How many other people think Hunter should consider going pro in June and stick with Tinman?

There is definitely the possibility of Hunter getting slower during his freshman year at Oregon. Long term though, going to Oregon is like signing a contract with nike.

Who?

I would love to see this happen! I have the same concerns. Tinman is very intentional about not over-training his athletes and letting them develop over time. But it sound like Drew's parents feel pretty comfortable with Andy Powell, and he shares some of the training philosophies as Tinman.

Powell is likely the best coaching match in the NCAA, but tinman might even be better for this particular kid.

I think Tinman is happy Drew is headed to Oregon. I don't think they share any training philosophies but I think it will look like they do for Drew's freshman year. I think that is what they are comfortable with, that Powell won't change everything all at once.

Go Pro! Stick with Tinman!!!! He's awesome!

Yes. I feel the exact same way, but only if he breaks the outdoor mile, 2 mile, & 5k hs records. Going from where he was last year to that level would indicate an approach that goes against the grain - such as skipping an NCAA opportunity.

Coming from a college graduate and white collar professioal -Drew, if you get a professional contract offer, strongly consider it. You can earn an education simultaneously while Tom takes you to the top.

I agree that if it isn't broken, why fix it??

Absolutely agree. My concern is that if he breaks the mile and 2 mile records, and then doesn't turn pro this year, his marketing value can only go down. It would be tough to make it go up much from being a potential Webb like miler at the age of 18. If he can get some kind of crazy contract that will be worth something in the millions for total value, along with education paid for, then he needs to stick with what works.

Bosskk wrote:

Absolutely agree. My concern is that if he breaks the mile and 2 mile records, and then doesn't turn pro this year, his marketing value can only go down. It would be tough to make it go up much from being a potential Webb like miler at the age of 18. If he can get some kind of crazy contract that will be worth something in the millions for total value, along with education paid for, then he needs to stick with what works.

He's not breaking the mile record.

It would be a disaster.

Absolutely not.

If he goes under 13:20 for 5k, and under 3:55(more than once!) and makes it to the finals of usa championships then he should go pro.

Bosskk wrote:

Absolutely agree. My concern is that if he breaks the mile and 2 mile records, and then doesn't turn pro this year, his marketing value can only go down. It would be tough to make it go up much from being a potential Webb like miler at the age of 18. If he can get some kind of crazy contract that will be worth something in the millions for total value, along with education paid for, then he needs to stick with what works.

1. As someone who thinks Oregon gets way too much talent for it to be good for NCAA track, I did laugh today when I thought to myself, "What are the odds he goes pro after this year? How fast would he have to run? Wouldn't it be ironic if Oregon loses him as he goes pro early?" I say ironic as Nike has paid a lot of NCAA stars to go pro early over the years. So congrats on starting a good thread.

2. Tinman is a very good coach but he didn't make Hunter. Quick who was Ritzenhein's HS coach? Yep, you can't name him. Then Ritz had Wetmore, Hudson, Salazar and now himself.

I'd like to see Tinman to continue to coach him but I think college gives guys like Hunter achievable goals. As good as Hunter is, he basically beat no one in the race today. Of everyone who broke four today, he was last. As a pro right now internationally, Hunter would be a zero. He needs to get WAY BETTER to even contemplate it. At the NCAA level, he'd learn how to race gusy of his own ability. The goal for this kids should be 2020 and 2024 and 2028, not 2016.

3. Hunter is not a miler.

Tinman wrote this last February -

- "Drew is not a miler. He’s very much like Craig Virgin (who didn’t start running until his sophomore year in high school, just like Jim Ryun). Craig was a star endurance athlete, who ran a full 2 miles in 8:40 in the early 1970s, his third year of running, and he could clobber people in cross-country due to fantastic aerobic capacity and endurance. Craig was a star in college and beyond, winning two world cross country titles, setting the American record for 10,000m. I think Drew is the same as Craig."

Sully, who was also a HS megastar, decided to go the NCAA way because he was planning to have a long career. He felt that going "pro" early May be better for him in the short run, but that he would feel out of place and grow tired of it quickly.

Being part of a team, being around people his age, running against some of the best young runners in the world would be beneficial for him.

Willis had the same thought I believe.

Will Hunter be able to adapt to a new training routine? That's the big question. It didn't work out well for LV, Webb... But did work out well for Sully, Willis, Ches...

Tough call...

Bbbiyihnhui wrote:

Sully, who was also a HS megastar, decided to go the NCAA way because he was planning to have a long career. He felt that going "pro" early May be better for him in the short run, but that he would feel out of place and grow tired of it quickly.

Being part of a team, being around people his age, running against some of the best young runners in the world would be beneficial for him.

Willis had the same thought I believe.

Will Hunter be able to adapt to a new training routine? That's the big question. It didn't work out well for LV, Webb... But did work out well for Sully, Willis, Ches...

Tough call...

adapt to a new routine....I think this is a good point. And also the personality of the runner. Webb and LV seem to thrive in a 1 on 1 strong bond between coach and runner set up(like a Peter and Seb). What is the coaching relationship between Hunter and Tinman? I think that could be a good indicator of Hunters' future success.

Don't think he is getting a Webb type offer. There have been way more sub-4 high school milers, so he no longer stands out or penetrates the public consciousness the way Webb did.

Hunter's high school coach is his parents, the same ones who've been coaching him since his birth, and nothing has changed.

Bosskk wrote:

I would hate to see another Webb situation happen again. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Am I not the only one who thinks it is worth exploring? Financially it makes sense if he gets a great offer like Webb did, and at Oregon I could see chasing Cheserek being a problem that would lead to overtraining.

what?

Webb ran fantastic as a frosh at Michigan. Then he hurt his achilles. Then he had a sub-par spring (not shocking coming off of injury). Then he quit Michigan.

Back to his HS coach, he had a lot of success, but was really up and down, with many disappointments too.

There is no reason to think that he would not have been at least as successful, and very likely better, if he had stuck it out at Michigan (at least for a couple years), and then hired a well known pro coach (like Salazar but right out of college).

There are not, despite what Tinman says "15 kids as talented and who could run as fast as Hunter if trained properly" (i.e., by his methods).

But there very likely ARE more than 15 coaches around the country that could have Drew running as well, if not better, than he is right now.

Hunter's coach wrote:

Hunter's high school coach is his parents, the same ones who've been coaching him since his birth, and nothing has changed.

^this

Tinman first advised Mrs Hunter, then wrote Drew's workouts, but have just coached him directly for less than a year. In an ideal world Nike would have been an honest and responsible company that would hire Tinman to coach Drew in college.

Bbbiyihnhui wrote:

Sully, who was also a HS megastar, decided to go the NCAA way because he was planning to have a long career. He felt that going "pro" early May be better for him in the short run, but that he would feel out of place and grow tired of it quickly.

Being part of a team, being around people his age, running against some of the best young runners in the world would be beneficial for him.

Willis had the same thought I believe.

Will Hunter be able to adapt to a new training routine? That's the big question. It didn't work out well for LV, Webb... But did work out well for Sully, Willis, Ches...

Tough call...

Verzbicas was a VERY unique case. By the time he'd arrived at Oregon, he'd had a nearly year-long continuous season that involved a double FL/NXN victory in the fall, a triple NBIN victory in the winter, Sub-4 and 8:29 in the Spring/Early Summer, and a World Junior Triathlon Victory in the Fall.

Any coach would've seen that what he really needed was rest, but Oregon was pretty much struggling at that time, and they threw him into heavy training and races almost immediately. RIGHT after he had presumably peaked for the WJT. Couple that with the fact that he'd clearly realized he had a much greater future with the Triathlon, and you end up with the scenario that turned out.