yoyomama wrote:
On the Thomas Ratcliffe thread there was some discussion as to why it would be a bad decision to redshirt him at Stanford,
My choice for the worst decision was Jerry's choice to redshirt Matt Withrow as a freshman which probably cost him a NCAA championship bonus. WIthrow went on to run 13:35 and make the senior national cross country team in the spring. Apparently young Matthew was outclassed by the older runners in the early practices and the rest is history.
The lesson is if a runner is in All-American form you should run him. It is just that simple,
Right. And I'm sure Schumacher was assuming Withrow would be made of glass and not improve after freshman year. Him racing freshman NCAA XC could have meant being injured by the time senior XC came around and no outdoor 13:35, no one knows.
Unless you're talking about a Ritzenhein type freshman its never a bad idea to redshirt a freshman/transfer in. Gives them time to adjust to the program and shows a coach is focused on the long term development of an athlete not short term results.
Like someone already said, I'm sure some of the best NCAA coaches in the nation are thankful for your insightful advice on coaching.