Michigan Track Head Coach Fred Laplante Retires

As a Wolverine, I couldn't be happier if this is true. Rich Rod in football and Fred in track were never a good fit. It's just a shame it took this long to get rid of Fred.

I ran for Ron and enjoyed that time immensely, but he's not the answer to Michigan's problems. I'm not ready to give up on Gibby, but he's not the head coach Michigan needs either.

I would really like to see a Michigan guy/girl get the job. Is McGuire interested?

Also a Michigan alum....I would be very interested in McGuire's interes. He's done a phenomenal job on the women's side. Seems well respected within the coaching community. I will be very curious in the direction Michigan goes on this one---I have been impressed with Dave Brandon so I hope he makes a good hire.

Freddie is a decent coach of individuals (Aristu 4th in NCAA 400m Hurdles this weekend), but he wasn't able to lead the team, and that is what it takes as a head coach in a major conference.

Michigan is a funny school to be a coach at. All the walk-ons they get are high class academic guys, and so as soon as they realize they aren't the big dogs on the team (like they were in HS), they go into cruise control in their approach to sport and focus mainly on their studies and social life.

The new Head coach needs to find a way to get walk-ons to see the value in their place on the team, and keep committed for 4 years, not just the first year. The key to scoring well at Big 10s is having lots of walk-ons become partial scholarship guys in field events, multis and mid-distance and pick at 3rd-5th place points.

So hard to recruit when out of state tuition is so high, and you only get 12.8 scholarships though. Many of the other Big 10 schools have agreements with neighboring states to allow in-state tuition rates. These other Big 10 schools such as Wisconsin, Minnesotta, Ohio State, Nebraska and Penn State also dont have a rival in state D1 public school to compete with in recruiting.

I hear Pat Henry wants in

Happened Today. Discuss possible replacements / future of program.

LetsRun.com Note: We've changed the title of this thread to reflect the fact Lapante retired and was NOT fired. The link to the story on him is below:

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-track/spec-rel/061013aab.html

David Kaiser was the best thing that happened to the T&F program during his time there from 2004-2010. Let's hope he gets an interview for the position.

I hope Gibby is next. Then bring back Ronnie.

It's too cold for sprinters and too many liberals..

Tough break for Gibby unless the AD truly considers him a head coach and cross country a real sport?

I agree that most distance coaches are not ready to be head of a big ten team and Gibby seems much more suited to working with a group of 15 runners.

Can't imagine Mike M. Would want the responsibility because he has a pretty nice gig going as it is.

Why too bad for Gibby? He is a good cross country coach and can develop long distance talent on the track. That is a very decent full time gig. I think the ideal would be to bring in a head coach who can complement Gibby with his or her own strengths in sprints, hurdles, or field. A couple of other random thoughts.1. Dave Brandon is no dummy. He probably had Laplante step down. Wouldn't be surprised if he had successor lined up.2. What about Sully?

say it aint so please wrote:

Tough break for Gibby unless the AD truly considers him a head coach and cross country a real sport?

I agree that most distance coaches are not ready to be head of a big ten team and Gibby seems much more suited to working with a group of 15 runners.

Can't imagine Mike M. Would want the responsibility because he has a pretty nice gig going as it is.

How much Head coaching experience (let alone non-volunteer coaching experience) does Sullivan have?!

His wife is a better candidate (and alum) with more experience.

The rumor on Michigan sites (Rivals) is that Gibby has been made director. I have no idea the source of this rumor. Gibby has done fairly well with modest recruits in the long distances (Beams, Albaugh, Rayyan) but they have really lacked in the sprints/mid distance. Much better in the throws this year. One of the problems with Michigan is that their fastest sprinters are football players who don't run track. As others have posted, it's hard to have a Northern school attract sprinters. The football team has already signed a 5 star DB for 2015 with a 10.54 FAT time (as a Junior in HS) which is FASTER than any sprinter Michigan has this year. I really feel that the only way for Michigan to ever truly compete in T&F is to get some of these FB players to run track. The other option is to fill the team with mid-distance/distance runners/throwers and try to compete in that way.

How about John Mortimer? He's got the experience and is an alumnus. But, I suppose with Millennium Running, he probably doesn't have room on his plate.

They should just give Gibby all 12.8 scholarships and have him recruit 20 sub 9 guys, and run them 140 miles a week. They will get top 3 at NCAA xc, and be able to get more points int he 5,10 and steeple, than anything they'd get with sprints or field scholarships

If Gibby is made head coach, I wouldn't doubt it if he takes this approach. I also wouldn't be surprised if this leads to better success than they've had recently.

Who will take over the failing middle distance program? Would the best option be to hire a MD/long sprints guy and give up on the sprint program? Perhaps just rely on the occasional FB sprinter (Woolfolk/Denard)?

Fred LaPlante is a good coach, and even a better human being. I don't know the politics that went on at Michigan. But Fred was always a class act and a good guy. i hope he lands on his feet soon. Good luck Freddy!

Make Gibby the head coach/xc coach, and then hire Rondell Ruff to coach sprints and mid-distance.

Ruff is currently the sprints coach at Army, but was a 1.49, 3.45 guy while running at Michigan.

This way you keep it in the Michigan Family, and make sure no events are ignored.