Something foul in the water in Knoxville - mass exodus of transfers from Tennessee/Sean Carlson

I know nothing about this coach or the UT situation. This is a general comment.

I think the transfer portal adds a fantastic new data point for athletic directors as they decide who to retain and who to let go, in every coaching position.

(Yes, there are MANY other variables that go beyond recruiting, developing and retaining athletes, including stability of coaching staff, how you assist with development (financial), how you interact with colleagues, connections to the alumni, basic organizational skills, on and on...).

But if you are having athletes leaving in droves, with no end in sight, that would get a lot of my attention as an AD.

Being a "revolving door coach" can't be good for job security.

My daughter was being recruited to tennesee in the 2025 class. Then all communication stopped, that's when we found out Nic left. Sounds like it's a good thing that happened.

The thing that is foul is Carlson. He is the biggest Douchebag in the NCAA. He is actually not a great recruiter, as anyone can recruit distance runners to Notre Dame. That is why he is finding its a different world at the large state school.

I've never understood how good Notre Dame's team always is. Bad environment for training (winter) and not a high ranked school. I've also been surprised with how bad Duke's team is as the 2nd best non-Ivy D1 school there is (i.e they can give people $)

From a source, most are leaving for Anne Arundel Community College

Nathan Atchue to VT

ND is a very high ranked school academically. Most rankings have it top 20 in the nation at minimum. Pair that with good D1 athletics across the board, strong alumni base, and overall brand and it’s a very attractive place to attend. I do agree with it not being the very best place to train though.

I'm curious what you think the best non-Ivy is that is better than Duke, and why not several others?

Stanford

MIT

Cal Tech

Johns Hopkins

Vanderbilt (that's a maybe)

(And Notre Dame is generally a top-20 to 25).

Duke isn’t fully funded, and actually recruits other event areas outside of Distance

I don't view Hopkins / MIT as D1 even though their lacrosse / rowing programs technically count, respectively. I'd view Northwestern as slightly worse but the closest but even they don't have men's xc or track and only have women's xc.

ND is a good school but northern Indiana winters sound like hell to me having lived in Chicago for 11 years. No idea on how good of a coach Carlson is but he doesn't seem like the best - Nuguse was probably in 3:32 shape (at the very minimum) in 2021 from solo'ing a 3:34 in a random ACC heat but that was basically his only good season for track.

Duke is fully funded. Where did you get this information. LOL!