Chris Miltenberg leaving Stanford to take over as director of T&F/CC at UNC

Everyone give Andrea a break. The Head XC job at UNC opened last year and someone was bound to take it. She went for it and then her boss gets fired a year in. Don't you think she would've preferred he stay on for a couple more years? Do not throw her under the bus for doing what any coach would do. It was a logical career progression for her. It is not her fault Harlis was incompetent...

Yes, this is the nature of the game. But there was no "underhanded way" in which she tried to take Harlis's job. If anything it is the fault of the ADMINISTRATION for not firing Harlis last year instead of bringing on a whole new distance staff FOR ONLY A YEAR. All of the relocation, the lives changed, just for a year. Didn't even get a chance to build the program like she sought out to do.

Miltenberg was a steal, that is for sure. But have some respect. She will end up on her feet but she took a chance on a struggling program and never even got to showcase what she was truly capable of. I wish everyone the best in this, especially the student-athletes and UNC and Stanford.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Probably doesn’t want to live in a million dollar California crap shack. Taxes, traffic, homeless people. Yea I could see lots of reasons to leave.

Clearly you have not seen Palo Alto

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Probably doesn’t want to live in a million dollar California crap shack. Taxes, traffic, homeless people. Yea I could see lots of reasons to leave.

Head coaches can live on campus. No traffic (it's a 10 minute walk to the office). The weather is quite possibly nicer than anywhere on earth.

Not versed in this world wrote:

Why? Stanford has a great thing going, great recruits, Milt seemed comfortable there. UNC has been in the pits seemingly forever. Why would someone leave that position?

Pick me, pick me.... I know!!!!

$$$$$

And

Power of being the boss

It’s always the family cop out in the media but it always comes down to money & power.

Sieibdxj wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Probably doesn’t want to live in a million dollar California crap shack. Taxes, traffic, homeless people. Yea I could see lots of reasons to leave.

Clearly you have not seen Palo Alto

Fine if he can afford to live in Palo Alto.

rojo wrote:

Not versed in this world wrote:

Why? Stanford has a great thing going, great recruits, Milt seemed comfortable there. UNC has been in the pits seemingly forever. Why would someone leave that position?

Why does every director leave Stanford?

First it was Vin Lananna getting out, then Floreal, now Milt. And there have been some others I think as well - maybe not directors.

A) there is lots of pressure B) It's expensive.

I once heard a story that the AD once asked everyone to raise their hand if they'd won an NCAA title. I can't remember if Milt was the coach there or not but basically everyone in the room save for the football, basketball and track/xc coaches raised their hands.

So basically the expectation is you will win an NCAA title.

Vin was a great coach, but never wanted to be just a coach. He always had a bigger vision of being an administrator, putting on big meets, growing the sport, etc. He was there 11 years, won some National titles (including one Outdoors), established Stanford as THE plcae to run fast, hosted USAs, an IAAF Grand Prix meet, etc. There wasn't much more he could have done at Stanford if he wanted to do even bigger things in the sport (re-establish Eugene, host Worlds, run USATF, etc.).

Edrick was never going to win NCAA track titles at Stanford. That seems like his ultimate goal. A lot of assistants came and left while Edrick was the Director, but that's because he's a tough guy to work for.

Milt has had an eye toward leaving since shortly after he got there. He never thought it was a place he wanted his family to be long term. Not knocking him at all. He had some great teams, and individuals. Did he want to be there another 20 years? Some things are more important in life than track.

Are there really expectations to win an NCAA Track title at Stanford? I think the administration knows it's not giving a track coach the tools it needs to win. They couldn't get Drew Hunter into school. Cross country, maybe. But placing on the podium almost every year is still pretty good. Yes, Stanford wins lots of championships, but mostly in sports where only a handful of schools are competitve, and in sports that are played by mostly well off kids who might not need much helping getting into Stanford. Hard to do that in track.

Leland, Jr wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Probably doesn’t want to live in a million dollar California crap shack. Taxes, traffic, homeless people. Yea I could see lots of reasons to leave.

Head coaches can live on campus. No traffic (it's a 10 minute walk to the office). The weather is quite possibly nicer than anywhere on earth.

Fine if you don’t want to live in your own home.

You deliberately misrepresent the situation. How is it a "logical career progression" for Andrea to leave a better team and take over a horrible team at UNC? She had greater ambitions and might have been successful if Milt didn't apply.

Everyone, including Andrea, knew Harlis was going to be gone after 1 more year. Andrea would NOT have taken the job to work under an incompetent boss for several years. Her plan all along was to undermine Harlis and charm the administration to take over.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Sieibdxj wrote:

Clearly you have not seen Palo Alto

Fine if he can afford to live in Palo Alto.

Head coaches can live on campus.

rojo wrote:

Why does every director leave Stanford? First it was Vin Lananna getting out...

Vin's all about Vin. He left Stanford so he could put "Athletic Director" on his resume. Given how things turned out in Eugene, I'd say he made the right call.

Leland, Jr wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Fine if he can afford to live in Palo Alto.

Head coaches can live on campus.

http://giving.stanford.edu/stanford-benefactor/stories/athletic-staff-housing

Nice for a young family. The point is there are many quality of life issues in California. Of course those factors don’t matter for many.

Leland, Jr wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Probably doesn’t want to live in a million dollar California crap shack. Taxes, traffic, homeless people. Yea I could see lots of reasons to leave.

Head coaches can live on campus. No traffic (it's a 10 minute walk to the office). The weather is quite possibly nicer than anywhere on earth.

This post clearly coming from someone that doesn't know the difference between Northern California and Southern California weather.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Leland, Jr wrote:

Head coaches can live on campus.

http://giving.stanford.edu/stanford-benefactor/stories/athletic-staff-housing

Nice for a young family. The point is there are many quality of life issues in California. Of course those factors don’t matter for many.

Yeah the quality of life is awesome here. Couldn't ask for a better place to live and train. Not sure why you hate California much. I have my own apartment and I make less than 40k a year. Yes, I am able to save money too.

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Leland, Jr wrote:

Head coaches can live on campus.

Fine if you don’t want to live in your own home.

Actually, at Stanford, "live on campus," includes "buy a house on campus."

The main difference between on and off campus living is that if you buy on campus, you can only sell to someone from Stanford.

Touchdown San Diego wrote:

Leland, Jr wrote:

Head coaches can live on campus. No traffic (it's a 10 minute walk to the office). The weather is quite possibly nicer than anywhere on earth.

This post clearly coming from someone that doesn't know the difference between Northern California and Southern California weather.

Actually, crap shacks in Redwood City and East Palo Alto (formerly the ghetto) are more like a million five now, and you would be hard pressed to find a crap shack in Palo Alto or Atherton for under two million five.

Usually in cases where someone leaves a good gig where they were successful, there are family reasons. Additionally, you can't discount financial factors -- money goes a lot farther in NC than Stanford, and T&F/CC coaches aren't paid like football coaches. I still recall when successful and admired Stanford soccer coach Bobby Clarke left for Notre Dame. He explained that he couldn't even afford a house with a spare bedroom near Stanford.

Zkzkxnxndjd wrote:

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Nice for a young family. The point is there are many quality of life issues in California. Of course those factors don’t matter for many.

Yeah the quality of life is awesome here. Couldn't ask for a better place to live and train. Not sure why you hate California much. I have my own apartment and I make less than 40k a year. Yes, I am able to save money too.

Wife and I are from Santa Monica. One of the nicer areas in California. Hey glad you enjoy living there. Not everyone is so enthralled. I could see how someone would prefer an environment that would be less hectic and sans the cool factor.

Chris Miltenberg’s Stanford legacy:

Any given year could have had arguably the most talented group in the country but because of injuries and eligibility could never win the ultimate prize. Also gross over-coaching and questionable coaching strategy, more from a racing perspective than training.

So, who on Stanford’s current roster is going to follow him to UNC or transfer elsewhere?

I would love to hear the story on this. I was not very familiar with her until she got the UNC role, and then read some very peculiar things about her on the board. One word that came to mind from the way her actions portrayed her was egotistical.

What happened here with her? Did she try to sabotage the old director?