He's been the men's head XC coach for the past 50 years, coaching for a total of 55 years. Wow. From a friend's facebook post:
He's been the men's head XC coach for the past 50 years, coaching for a total of 55 years. Wow. From a friend's facebook post:
Source or it didn’t happen
link?
The man himself told me so today.
Swordfish. wrote:
Source or it didn’t happen
The friend who posted it on facebook is a Navy TF/XC alum from the 1980s who got a copy of the press release from the athletic department. He has since been "reprimanded" for sharing it on facebook because it hasn't been published yet.
Up on the NavySports page now.
Star miler and Olympic Trialist Aaron Lanzel to take over as coach.
lol he called my teammate slow to his face.
He wanted to run for Navy, but isn't nearly fast enough (16:22, 4:35, 1:57)
Sounds typical of Cantello. It's almost (if not for certain) a strategy of his coaching. He likes to ignite a fire within all the runners he meets, and one of his favorite ways of doing so is to challenge them and make them think they're nothing special, so that they prove him wrong.
Hasbeen That Never Was wrote:
Sounds typical of Cantello. It's almost (if not for certain) a strategy of his coaching. He likes to ignite a fire within all the runners he meets, and one of his favorite ways of doing so is to challenge them and make them think they're nothing special, so that they prove him wrong.
yeah, extraordinarily healthy behavior by an authority figure.
I never said I agreed with it.
Cantello's legacy will always be accompanied by the scandal of the countless dreams he crushed and the potential of certain runners that he did not help realize.
Far too many casualties. Many runners who could have become great had Cantello only done differently.
I am one of those.
I ran for Cantello for 4 years and my best high school 5k was a 16:45, 2 mile 10:04 (walk on). Day one of ac year practice he brings the whole team out to the 2 mile towers loop and says “break 10 or your’re off the team.” I ran a 9:45 that day and broke 15 in the 5k that fall. Some people just need to be told that their “good” is not good enough. He’ll give you a shot, you just have to have some humility and some heart to go along with it. Love that man and grateful he was my coach.
dontworryboutit wrote:
I ran for Cantello for 4 years and my best high school 5k was a 16:45, 2 mile 10:04 (walk on). Day one of ac year practice he brings the whole team out to the 2 mile towers loop and says “break 10 or your’re off the team.” I ran a 9:45 that day and broke 15 in the 5k that fall. Some people just need to be told that their “good” is not good enough. He’ll give you a shot, you just have to have some humility and some heart to go along with it. Love that man and grateful he was my coach.
Hi Lucas Stalnaker
NotLucasStalnaker wrote:
dontworryboutit wrote:
I ran for Cantello for 4 years and my best high school 5k was a 16:45, 2 mile 10:04 (walk on). Day one of ac year practice he brings the whole team out to the 2 mile towers loop and says “break 10 or your’re off the team.” I ran a 9:45 that day and broke 15 in the 5k that fall. Some people just need to be told that their “good” is not good enough. He’ll give you a shot, you just have to have some humility and some heart to go along with it. Love that man and grateful he was my coach.
Hi Lucas Stalnaker
Actually, I ran 16:11 and 9:48 in high school. Give me some credit.
I also didn't run a 5k plebe year.
Pretty odd timing. Why now?
Al Cantello had the most infamous Hall of Fame speech ever:
Pretty much the first thing he says is racist.
Coach Cantello is an enigma. I'd argue that at some point almost anyone who ran for him hated him to some degree. It didn't matter who you were, he'd find a way to piss you off. At practices there was a lot of yelling and he was tough on everyone. It certainly wasn't everyone's cup of tea and I can understand where those who have no fondness for him are coming from. Their opinions of him are not by any means unfounded and they are entitled to them. But I'll also say that everyone has just a slightly different take on Coach Cantello so it can be hard to give you a general consensus.
The first time I met him he laughed at me and told me I would never ever run for him. Junior year he kicked me off the team for a short bit just to make me angry, it was just his style. But what most people don't realize is that you had to stand your ground when he came at you, it was the only way to garner his respect. Once you had his respect, he was a different person. You could see that despite the outward appearance, he truly cared about every runner on the team regardless of ability level. He tried as hard as he could to find opportunities for everyone to compete. I remember sitting in his office a few times looking at races for some of the less talented runners to attend and he'd get upset if he wasn't able to find something. I got to spend a lot of one on one time with him at a several points throughout my time at Navy and it allowed me to glimpse that other side of him that many of his athletes never got to see, that at his core Coach Cantello was a kind and caring man who gave his all to his coaching. Despite every time he made me mad and made me believe I hated him, I still love and respect that man deeply. I still try to call him whenever I get the chance and I can tell you that he will be a part of every major event in my life. I owe a lot of who I am to him.
If I've confused anyone with what I've written I apologize, but I guess it might just be one of those things that you have to experience yourself to understand.
We’re on page two and we still have yet to hear why he’s retiring now, as the new season gets underway. That’s never a good sign.
As an aside, that was one of the worst press releases/announcements I’ve ever seen. You don’t throw random Kipling quotes in the middle of an announcement.
A gen wrote:
We’re on page two and we still have yet to hear why he’s retiring now, as the new season gets underway. That’s never a good sign.
As an aside, that was one of the worst press releases/announcements I’ve ever seen. You don’t throw random Kipling quotes in the middle of an announcement.
I would not read too much into it. Given his age and the new track coach, he probably reached the end of his contract and decided to not renew. I have seen a few other long term coaches with contracts that end during the fall. It is not common, but it happens for some reason.
My guess is Navy saw this coming, and probably has another coach waiting to make it official. They may have delayed the announcement for a multitude of reasons.
I was a 1:53/4:15/9:20 guy in high school. Cantello turned me into a 1:52/3:48/4:08/8:00(3k)/14:00 guy after 2 years running under him. I like to think I turned myself into a 1:50/3:42/4:01/7:57 runner the last two years after spending a lot of time begging him for tougher workouts, getting into better races, and doing a lot more work on my own (writing my own workouts during leave and on weekends, strength training and cross training).
My experience with the man was a lot like everyone else's: a mixed bag. Some days he was a genius, other days he was difficult to work with. A lot of guys throughout the past 50 years have blamed him for not developing them, causing their injuries, and burning them out. However, almost no one fully understands what it is like to run at a place like the Naval Academy (even members of the xc and track team, past and present). I'll be the first to admit that I never really understood that running at USNA was not like running for a normal D1 university until long after I graduated. With rigorous academics, added military obligations (formations, inspections, every day quirks of military life such turning a corner in the hallway and running into an angry Gunnery Sergeant...) and being trapped within the walls five days a week, it takes a different mindset to be a successful athlete there. And Cantello recognized that.
It's true anywhere that the desire to succeed has to come from the individual athlete. And that's where the coach comes in, to harness that desire and direct that energy towards achieving goals. Some coaches give positive reinforcement and a lot of structured guidance. Others, such as Coach Cantello, test the athlete's motivation by driving them away and pushing their resolve. He abhors athletes who want to be spoon fed.
He is the perfect coach for a runner who knows what works for them, is able to stay within their limits without overtraining, quickly picks up on college-style racing tactics, and has the maturity to be patient and see the bigger picture. In my opinion, the problem with that is most 18-22 year old kids - even the kind who attend the Naval Academy - need guidance and coaching to learn that kind of awareness. He is a great coach. However, he asks a lot from of his athletes in terms of taking ownership of their collegiate running experience.