University of Oregon new coach

typical speculation on Letsrun wrote:

NN2000 wrote:

I heard a rumor that apparently Ben Thomas from VT is going Oregon

yawn yawn yawn.

I bet you feel silly.

And the four who turned it down where?

VT Distance Fan wrote:

Check where Robert Johnson was an athlete and had his first post-graduate coaching job. Look to see who was the Distance Coach at the same time. That connection certainly was a basis plus all the success with the mid-D and Distance the past several years

App State should promote the notion that "coach here and within 20 years you'll have the Oregon job"

Salazar does not write workouts for Oregon. This is just not true at all and never has been.

VA Tech had a pretty high attrition rate, I believe. The kids who stuck around improved, for the most part. Those are the results we hear about. But for every kid who sticks around, 2 or 3 leave or quit. Why is that? And I know for a fact a few were quite unhappy, despite running pretty well.

ghjhhh wrote:

And the four who turned it down where?

Rob Conner lives in North Portland

Alberto Salazar lives in the Dark Side per everyone who posts here

Jerry Schumacher opposite of Salazar, so must be Beaverton the white side

Vin Lananna has attained a higher plane of existence and no longer lives in a single physical place, but is everywhere

Rojo - well the best way to keep the same coaching style and method at VT, is and will be to promote Eric J to the Head Distance Coaching position. Yes, he's young. All the current athletes love him and you will see little change in the methods that Ben Thomas employed. He has been the chief recruiter the past few years. Talk to anyone who has run for VT in the last 5-10 years and they will all agree. Look for an assistant who knows this women's program too. It will not be an outsider to the VT way.

HSCoach!@# wrote:

VA Tech had a pretty high attrition rate, I believe. The kids who stuck around improved, for the most part. Those are the results we hear about. But for every kid who sticks around, 2 or 3 leave or quit. Why is that? And I know for a fact a few were quite unhappy, despite running pretty well.

These numbers aren't true. The attrition rate is no different than any other University that takes in a high number of walk ons. VT doesn't have the same level of athlete's coming in as a school such as Oregon would so it is inevitable that some of the runners who do come in aren't going to be cut out or as dedicated to becoming the best in the conference and country as Ben Thomas requires of them.

Very few left Thomas's teams with a bad taste in their mouths, it is almost always a choice they make when they decide they don't want to waste their college years doing something they don't love.

I ran at VT for BT. AMA

What was it like training at VT? Heard there’s a lot of drills?

teacurtin wrote:

I ran at VT for BT. AMA

Ken Kesey’s Reindeer Milk wrote:

What was it like training at VT? Heard there’s a lot of drills?

I liked my time there a lot. Lots of (interesting) farmland and rolling hills on campus or the forest nearby. Great place to train.

Definitely lots of drills. Frequency drills, pose drills, walking drills, hurdle drills.

As someone mentioned above, you're the most notable success story at distances above 8/15. How do you view his ability to coach for the 3kS/5k/10k based on what you saw/experienced?

"His new investment job sucks because he is paid a ton of money but has to work with and get advice from Warren Buffet"

VT may appear to have a high attrition rate because BT would let kids walk on no other D1 school of their caliber would touch. Some of these developed into his best runners. And some just couldn't cut it. But in reality it is no higher than any other school. Many kids who would rather party then dedicate their life to a grind.

Three Dog Night had three number one hits in the 70’s with songs sung by three different leads....

Success can come from anywhere.

(But seriously this new Oregon distance Coach has the worst hair since all of the other guys in my 1970’s yearbook. Or Borat....)

2,4, 7 in the Men's Indoor Mile

DMR victory

Not too shabby.

El D wrote:

As someone mentioned above, you're the most notable success story at distances above 8/15. How do you view his ability to coach for the 3kS/5k/10k based on what you saw/experienced?

He definitely has a focus on speed (8/15) but if you want to win a championship style race, you're going to need to close even a 5k in 55 or faster. I think he can put that footspeed into almost anyone and that's important. He's had ACC champs in steeple, 5k and 10k and not just in me. As well as steeple/5k/10k people making it to Nationals. I think it seems like there's less success in these events, but I think it's more of a numbers thing. More 8/15 kids coming in. More 8/15 kids coming out.

HSCoach!@# wrote:

VA Tech had a pretty high attrition rate, I believe. The kids who stuck around improved, for the most part. Those are the results we hear about. But for every kid who sticks around, 2 or 3 leave or quit. Why is that? And I know for a fact a few were quite unhappy, despite running pretty well.

You just described every single successful college distance program. Ever.