seriously, just stop.
seriously, just stop.
I thought Alex Gibby left right before the 2010 xc season. The 2011-12 freshman would have been Walsh's first recruiting class and should be seniors now. Right now, the team is all his recruits. See how this year's team improves, stays the same or gets worse.
It's a tough call to know what is going on. If he has a different personality than Gibby, maybe Gibby-recruited athletes chaffed under Walsh. Maybe Walsh's personality is fine or perfect for the runners he recruits now. Also, for better or worse, he is also the Director of the entire track and field program. Maybe he is putting more of a focus on getting a more well-rounded team. I get the impression that Gibby focused on getting the 5k-10k-XC guys and going forward with that.
You also have to figure the possibility that other schools, like Virginia Tech, are putting more of an emphasis in getting some distance runners for their teams. I know Tech grabbed two really good runners from West Deptford, NJ.
Posted this in another thread about w&m but thought I should post it here too.
"William and Mary will be a good team this year, regardless of the coaching situation. We are young, motivated, and persistent. Give us the worst cross country coach in the nation and we'll still be a contender at the regional meet. Our coach doesn't define us and our success."
Come visit us if you're interested.
William and Mary is a great place to run. The aura at William and Mary is warm and enjoyable. It has great weather during the school year. There are few distractions because William and Mary is a small liberal arts school in a small town. There are a lot of trails to run on. The place has so much potential for a great team to thrive.
That being said, Walsh is an uncomfortable unlikable person. He has so many awkward idiosyncrasies that are hard to explain. He was very mentally abusive to his runners while I was there. The team is performing at an average level for a division one team with sufficient resources in scholarships and finances. The team has become a lot worse since the Gibby era. Also Walsh puts a lot of emphasis on the noncompetitive, insignificant CAA Championship, which includes about three men teams. He knows about as much in running as any other coach, but is pretty terrible at communicating his knowledge to his athletes, and he is unwilling to do anything different from the norm of standard training.
Ok, I see that there might be a bit of a different opinion. I guess part of my question is how much is it the coach or how much is other possible circumstance.I am as much curious as the OP because (a) I went to the school between 1996-2000 (did not run) and I am attached to the school; and (b) one of the top runners on my xc team is considering on visiting W&M (he is also considering Haverford and Swathmore).I don't want to dissuade him from my old school. I saw positives from the women's program. Part of me has some disbelief that the Director of both programs has completely different levels of success just because of one assistant coach (Jen Miller). On the other hand, I cannot ignore being the top regional team falling to 6th and 8th place finishes.Posted this in another thread about w&m but thought I should post it here too."William and Mary will be a good team this year, regardless of the coaching situation. We are young, motivated, and persistent. Give us the worst cross country coach in the nation and we'll still be a contender at the regional meet. Our coach doesn't define us and our success."Come visit us if you're interested.Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5926775&page=1#ixzz38Vihi4RC
Former Runner wrote:
William and Mary is a great place to run. The aura at William and Mary is warm and enjoyable. It has great weather during the school year. There are few distractions because William and Mary is a small liberal arts school in a small town. There are a lot of trails to run on. The place has so much potential for a great team to thrive.
That being said, Walsh is an uncomfortable unlikable person. He has so many awkward idiosyncrasies that are hard to explain. He was very mentally abusive to his runners while I was there. The team is performing at an average level for a division one team with sufficient resources in scholarships and finances. The team has become a lot worse since the Gibby era. Also Walsh puts a lot of emphasis on the noncompetitive, insignificant CAA Championship, which includes about three men teams. He knows about as much in running as any other coach, but is pretty terrible at communicating his knowledge to his athletes, and he is unwilling to do anything different from the norm of standard training.
The problem is that your chief recruiter for men's distance is not able to recruit potential All-Americans. (some say it is his first impression and awkward personality)
The days of bringing in a Brian Hyde, Paul Vandergrift, Matt Lane and Christo Landry are over without a change at the top !!!
A10 fan wrote:
The problem is that your chief recruiter for men's distance is not able to recruit potential All-Americans. (some say it is his first impression and awkward personality)
The days of bringing in a Brian Hyde, Paul Vandergrift, Matt Lane and Christo Landry are over without a change at the top !!!
Was he doing the recruiting for the women's team?
Colin Sahlman runs 1:45 and Nico Young runs 1:47 in the 800m tonight at the Desert Heat Classic
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Female coach having affair with male runner. Should I report it?