Culpepper officially out at NAZ Elite

Sounds like his family decided not to move from Boulder if that was the plan or he didn’t want to move from them .

I am more interested in how often he was commuting the last year and the logistics. Would seem to add up $$$ very quickly.

Sort of related to a point I made on the podcast, having a coach who actually lives at altitude where the team trains (Mike Smith) seems to be the best model out there. Otherwise it’s pretty much remote coaching for a chunk of year or coach commuting for a few workouts. Remote coaching can work from personal experience but it’s not for everyone and I think having the actual coach there some of time is superior.

Another win for the LetsRun message boards. This news has been floating around for months.

I've been coaching a 8/15 guy for a bit, who has been training remotely at altitude (both in Colorado and Europe). It has been challenging at times - the ideal scenario we had planned fell trough, so this is what we were left with. Fortunately there is a guy (former Olympian at 5000m who is coaching a 10k guy himself) who lives in Colorado who can help when he (athlete) is in Colorado, to oversee what he is doing and alter workouts due to conditions (weather or how he is handling the workout) if necessary. That is what I see as important as a coach, to be able to change things when/if required, and that is difficult to do when you are not there.

That’s some Obi Wan shït right there. McManus and Rosario look like anything but geniuses at this point. Maybe get an HR consult for hiring.

This is just how people behave now. Decades ago you just toughed it out even if you didn’t like the coach. I could not stand my college coach after year 3 and thought I made a bad decision to go to the school I went to, but I learned so much MORE about myself in that time and took accountability for what I was doing wrong. I think jumping ship as soon as things aren’t going your way is a weak move. Stay committed. Unless you are being abused, there is no reason to leave what is probably a fixable situation.

Nobody wants to go through any sort of struggle. I’m seeing this with some new, younger people I work with. I’m giving people opportunities to grow and succeed and they don’t want to apply themselves or find solutions. They are terrible communicators.

Not all are like this, but it’s more apparent now.

I bet the final straw for NAZ was Culpepper refusing to go with Gear to worlds.

Someone reported here weeks ago that this announcement was coming. The official end and announcement were probably planned for after nationals.

It sounds like a pretty sweet position to have to give up, but if the family/spouse is ultimately unwilling to relocate it's really not much of a choice.

1) I bet you are correct. He was out but they put off the announcement until after Nationals.

2) It could be as simple as "You need to move here. Our coach has to be here." "I can't do that... family won't/doesn't want to..." "OK, then we have to make a change."

But it shouldn’t have been a surprise to the Culpeppers unless they all have severe ADHD. Cruz moved to Flag, right? How do you not discuss this essential expectation for the position with your spouse before you even interview?

Culpepper did an excellent job elevating the performance of NAZ Elite on the track this year.

At this point, we have to credit Wrieden as much or more.

Gotta agree with a post above, Rosario and McManus knew exactly what they were getting with AC. Or they should have. That leopard ain’t changing his spots. I can only wonder how much worse their other candidates and their interviews went.

I have no idea how much Alan has been involved with coaching the team recently, but in a post-race interview at nationals Krissy referred to Jenna as her coach.

This feels like a very McManus choice to me. That Rosario shared that quote in the book means it struck him as off in some way...

I don't know any particulars but I could see it playing down like this. You get offered the job, you discuss it with your spouse, and they say "yes we'll move at the end of the summer." (Looks like Culpepper got the job in May).

Then the school year ends, summer comes around, and you decide it's not best to uproot your kid who is in high school.

Then essentially it's not sustainable.

What quote?

There were no other interviews. This position was never posted.

this is exactly the case. Nothing personal. Alan did a great job while he was with us and his decision to put his family over his career is applaudable. Don’t see too many people doing that these days anymore.

also no, Cruz never moved to Flag