4 years ago
08/16/2015 2:30pm CDT
Who wants to be there to laugh in the sprinters' faces when they hire another distance coach as the head and quickly realize they will remain token "numbers?" Going with a Mid-D/Distance team is simple strategy...nothing more. Same thing as recruiting and coaching basketball players to compete with a fast-paced offense or steady defense. Same thing as approaching football with the "west coast offense" or a better "ground game." Every coach has to evaluate how to be successful given their situation - strengths and weaknesses. A place like Georgetown will never be successful nationally in the sprints...why you go with Mid-D & Distance runners. It has nothing to do with race. Some of the best XC/Distance programs in the country do this all the time.
The chilling result though is that coaching staffs are letting their minority/female athletes get away with whatever they want to avoid sabotage even more. We all know what really happened at Georgetown. These kids know how to say the right thing for selfish reasons. So whenever potential conflict arises with these kids, they're just patted on the head as the staff looks the other way. I know - I'm an assistant coach at a Power Five school. Everyone knows who the trouble kids are that would throw you under the bus in a heart beat to get what they want...so you just appease them until they are gone...and get ready for the next incoming class of athletes who think this world revolves around them.
