U-M Combines Men's and Women's Track and Field Programs

College Running D1

6 years ago 08/31/2017 9:52pm EDT

The only change I see is that if one assistant coach leaves either the men's team or the women's team then the position will be filled by the assistant coach of the other team. Thus through attrition there will eventually be just one assistant coach for each area who works with both the men and women.

Just how long will co-head coaches work out either due to inability to agree or due to someone wanting to be "the" head coach.

I have a lot of respect for U-M XC and T&F athletes but I am not sure how this will be a improvement given what is in the announcement. It looks like a cost cutting move to me.

http://mgoblue.com/news/2017/8/31/general-u-m-combines-mens-and-womens-track-and-field-programs.aspx

6 years ago 08/31/2017 10:05pm EDT

re: Mich Parent

Huh, that's interesting. Combining programs has been the trend for a while. I think U of Illinois combined a year or two ago, and many other Big ten programs have long been combined as well.

I'll be curious how things go with the distance coaching. McGuire has obviously had great success on the women's side, but Sullivan has been doing well in his own right and the men have improved under him. Michigan is a more distance-focused program, so maybe they'll just keep two "separate" distance coaches, but I think that'd be unusual for a combined program.

6 years ago 08/31/2017 10:39pm EDT

re: B1G fan

6 years ago 09/01/2017 4:40am EDT

re: Voodoo Chile

Title IX evasion?"

-------------------------

Not really. Are both fully funded and if so that means the women have more $$$ to work with having about 6 more 'ships.

6 years ago 09/01/2017 5:38am EDT

re: Mich Parent

Combining programs is by far the best way to have specialized coaching throughout the events.

Sprints

Throws

Jumps

Mid distance

Distance

Polevault

These often all have specialized coaching. Having a combined program means a school is allowed to hire someone for each of these roles, rather than having 3 general coaches for each sex (sprints, field, distance). Smart move.

6 years ago 09/01/2017 6:44am EDT

re: B1G fan

B1G fan wrote:
I'll be curious how things go with the distance coaching. McGuire has obviously had great success on the women's side, but Sullivan has been doing well in his own right and the men have improved under him. Michigan is a more distance-focused program, so maybe they'll just keep two "separate" distance coaches, but I think that'd be unusual for a combined program.

Kyle Terwillegar wrote:
Associate head coach McGuire will continue to work with the female distance runners, while Sullivan will continue to guide the male distance runners.

6 years ago 09/08/2017 7:57am EDT

re: Mich Parent

The biggest advantage seems to be that it allows for a single person to coach 1) the men's/women's jumps and 2) the men's/women's throws. That frees up the other coaches who were performing those roles for the separate genders before to focus more on their own areas of expertise. Plus, having Jerry coach the women throwers now is a huge plus, he made huge progress with the men this year.

6 years ago 09/08/2017 3:45pm EDT

re: Voodoo Chile

Voodoo Chile wrote:
Title IX evasion?

Athletic program cuts in anticipation of shortfall in charitable contributions due to fallout after court ruling regarding tax avoidance scheme by University of Michigan's largest donor, Stephen M. Ross?

I was waiting for someone else to bring up the topic but no one did.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/08/27/stephen-ross-tax-break-gift-michigan/563170001/

I hope he completed his donation in full for the project for the athletics department.

http://umaec.umich.edu/projects/major-projects/stephen-m-ross-athletic-campus-athletics-south-competition-and-performance-project/

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