Metcalf steps down from coaching at University of Washington

Olaf the Viking wrote:

Go away wrote:

Clearly you would not last a Day in the military. Good thing lots of people are in possession of greater fortitude than you. They are made of better stuff.

It’s fortitude to allow some clown to set the parameters of your life and control you with abusive authority? Or is it fortitude to stand up in these situations and say “no, you aren’t going to treat me this way. I am a human being and I have self-worth. What you are doing is not okay with me.”

Sounds like you’re a sheep mate, but keep telling us all that you’re a tough guy ;)

That’s exactly the kind of thing a coward would say, mate. That’s ok though, not everyone has what it takes.

Posts disappearing quickly here. HMMMM

Don’t talk about poorly about the brojos is the first rule of letsrun. Rojo sleeping with a female athlete is a stretch since he and his brother couldn’t be any more awkward

Go away wrote:

Olaf the Viking wrote:

It’s fortitude to allow some clown to set the parameters of your life and control you with abusive authority? Or is it fortitude to stand up in these situations and say “no, you aren’t going to treat me this way. I am a human being and I have self-worth. What you are doing is not okay with me.”

Sounds like you’re a sheep mate, but keep telling us all that you’re a tough guy ;)

That’s exactly the kind of thing a coward would say, mate. That’s ok though, not everyone has what it takes.

Cowards have self worth and stand up for themselves :,) love it.

you may not have realized, but you just proved my point so many times!

the kids are not being abused..... they are being coached at the D1 sports level.

I am not comparing how a sec football player vs a female distance runner is being handled... im comparing how a college athlete is being handled versus how another college athlete is being handled.

the coaches arent' being dicks to get response, they are treating them like D1 atheltes.

So if you can't see that then I guess my humble brag about being coached in different sports needs to be a lot less humble.

You don't win at the top level without sacrifice. Some think that it's too much to sacrifice for a fancy ring, and they might be right. Once again I haven't seen anyone post specific acts by Metcalf. So it may just be he has a gruff personality, or maybe he has runners who don't want a coach yelling at them, or maybe he is a sociopath. But a demanding yelling coach isn't anything unusual and it isn't being a dick either. Cheers.

fdgf wrote:

I'm a former Division I head coach from the early 2000's and am completely grateful I moved on unscathed or caught up in today's athlete-coach climate. I feel for these coaches having to deal with the instant social media fall-out, where anything you say or do can be misinterpreted by the student-athlete and become a big issue overnight.

I don’t hve a difficult conversation with an athlete in my office without my administrator there. If I have to have one outside of that setting or the administrator isn’t available, I let the athlete know I am recording the whole thing, sometimes via video. Sometimes I record it even if the admin is present. Keeps everyone calmer & protects against one of those little bastards lieing about what happened. Had it happen too many times for me not to protect myself now...

That was a good post that disappeared...

Smart coaches know that you need to motivate and coach different people in different ways. For some people, old-style is the best way, while for others, you need to show them some encouragement and others still, be their therapist.

Some people simply shut down when they are criticized. Are they soft? Yes. They are soft. You recruited them. Are you going to get the best out of them or not?

In distance running, you do not maximize your team's performances by running them through the meat grinder. What you do is you get them injured and they don't score any points for you. You can't replace them with new scholarship runners in-season. All you do is cost yourself the recruiting spots for several years. Look at Stanford over the past few years until this year's conference champs. They have had top, top recruits doing nothing, off the shelf, quitting the team, or underperforming and out.

Pushing 50 mpw athletes to 90 mpw and much harder workouts right away as freshman makes no sense because they burn out or get injured in most cases and almost always underperform compared to high school, yet that is the dominant practice for guys' teams in D1 and you could get far, far more value by gradually stepping up their mileage and training intensity.

zxcvzxcv wrote:

Smart coaches know that you need to motivate and coach different people in different ways. For some people, old-style is the best way, while for others, you need to show them some encouragement and others still, be their therapist.

Some people simply shut down when they are criticized. Are they soft? Yes. They are soft. You recruited them. Are you going to get the best out of them or not?

the only sensible post on this thread so far. Some kids are soft, some kids are tough. At the end of the day, it's about individualizing not just the training, but the coaching temperament.

Go away wrote:

Clearly you would not last a Day in the military. Good thing lots of people are in possession of greater fortitude than you. They are made of better stuff.

Olaf the Viking wrote:

It’s fortitude to allow some clown to set the parameters of your life and control you with abusive authority? Or is it fortitude to stand up in these situations and say “no, you aren’t going to treat me this way. I am a human being and I have self-worth. What you are doing is not okay with me.”

Sounds like you’re a sheep mate, but keep telling us all that you’re a tough guy ;)

Well said, and absolutely true.

DI Coach wrote:

protects against one of those little bastards lieing about what happened. Had it happen too many times for me not to protect myself now...

People like this should be kept away from society.

Good grief .... wrote:

DI Coach wrote:

protects against one of those little bastards lieing about what happened. Had it happen too many times for me not to protect myself now...

People like this should be kept away from society.

Agree. An absolute danger. Guy is supposed to be an authority figure and example who fosters growth and here he is referring to his pupils and little bastards. Why are you even in coaching? Majority don't make a good salary and you're probably not remotely close to a major championship and you hate the kids? Cool. Something about this professional attracts narcissistic freaks.

You either do not coach or you don’t coach at a high level. He speaks the truth. Maybe he shouldn’t have said “little bastards” because you take it so personally but it is the truth. No matter how well you think you know and trust these kids - you don’t. Always document everything. Smart move having an administrator in with you during difficult conversations. It is usually only a very small percentage of extremely low character kids but just 1-2 could severely harm your career. Do not trust them.

Giggity!!!

Once again you seem to have missed the point... No, not all D1 successful programs treat their athletes harshly. Which is what I have been debating you about.

And no I haven't made your point...not once.

And how would you know if the kids are being abused or not?

And if you are not comparing SEC football to UW female distance runners why did you mention Nick Saban? - he coaches SEC football..

And if a coach is a sociopath it's not okay... nor is it 'normal' behavior for a D1 coach.

And I am not saying Metcalf is a sociopath... I have no idea how it was with his program. He may be a great coach.

And yes, I played other sports but ran D1 so I 'know' what good coaches are like and I know bad ones too.

And are you a D1 coach? (Don't answer this if you are.)

And yes the world has changed and will continue to change... those who can't adapt will have issues.

And since we are both generalizing it sounds like this discussion is pointless.

And 'cheers' is my line.

Cheers!

zxcvzxcv wrote:

Smart coaches know that you need to motivate and coach different people in different ways. For some people, old-style is the best way, while for others, you need to show them some encouragement and others still, be their therapist.

Some people simply shut down when they are criticized. Are they soft? Yes. They are soft. You recruited them. Are you going to get the best out of them or not?

Bravo!!

Cheers

I know that 99.9% of the posters on this website do not know the coaches they are complaining about. I guess its a sad commentary on our society, that individuals who have never been in the profession would criticize for things that they "heard" might have happened. Social media sites have been a great example of this occurrence. It is truly unfortunate that some lost their job. I personally do know Greg, and have been at countless meets where he has been at. I have heard him speak to both men and women athletes on his teams, and not once did I consider anything he ever said anything but respectful. And yes, I had heard the whispers about his behavior. But I never saw it. And then I had the opportunity to have dinner with him and several others. It struck me when he spoke about his team, how much he cared about them, and how he spoke glowingly about his athletes. He also came across as sincerely loving to coach. We can all tell when someone is BS'ing us, and he came across as honest and sincere in his words. Does this mean something wasn't going on? Of course not, but there are always two sides to a story, and from what I have been able to see, he always complimented his athletes, and spoke well of them. Something obviously happened, but none of us will ever know. Some times change is good and I hope this change will be good for UW, and for Greg and the members of his staff who will probably also lose their jobs.

Olaf the Viking wrote:

Go away wrote:

That’s exactly the kind of thing a coward would say, mate. That’s ok though, not everyone has what it takes.

Cowards have self worth and stand up for themselves :,) love it.

No doubt you stand up and run away.