Kentucky-M/W / UNC-M/W

How do you rank them?

ranked on overall programs and reputation of program:

Kentucky - new outdoor track facility, ~300m indoor track, state of the art everything else, a SPORTS school for sure.

UNC - okay indoor and outdoor tracks, okay facilities, good college town, people like their tar heels.

Ohio State - Don't know much- its a HUGE school, so someone's gotta be good.

Youschnoozeyouloze wrote:

Anyone heard anything about the Texas A&M-Kingsville opening? I know D2 is often ignored on LR, but the men's team did pretty well during this past outdoor season.

Have you ever been to Kingsville? There's got to be a really good reason to stay there, and I doubt they'd offer that kind of money.

Just noticed the Xavier posting on the NCAA site:

"Xavier University’s Department of Athletics is seeking applications for a qualified individual to serve as the part-time Men’s/Women’s Cross Country and Track Coach."

Translation: Xavier University is seeking applications from anyone who can get five men and five women across six finish lines in cross country and 14 men and 14 women to complete an event in 12 track meets. Graduate those kids. Healthy pulse preferred.

"Qualifications: ... possess a philosophy of coaching and education that fits the mission of Xavier University and the goals of the Xavier Athletics program"

Translation: Please don't complain when you actually realize that really is all we want. Anything else is icing on the cake so long as it doesn't cost us any extra time and money.

The best way to evaluate a Div I coaching gig is to evaluate the AD and the revenues from football and basketball. a big budget athletics dept with drive trumps everything because facilities can be improved and scholarships can be upped when the budget is fat from, say, televised football.

gGiJOEy24 wrote:

Educated Guess wrote:

So if you were to pick from:

Ohio State-Men / Kentucky-M/W / UNC-M/W

How do you rank them?

ranked on overall programs and reputation of program:

Kentucky - new outdoor track facility, ~300m indoor track, state of the art everything else, a SPORTS school for sure.

UNC - okay indoor and outdoor tracks, okay facilities, good college town, people like their tar heels.

Ohio State - Don't know much- its a HUGE school, so someone's gotta be good.

Alan Drosky and Jeff Pigg are being considered for the job at Kentucky. They want a distance program...Let's be honest, piggy has his name in the hat for every job that comes down the pike!

Drosky won't leave GA Tech; he is a Tech grad and has built a nice little distance program.

Agreed with the above poster. Drosky has coached at tech for 20+ years I believe? He is a tech grad and has built a family in the atlanta area.

Pigg on the other hand would leave Georgia in a heart beat. its all about the $$$ with him.

YellowJacket wrote:

Drosky won't leave GA Tech; he is a Tech grad and has built a nice little distance program.

Was the Georgia Tech Men's Program cut back? Are they down to like 4-5 scholarships now? I thought I heard that happened this year.

I heard that as well. I heard the whole track program (mens and womens) was cut back

I am not saying Drosky would be interested. I don't know that at all.

I will say this, he would be a great hire for Kentucky. The program would move immediately forward.

Loyalty will only last so long, especially when loyalty becomes a one-sided relationship.

Have they done any interviews at Ohio State yet? If so, when will an announcement about a coach be? Or, are they bringing candidates in next week?

UCLA sprint coach opening popped up.

gGiJOEy24 wrote:

Educated Guess wrote:

So if you were to pick from:

Ohio State-Men / Kentucky-M/W / UNC-M/W

How do you rank them?

ranked on overall programs and reputation of program:

Kentucky - new outdoor track facility, ~300m indoor track, state of the art everything else, a SPORTS school for sure.

UNC - okay indoor and outdoor tracks, okay facilities, good college town, people like their tar heels.

Ohio State - Don't know much- its a HUGE school, so someone's gotta be good.

Ohio State is a far better job than Kentucky. Ton of money in the athletic budget and its the primary school in a big state that produces solid running talent (and is surrounded by states that produce an excess in Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania).

Kentucky has nice facilities, but their athletic department doesn't have close to the money OSU has and the state of Kentucky produces very little talent (Kentucky is near Indiana/Ohio, but it is culturally very different and not many Midwestern kids go to Kentucky). Less money and much harder to get good talent at Kentucky.

Told you UCLA sprints job was gonna open! Am already hearing they may go back to the well at UW and hire Raul Sheen who was previously at LB State before UW and has had solid success at both places and knows the academic demands of UCLA well in terms of recruiting athletic talent to a tough admissions college.

Hear LaMont Vaughn who is leaving UCLA position is a top candidate at his alma mater Kentucky.

Why would Berryhill (distance coach) keep Cole (distance coach)?