New Notre Dame head coach

ND stopped being Catholic when Obama came to town and asked them to cover up the name of our Lord, and ND complied. The proper response to the Saul Alinsky POTUS should have been “stick it in your socialist @$$.”

What were your ballpark HS times and are you a white Protestant? If so,, you probably ran 1:52 or 4:10 or 9:05.

Michigan has one of the largest xc rosters in the country. They carry 30 guys on their roster and they have a handful of others in the team. They are very welcoming knowing that a few 9:20 kids will go on to run 13:55.

I think you're missing my point. Everyone has the male scholarship limit of 12.6. If you focus on distance you have a real shot at an NCAA XC title (or podium at NCAA and/or ACC conference champs) as well as distance AA titles in track. I would agree that a focus on distance makes it difficult to win a team title in T&F. But, UVA and VA Tech have done well with distance + throws and distance + pole vault respectively.

I don't think Notre Dame can / should try to build a complete T&F team with Sprints, Jumps, Throws and Distance. They're not going to beat Oregon or the Sprint-focused SEC schools, IMO.

I do think they should focus on distance or distance + 1 field specialty like Throws or Pole Vault. They have a great Pole Vaulter now, so focus on that? Copy VA Tech, but out recruit them. That's a viable strategy. Trying to copy Oregon is not, IMO.

Cathoholic wrote:

ND stopped being Catholic when Obama came to town and asked them to cover up the name of our Lord, and ND complied. The proper response to the Saul Alinsky POTUS should have been “stick it in your socialist @$$.”

Didn’t happen.

Methodman wrote:

Cathoholic wrote:

ND stopped being Catholic when Obama came to town and asked them to cover up the name of our Lord, and ND complied. The proper response to the Saul Alinsky POTUS should have been “stick it in your socialist @$$.”

Didn’t happen.

True. It was Georgetown that covered the Lord’s name. Obama asked ND to cover all religious symbols when he gave his pro-abortion speech and then was rewarded with a honorary degree. It is not clear if ND complied with Obama’s anti-religion requests. But the controversy was in the invitation to speak, not in covering symbols.

I attended Notre Dame and ran under Piane. Trust me, ND is still very Catholic at both ends of the spectrum, from being against a woman's right to choose on one end, to liberation theology at the other end. Yes it's 80% Catholic - admission stats below. The program has deteriorated the last few years. It was a combination of injuries, lack of top notch recruits and lack of development. Turner is a good guy but for whatever reason, he did not get it done, could not get his system into place. ND loves its sports - all of them - and many of the athletes on the track and field team were perfect overachievers in HS. In college, some of them became more involved in their academics or other pursuits. Not an excuse, but they realized they wanted to do other things in life than eat, sleep, run. To use an exceptional example, Mary Jeanne Gilbert, 2nd at Footlocker, quit track because religion became more important to her. At how many other schools is that a problem? There are good assistant coaches in place. Best of luck in finding a head coach who fits the motto of "God, country, and Notre Dame," and who can develop some young men and women to the best of their potential. https://admissions.nd.edu/apply/admission-statistics/

ND Issues wrote:

Methodman wrote:

Didn’t happen.

True. It was Georgetown that covered the Lord’s name. Obama asked ND to cover all religious symbols when he gave his pro-abortion speech and then was rewarded with a honorary degree. It is not clear if ND complied with Obama’s anti-religion requests. But the controversy was in the invitation to speak, not in covering symbols.

At least you admitted lying. We didn’t cover anything, and they had a habit of inviting new Presidents.

I never made the Notre Dame team, but had interaction with the coaches in my attempts to do so. Carlson and Sparks are both class acts. From my experience and what I’ve heard from former/current team members, when Turner took over, he tried to create an “elite squad” and cut a lot of the team. As a result, Carlson and Sparks had very little roster space to work with. Carlson did everything he could to get me on the team, and when I didn’t make it, took the time to have a long conversation with my in his office. His character shined in my interactions with him, and I hope he gets a chance to lead the Irish. He did an incredible job with this years recruiting class, and has shown the ability to develop runners since he gained control of the men’s team. His guys ran to a high finish in the DMR, while Nuguse and Dumford ran well outdoors. Several other younger guys also ran well as the season progressed. I would love to see what he could do with the team and their influx of talent in the coming years.

These replies must be one of the ND coaches or a designee trying to save their jobs. Nobody else could possibly look objectively at the men’s team over the last several years and say it’s done well.

I’m sorry, but it’s been one good DMR race and a recruiting class of guys that placed high in the antiquated foot locker meet. If that’s all you accomplish in 4 years that’s not saying much for a university like Notre Dame. If the coach is praised for the 1 good DMR and 1 recruiting class then he’s also responsible for the poor men’s performances over the same period.

This year:

800- 0 guys sub 1:50

1500- 2 good guy, but 3rd guy only 3:53

Steeple- 9:08 and 9:46

5k- 14:19 best and only 3 guys under 14:50

10k- 0 sub 30:00

2 guys at regionals.

No guys in Eugene.

That is not a good year.

Also, I doubt a guy refused a walk on spot 4 years ago is posting on letsrun with every detail of the team trying to save Carlson’s job.

Without a doubt, the team’s performance over the past few years is no way on par with how Notre Dame should be performing. However, Carlson only got control of the men’s team over the past year. Give the guy more than a year to try to make a difference.

ND will always have a better chance with Distance than track and field events

Any HC appointed will have issues with getting quality recruits in the sprints & field events

the average student pays greater than 15,000 of its now 71,000 cost

I currently have a SR with a modest total family income under 100,000 and we still pay north of 30,000.

So imagine a partial scholarship.. even at 50%.. parents would need to be well healed, or middle class capable of getting loans to offset the cost.

My junior daughter ACT of 27.. has tried nonstop to obtain acceptance into ND.. since high school never got past admissions , Catholic since pre school. Currently attending the all girls school St Mary’s College.

Yet accepted to Purdue, Il, ISU, Iowa. With academic awards for GPA. And FIne ART. at a cost to our family less than our current cost at St Mary’s College..

Daughter chose and we supported the decision hoping for ND. She is still trying going as far to pay Summer Session costs.

New HC will need a real balancing act to recruite, Coach/mentor athletes, and meet administrations demands..

All while still requiring each athlete to gain acceptance first.. unless your a national champion..

But every school wants one of those!

Bonzi wrote:

My junior daughter ACT of 27.. has tried nonstop to obtain acceptance into ND.. since high school never got past admissions , Catholic since pre school. Currently attending the all girls school St Mary’s College.

Yet accepted to Purdue, Il, ISU, Iowa. With academic awards for GPA. And FIne ART. at a cost to our family less than our current cost at St Mary’s College..

SMC is a fine school. All of my friends and family members who attended there are quite proud to have done so. I'd send a daughter there, no question.

The coaches ruined a program that could run itself. They could just sit back and allow fast kids to walk on and they would have remained competitive. Instead, they snubbed many 4:10-4:15 HS kids. I spoke to Turner at a college meet in the fall about my son who had filled out their recruitment form. Turner took his name and acted excited and said he would call on Monday. No response and no response to his recruiting form. 9:15 as a junior and a 35 ACT. Kids like this who are dyeing to walk on are being ignored. These are the types of kids who go on to run 9 flat as seniors and 14 flat in college.

Indian rocks ND wrote:

The coaches ruined a program that could run itself. They could just sit back and allow fast kids to walk on and they would have remained competitive. Instead, they snubbed many 4:10-4:15 HS kids. I spoke to Turner at a college meet in the fall about my son who had filled out their recruitment form. Turner took his name and acted excited and said he would call on Monday. No response and no response to his recruiting form. 9:15 as a junior and a 35 ACT. Kids like this who are dyeing to walk on are being ignored. These are the types of kids who go on to run 9 flat as seniors and 14 flat in college.

Carlson tweeted out additions to the team a few days ago. Beyond the 4 studs he previously reported were 5-6 guys in the 4:13-15 and 9:15 range. Is this a result of the HC change? Are the cuffs off Carson for good? Things are looking up for ND distance.

2nd at Nationals in the DMR.

Only issue is SMC has no track program. We knew that going in. But we are still going to try one more application this fall. Some are ND fans, others not so much..

We are hoping the program much success.. hate to see anyone not have employment..

New Coach... I’m hoping is ready to grow the program and build on what remains.

Sounds like it. They have 3 studs for sure and I didn't know about the the walk-ons. Too late for my son but I wonder how these guys got through the fence. Possibly they decided to apply anyway and were called this spring by Carlson telling them that they are welcomed onto the team.

LOL....the roster was 125 when Turner took over. He cut it to 90, which is still very large. The team was full of lousy distance runners who didn't travel, just a waste of space, time and money. The team is still 50% distance runners, they had plenty to work with. Problem was that everyone and I mean everyone was hurt. All sat out several seasons, which is why they didn't score well at conference the last couple of seasons. It was under Turner that the team had its highest finishes, plenty of NCAA All-Americans (sprints and distance). The head coach controls scholarships, recruiting and the roster, not the assistant coach. You didn't make the roster because you were not good enough.