Metcalf steps down from coaching at University of Washington

growns up wrote:

methinks wrote:

Yes this is why Metcalf was reported and removed from his position at UW. For microagressions (*snicker*).

I don’t worry about angry little trolls like you. You evoke nothing but pity and bafflement from me.

So we agree there are times when a coach can be stern, we're just negotiating the line.

Sure- sternness is a useful technique and trait characteristic of effective leaders, parents, teachers, coaches ... even loving friends. Big difference between sterness and abuse. There’s no negotiating this line. You do not maltreat people. You do not use them. You do not abuse them. You keep their best interests in your line of vision - all else is a secondary priority, including your own personal benefits. If you can’t do this, you have no business coaching or being a parent for that matter. You devalue yourself by doing so.

methinks wrote:

So we agree there are times when a coach can be stern, we're just negotiating the line.

[/quote]

Stern = this is what is expected and I am holding you to it

Abusive = you're a fat POS and a butthurt libtar* snowflake, get moving you p***y faced a** li****!

Many people that come out to defend the abuser are really just trying to explain the abuse they've experienced, either at the hands of a coach or some other person.

stereotype befitting wrote:

Former Sub 14:00 wrote:

So, he was a jerk and did inappropriate things (per your admittance). He even does that now. So he has been consistent with it for some time. You are mad about snitches? Cronyism at its finest. Loyal to a fault. I coach in D1 as well and you are OUT if you do any of this. What about any other job? You think an office worker would last a second? You sound like an absolute idiot. Literally a fool. You call these guys wimps but you have your head so far up Greg's a**hole you can probably see out the other side.

Coming forward about the things these "men" complained about isn't snitching - it's being a p*ssy. These gentlemen reinforced the stereotype of the soft PNW males.

Honestly, if you had a guy who you believed was a raging a**hole to you, would you just sit there and take it? Maybe you like bending over and touching your ankles, but apparently these kids didn't and decided to do something about it. Only the people above him can even do anything about it in the first place so that is where they had to go. Plus if Greg was totally innocent in all of this why didn't he defend himself? Maybe he is the wimp in that case if he just rolled on over. Maybe it wasn't worth fighting over? Well in that case you deserve to get canned if you don't have the passion for your program to fight for it in the first place.

You guys don't really make sense sometimes. You just throw the definition of a blubbering vagina out whenever you disagree with someone. Honestly, your sentiments are more akin to that definition you so like to use then what they are doing. What they did takes guts. Especially since they could have been anonymous but they decided not to (unlike everyone on this board--including me).

Hey bud,

There's a difference between 'sitting there and taking it' and 'not letting it shatter your precious fragile sense of self so badly that you vindictively try to ruin the guys life years after you've already left the program'.

That's what people have an issue with.

You've escalated the description from him being a jerk at times to him being a raging a**hole (and you fell back on the stance that being complacent in the matter, something most of the team believed was appropriate, is akin to ankle-grabbing). Those are different ballparks and the accusations I've read in articles lean more towards the former than the latter.

I don't know and don't care why he did or didn't fight the accusations.

I don't think it takes guts to cry about being called names when running poorly or told that you came back from the off-season a little heavy. Maybe you all have a lower standard for "guts" out there.

The article from the school newspaper makes it pretty clear that he was way over the top in his obnoxiousness to the point of creating over 41% turnover, at least 50% higher than other major programs, continually literally poking and prodding the athletes to see if they had any body fat (a 6'3" 150 guy with 2.1% body fat was getting this!), calling them profanities, and so forth. The fact that he had such turnover and thus undermined the possibility of success shows that he needed to be fired. It is very unhealthy to be bugged continually about body weight, although if this were a football coach, he'd have been able to get away with a lot more. Football coaches are all about watching what guys eat and all about their weight, just in the reverse direction, and they let the profanity flow like smoothies in the buffet line at the athlete's dining hall. But there has to be a point to it and Metcalf had clearly lost a sense for what is and is not important. If your athletes are running a fast 60-80 mpw, which is not that much, and they are not fully physically mature, they need to eat a lot of nutritious food and get a lot of sleep or they will not be able to improve and compete. And the pressure not to eat and to lose weight cost them a lot of down time and a lot of lost athletes. You have to understand that at 18-22, virtually everyone is going to be gaining weight, including muscle, and if the training and nutrition are good, they are going to get stronger and faster simultaneously. Too many coaches take the weight-pace calculations too seriously and actually think that weight is the ultimate issue. They lose out on a lot of strength and speed. Just look at the fastest miler probably in UW history, Izaaic Yorks, who ran 3:53, front-running, for them. He was very strong and by no means anorexic. That power was a key to his success. How many other prodigies would Metcalf have had if he had let them develop naturally?

Here's Izaic Yorks beating Sean McGorty, another strong athlete, in that 3:53 race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcVAqvRiSIs

Yes, "most of the team" apparently aren't the ones who thought he did something inappropriate to them as far as the article states. However, it doesn't matter if out of 100 runners only these 3 who came out are the ones who have been slighted. You can't do that as a coach to anyone and expect you to keep your job. Just because you are a D1 coach doesn't mean you are somehow above university policy. I guarantee you that if a professor or any other employee in this public (by the way) institution did that, they would be gone in a second. I just don't understand why everyone here feels the need to defend this guy. My definition of him doesn't matter in the end either. You never addressed WHY he didn't try to defend himself? Either he knew it to be true (get fired) or didn't have the energy to fight it (you don't care enough anyways, so get out).

This isn't a "Greg camp vs Greg haters" tribalism thing going on here with the team. It is: did he do this or not to these three individuals (presumably not the only ones) who came forth? If the answer is yes, then he has to go no matter what. If the answer is no, then he should have stayed and fought and can only blame himself for not doing so. By the way, he apparently was warned in 2014....so he had a chance. I know other coaches who didn't even get that.

The good old days are long and dead of coaching. You aren't even a D1 coach for all I know. Well I am and have seen a couple of my friends get canned for the same thing over the years. I was bummed for them, but they NEED to adapt. If you were working for a company when new management came on board and you didn't get aboard the train you are GONE. These aren't private little training groups we have going on here. We are employees of the University and State. Greg, myself, and all other coaches are expected to abide by certain standards. Sorry, but it doesn't sound like he could do that.

For the record, I never said they should have been complacent. Don't know what "stance" I was falling back on. You gonna address the real issues here or not?

Purple Elephant wrote:

I voted for Trump and I think coaches should conduct themselves with professionalism and treat everyone in a stern by RESPECTFUL way, but also stern. Did I mention stern?

If you think that coaches should conduct themselves with professionalism, why don't you think that our president should conduct himself with professionalism?

You are conflating my derision of "athletes" who can't take an insult without crying to a defense of Metcalf or an attack on the administration for his dismissal. This is not the case.

If we are going to keep discussing opinions then you think what they are doing is wrong and I will keep thinking what they did was right. You want to keep calling them names, I'll keep calling you names. We can keep going in circles for not reason or we leave it at that or talk about actual issues (i.e. him stepping down).

You should just be very glad that you made the right move and went to Portland. Rob Conner is awesome, should not be spoken of in the same breath as Greg. I get why you looked up to Greg since you were a freshman and he was the big star and team leader at the time. He's not the worst person in the world but he has issues; I'm not surprised by anything I've read. I doubt you would have had the results with Greg that you had under Rob, but perhaps I'm wrong.

I hope Washington finally gets a coach who can bring the program to true greatness. UW with the local talent available should be on par with Oregon. Too bad Tyson or Conner never got hold of the program. I also hope Greg can move forward and deal with the issues that led to this, and find success elsewhere.

zxzxcvzxcv wrote:

Purple Elephant wrote:

I voted for Trump and I think coaches should conduct themselves with professionalism and treat everyone in a stern by RESPECTFUL way, but also stern. Did I mention stern?

If you think that coaches should conduct themselves with professionalism, why don't you think that our president should conduct himself with professionalism?

Because we live in an age of reality show TV where people mistake decency as personal weakness and viciousness as personal strength. It's all about keeping the masses entertained.

To the kid who said he has 2.5 percent - bwahahaha. Stop exaggerating. What else is he exaggerating? His poor treatment? Me thinks so!

4-6% is generally considered a physiological minimum for human males.

Well said . wrote:

Drinkin’ Double Shooters wrote:

Uhhh. It’s called battery, potentially sexual harassment... walk around down town pinching people’s stomachs and telling them to lean out. See how long before the PD has you in cuffs.

You don’t go around touching people. That’s just like... societal norms...

How is anyone even surprised? You go around acting like a dick and eventually people act like a dick back to you? Never heard of this phenomenon. Brings me to the conclusion that he either has exceptionally low IQ to the point that he can’t comprehend societal standards, orrrr he thinks he is a special exception to the standards.

It’s not hard to behave yourself.

It's hard for many here to behave themselves, as they were raised to believe they were special and worthy of greater respect than the athletes they coach. They feel their voices should be heard and given more weight than their athletes who have legitimate gripes. Apparently they never learned healthy boundaries or impulse control.

valvular wrote:

zxzxcvzxcv wrote:

If you think that coaches should conduct themselves with professionalism, why don't you think that our president should conduct himself with professionalism?

Because we live in an age of reality show TV where people mistake decency as personal weakness and viciousness as personal strength. It's all about keeping the masses entertained.

I’m just spit-balling here but I’m pretty sure his point was that he is not a social justice liberal and also supports treating athletes with basic dignity.

Where is the talk of the process or departmental/University policy procedure in all of this?

The proceedure is this: student athlete(s) set meeting with athletic department, athletic department recommends they file a formal complaint within HR, HR launches an investigation, report is produced with conclusion of findings, action is taken.

Even though nobody is talking about it, the above process happened....at least once and possibly multiple times (you can request the public record and see). I would say that Greg had his due process and was given a chance to correct behavior. He was fortunate in this and likely given leinience based on his previous successes and long tenure.