Arcadia HS - Coach O'Brien

CTIX wrote:

I found this posted earlier in this thread....Does anyone have more detail on this? Interesting...............

Well Andrew a long time ago Jim O'Brien was the head coach of both Track and Field and Cross-Country at Arcadia HS, but was removed from three of the four positions by then athletic director Doug Speck.

Now why would someone as respected as Doug Speck have to remove O'Brien over two decades ago? Inform me?

Link to Doug Speck....

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/sports/20100306/high-schools-former-track-coach-speck-62-dies

He didn't, because it wasn't true. It's been well documented that O'Brien resigned from the head track position on his own accord, and O'Brien focused on the distance kids and the boys cross country team.

fishy wrote:

Oh no wrote:

Arcadia HS officially starts school today. 8/27 get your facts straight!

Fine, I was wrong on that. But let's see whether O'Brien shows up to cross country practice today. Does anyone who's familiar with the situation want to report back?

I would drive there myself to find out if I were close by.

"Drive there myself to find out"

Maybe you might be the one needing the restraining order?

And of course your WRONG AGAIN.

New Coach Ferraco headed practice, no O'brien.

Hook, line, and sinker fishy! Bye bye!

Oh no wrote:

And of course your WRONG AGAIN.

New Coach Ferraco headed practice, no O'brien.

Hook, line, and sinker fishy! Bye bye!

So a new era began today. O'Brien is out and Ferraco is in. Now that St. O'Brien's army is MIA, what do we call Ferraco's group? Ferraco's Civilians?

New Coach Ferraco headed practice, no O'brien.

Were you there? Or did you hear this from someone on the team?

Just curious, because it seems that there are so people on this thread (and letsrun by definition) that seem to have the inside scoop on things. This appears to be statistically improbable. Either someone's lying, or the same person is posting under multiple usernames.

Man, I would be surprised if one of my high school teammates even read this forum.

Nightcap RE: Arcadia HS - Coach O'Brien 6/19/2013 8:08PM - in reply to Cali Guy Reply | Return to Index | Report Post The person who said that Doug Speck fired Jim O'Brien at Arcadia over two decades ago got it wrong. Doug Speck fired Jim O'Brien something like 14 years ago, but he did fire him. Another poster states O'Brien fired 14 years ago, by the highly respected Doug Speck!

fishay wrote:

CTIX wrote:

I found this posted earlier in this thread....Does anyone have more detail on this? Interesting...............

Well Andrew a long time ago Jim O'Brien was the head coach of both Track and Field and Cross-Country at Arcadia HS, but was removed from three of the four positions by then athletic director Doug Speck.

Now why would someone as respected as Doug Speck have to remove O'Brien over two decades ago? Inform me?

Link to Doug Speck....

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/sports/20100306/high-schools-former-track-coach-speck-62-dies

He didn't, because it wasn't true. It's been well documented that O'Brien resigned from the head track position on his own accord, and O'Brien focused on the distance kids and the boys cross country team.

Noticed Arcadia wasn't at their usual spot in front of everyone last weekend. Just a handful of individuals. Thought this thread might be updated by someone who has followed the aftermath? Did O'Brien's departure end the dominance or were they due for a rotation?

Update on old story wrote:

Noticed Arcadia wasn't at their usual spot in front of everyone last weekend. Just a handful of individuals. Thought this thread might be updated by someone who has followed the aftermath? Did O'Brien's departure end the dominance or were they due for a rotation?

A HUGE portion of the team was very upset that O'Brien was forced to leave, and I recall some of them were talking about how O'Brien made very large time commitments both during and out of the season to them.

It's very unlikely that Arcadia just somehow manages to spontaneously produce National-Level teams, so O'Brien probably had something to do with it. I doubt many coaches are as committed or effective as he is, so yes, O'Brien's departure probably had something to do with it.

Update on old story wrote:

Noticed Arcadia wasn't at their usual spot in front of everyone last weekend. Just a handful of individuals. Thought this thread might be updated by someone who has followed the aftermath? Did O'Brien's departure end the dominance or were they due for a rotation?

I think their lower showing this year has more to do with the turnover of their top runners than the departure of O'Brien (though I'm sure that is a factor) If you look at Arcadia's 2013 squad, it consisted of 6 seniors and Philip Rocha, a soph (not Junior) and the 2014 champion at 14:58 which was the fastest time of the day.

Also note that the Arcadia girls had perhaps their best year ever finishing 6th in state D1 - also coached by Michael Feraco-Eberle.

All teams go in cycles based on the kids they get. I think Arcadia is in good hands and will continue to turn out top teams.

Many successful people in higher and more important positions have lost their job because they could not get a long with their boss.

However note, that the Arcadia girls ran significantly slower at the state meet than what they did earlier at the Clovis Invitational.

I don't care how good of a coach O'Brien is. He walks around with a squirrel on his shoulder so all bets are off. He is a loon!

Massive Parent Protest:

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/12/01/parents-protest-holy-trinity-coach-dismissal/19731187/

Coach O'Brien is involved with both Girls and Boys teams. They are all part of his O'Briens Army. He can't publicly take credit, but believe me Feraco is a follower not the leader of this group.