Jacob Hernandez, two time NCAA champion from Texas, officially retires at age 27

Sad to see him retire so young, and with so much talent. I raced against him once in college. I hope he finds success in whatever he decides to do next.

Sad to see him go. Just seeing what Wheating and Solomon have done in the past few years and knowing he beat them. A real shame, hopefully things go better for him in his new pursuits!

With Vig as his coach be became a superstar. When Vig left he was able to have a good indoor season and never a good season again. I wish he had the maturity to move out of Texas and keep his coach.

Does anybody really believe that Hernandez wouldn't have been an Olympian if he stayed with Vig? It sucks that Vig left Texas but hernandez should have moved to Charlottesville the second he graduated.

It's a tough lesson because he can't go back and become an olympian. That time is gone.

Sp!kes wrote:

With Vig as his coach be became a superstar. When Vig left he was able to have a good indoor season and never a good season again. I wish he had the maturity to move out of Texas and keep his coach.

Does anybody really believe that Hernandez wouldn't have been an Olympian if he stayed with Vig? It sucks that Vig left Texas but hernandez should have moved to Charlottesville the second he graduated.

Did Manzano chase the departing Vig?

Was his career doomed?

Far from it. The Olympic silver shows that John Cook did just fine - thank you very much.

So how are you you supposed to know until it's too late?

He suffered a torn labrum of the hip and got surgery but was never the same after - that is a horrible injury. I doubt any coaching change would have done anything. Cook was his coach - the best middle distance coach arguably.

Very good interview with Ryan Fenton here:

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/250049-2013-Indoor-Track-and-Field-on-Flotrack/video/676507-Jacob-Hernandez-annouces-retirement-from-track-and-field

Did he really mention Ray Lewis? Pretty funny if true to link himself to Ray Ray,

Sp!kes, you have no clue - once again. You obviously do not know much about Jacob.

Jacob is one of the true good guys in the sport. Super friendly and a great competitor. His injury just really changed the way he ran, and he never quite looked as smooth. He's the type of guy I hope stays involved in the sport because he could contribute in more ways than just his impressive career.

haha wrote:

Sp!kes, you have no clue - once again. You obviously do not know much about Jacob.

Sp!kes never comments on anything he doesn't know about very well. Jacob Hernandez is a great guy and was a great athlete. My posts are clear: cook is a great coach, maybe the best. But he is NOT a good person at all. An injured Hernandez was a second class citizen to cook and was treated as such.

Jacob would have been treated like a king by vig, the way he always was. Hernandez would have had much more success the past few years if he was with vig. It's as close to a fact as there can be... But in hernandez's defense, he probably thought he was in good hands and he was doing the best he could.

Either way, JH is a great guy and was a great collegiate athlete! Good luck to him!

I am the best poster ever.

did he really mention Ray Lewis?

If true, it reminds of an episode I once saw of this Canadian talk show, The Hour. The host of the show had on the band Rush and was asking the band what songs they play and the host prefaced the question by saying with the Rolling Stones everybody, even Keith Richards, defers to Mick Jagger on what song to play. So when the host asked the band how they decide, Rush' guitarist Alex Lifeson said, "Well, we call Mick Jagger and ask him."

Just because Manzano has had success does not mean that Vig was not a better fit for J-Hern.

This is neither a comment about Vig or Cook, just an observation that there is not a "best coach", but a "best fit". Coaching is a relationship. It is entirely possible that with this specific athlete that Vig was a better fit than Cook.

As a local Austin resident, you always rooted for the local runners to succeed in reaching their career aspirations. Jacob worked hard and trained like no others. He paced Leo Manzano at the Manzano Mile last year for 1200m @2:57. Jacob tried very hard to come back from that hip injury doing many of his runs on Townlake trail. The frustration must have been huge and heartbreaking at the same time, knowing this injury was still preventing him from reaching his full potential. We always yelled encouragement to Jacob. We will remember how good Jacob was in college and wish him the best in his future career endeavors.