Is it the norm at most D1 schools for the coach to mostly ignore walk ons?

Yes

just wondering... wrote:

For those of you at ~top 40 D1 schools, is it the norm for the coach to mostly ignore walk ons? I'm a walk on myself and have had a small injury over the last week. When I went to tell my coach a few days ago, he basically told me that it doesn't matter what I do because even if I'm 15 seconds slower, it doesn't make a difference anyway. Yesterday after my run I went to tell him that I felt better and could start doing workouts soon but before I could he said that he was busy and if I want to talk to him come later (he wasn't doing much).

Is this the norm at most D1 schools?

just wondering... wrote:

For those of you at ~top 40 D1 schools, is it the norm for the coach to mostly ignore walk ons? I'm a walk on myself and have had a small injury over the last week. When I went to tell my coach a few days ago, he basically told me that it doesn't matter what I do because even if I'm 15 seconds slower, it doesn't make a difference anyway. Yesterday after my run I went to tell him that I felt better and could start doing workouts soon but before I could he said that he was busy and if I want to talk to him come later (he wasn't doing much).

Is this the norm at most D1 schools?

It is the norm at many top DI schools but not all of them. It's the difference between coaches who act as talent managers and those that act as developers of talent. Talent managers live and die on recruiting. Developers coach every kid on their team the same way even if they are a walk-on.

High schoolers need to do a better job researching potential coaches/teams before choosing to walk-on to high profile schools. Good undeveloped talent gets lost at major programs that keep big rosters all the time.

Sounds like your coach is a bit of a dick. I'm not at a D1 school, but am at one where most of the athletes were recruited and I felt kind of ignored in my first year for being a walk on even though I ended up being the fastest rookie.

Coaches shouldn't be dicks like that, but I think it's natural to be emotionally invested in guys that they had previously scouted out and invested scholarship money in. The good news is if you run fast, that should change. Try to just do your own thing and hope your performance in the long term speaks for itself.

Good Luck.

Your coach sounds like a prick...but do you work hard enough for him? Every action has consequences, not just his.

Coach what's your fastest runner ever run? Have you ever been to the show in Indiana?

And let me just follow this up by saying that I was walk on at a D-1 school that made it to my junior year before I had enough of the coaches garbage and decided myself that I did not want to come back. I was completely disposable anyways. I partially regret the descision - but my grades went off the charts once I left because their was so much more to time to focus on my courses....

However, I recall the following was told to me prior to joining the team out of high school: "You have to beat our top recruit in practice by a considerable margin for us to feel confident in you."

Cut to two years later...I was literally on his heels or even side by side with him in track workouts. Can you take a wild guess on who they would have run and who would be running unattached?

It's unfair. But it's their rules. A scholarship is THEIR investment. You can take his shit or not but realize that this might be your only chance to run at the highest level. Thousands of kids would kill to be in your spikes right now, especially if you are at a Top 40 school.

sorry to jack this thread up....

Ask your coach

X.coach wrote:

Coach what's your fastest runner ever run? Have you ever been to the show in Indiana?

Fastest enough to represent our country and the other question... yes, three times in Indiana.

On this note a lot of coaches could reap the rewards of developing their walk-ons better. Some tremendous athletes have come from the walk-on ranks. Sarah Pease of Indiana is one that comes to my mind recently. She was a great steeplechaser. The unfortunate thing is that many coaches with the highly competitive mentality needed to be successful don't understand how to deal with the stress and emotions that come with dealing with developmental athletes.

I will say the poster who posed the question to the OP about whether they are doing their part (working hard, etc...) is right on. It's a two way street, but I do think coaches have to be the fire starter. And I do think there are too many stories about walk-ons not being treated fairly.

I was a walk-on and received as much attention as our all-american. It depends on your coach man. Just keep pumping the miles and he'll respect you.

Based on what I've heard on this site (other threads included) about the treatment of D1 walk-ons, I would definitely recommend a 9:20-40 2 miler taking a scholarship offer from a D2 school like Augustana or Adams State over walking-on to a top-40 D1 school. However, like the previous poster said, there are exceptions and some good D1 coaches treat their walk-ons just as well as any of their scholarship athletes.

Another DI Coach wrote:

It is the norm at many top DI schools but not all of them. It's the difference between coaches who act as talent managers and those that act as developers of talent. Talent managers live and die on recruiting. Developers coach every kid on their team the same way even if they are a walk-on.

High schoolers need to do a better job researching potential coaches/teams before choosing to walk-on to high profile schools. Good undeveloped talent gets lost at major programs that keep big rosters all the time.

OP, and other college hopefuls; This is the correct answer. He knows his stuff. A true coach will work with you to make you the best athlete you can be, and treat you like a human instead of a horse.

Your coach is a ****. Leave it at that. Don't get so worked up about winning the guy's affection; he's just another human being. Your speed as a runner doesn't define your self worth and remember that you don't need to be coddled emotionally by a coach to develop into a good athlete. Just do the workouts like everyone else and say something if you feel like you aren't being challenged by practice/races. It's not like you will lose a scholarship if you are open with the guy.

His job is to produce fast runners and a competitive team. There is no rule that a coach has to be a 'teacher' or a parent-substitute. You sound like a freshman. Man up and get over it. Not everyone in life will give you the time and decency you deserve. Also, don't play the blame game. Your running depends on YOU and not your coach.

My coach was Vin Lananna and I was not on scholarship. I considered myself just lucky to be on the team and train on the Stanford campus. I shut my mouth and worked my butt off. I got some huge PR's and had some amazing workouts. I remember having a great workout and he asked me to stop by his office the next day to talk about my goals. Just got to run hard and improve. Have a great work ethic and just do your thing and don't be needy. Maybe he'll come around...

You won't have a team at all if you're a dick to all your athletes. And a good team atmosphere is very important. Stress is never a good thing for an athlete.

sc runner wrote:

Based on what I've heard on this site (other threads included) about the treatment of D1 walk-ons, I would definitely recommend a 9:20-40 2 miler taking a scholarship offer from a D2 school like Augustana or Adams State over walking-on to a top-40 D1 school. However, like the previous poster said, there are exceptions and some good D1 coaches treat their walk-ons just as well as any of their scholarship athletes.

Can a 9:20-9:40 2 miler really get a scholarship?

Your coach kind of sounds like a jerk.

I was one of the slowest walk-ons for my D1 team, but the coach showed just as much attention to me as to the top runners. I ended up top 5 on the team in cross-country eventually. He does an incredibly good job at taking mediocre high school walk-ons and turning them into national class runners.

Then again, one of my friends has a D1 coach that pretty much ignores everyone who's not in the top 5. I feel bad for my friend, because he's not having near the enjoyable experience I had.

I doubt that it is the norm, since with the small number of scholarships available it's difficult to field a team without a number of walk-ons.

But don't worry about what this coach says. If he's not fair to you use it as motivation. Runners improve at different rates. I was a walk-on at a very prominent university, but was the fastest distance runner by the end of my freshman year, and went on to be a finalist in the Olympic Trials 5000 meter, the only alumni of my university to do that. You might achieve impressive things if you have faith in yourself.

I doubt that it is the norm, since with the small number of scholarships available it's difficult to field a team without a number of walk-ons.

But don't worry about what this coach says. If he's not fair to you use it as motivation. Runners improve at different rates. I was a walk-on at a very prominent university, but was the fastest distance runner by the end of my freshman year, and went on to be a finalist in the Olympic Trials 5000 meter, the only alumni of my university to do that. You might achieve impressive things if you have faith in yourself.