He has had strong results with the Army program nearby in Colorado Springs. Many of the athletes in the Army program are in the twilight years of their careers.
It’s a state job. Simmons had his business seized for not paying the state of Colorado. Hardly a good fit.
Volunteer to pay back his tax bill? It will make a good Hallmark movie.
If you read RWTB, the finances for the CU XC program were limited and Mark prioritized recruiting to in-state kids. There's lots of good descriptions of the recruiting process (at the time), developing kids to be national class (versus recruiting kids who were already national class), the economics of in-state tuition with partial scholarships, and the many "blue collar" runner success stories (with walk-ons). That changed with the Torres brothers (IL), and likely continued to change after the time the book was written.
Since when, in the Wetmore era" did CU recruit Colorado high school talent. Wetmore did not care. This past State meet he sent a coach who looked like something the cat dragged in. Bare feet, 5 o'clock shadow, a ragged t-shirt, and he had messy hair. If I was recruiting for a college, I would dress in the nines so recruits and coaches would see me and want to approach me. You don't want to approach someone who looks homeless. Bottom line, Wetmore is out. Lets hope the AD hires someone charismatic.
Wetmore always looked like something the cat dragged in. Never dressed up and with that ponytail.
No -- but he would be fired for telling a lineman to LOSE weight.
No offense, Hoss ... but comparing offensive linemen -- and asking them to gain weight is not remotely similar to telling women who are already skinny to lose more weight. A correct analogy would be to tell an offensive lineman that he is too big to lose weight -- which happens everyday at every decent school. You can definitely be too big and too fat to be a great OL player. If you look at most pro football players now-a-days -- it isn't really even about weight. It is about their frame. Football coaches want long levers (arms) and huge frames that they can rebuild in a manner that helps their program be successful.
You can do this in track/cross as well -- but you have to go into it honestly and tell the truth upfront. And you need to make sure that you have plenty of sports shrinks ready for when female runners don't understand that going LOWER than their ideal weight is not an option.
There is enough science out there now-a-days that speaks to the fact that everyone has an ideal weight -- even as a long distance runner. You just need to be ready to help understand and hold the line with females when they think that they should be under their ideal weight. Pull them. Put their health first. Let them know what to expect when they are being recruited -- and let them know up front that the program will find the ideal body composition for athletes in the program -- and that they will be expected to stick to that weight or they will be pulled. Communicate, communicate, communicate ... it doesn't have to be hard.
Dealing with male/female athletes is different. One person can handle it --- but it will take time and effort to ensure to manage something like that. Most importantly, it will take honesty -- and a very strong personality to help the females understand that their health comes before anything else.
I have already turned this job down -- the administration wants less of a $hitshow with Coach Prime-and-Wine making a spectacle of himself everyday. They want someone who isn't going to make waves for an extended period of time -- which to me feels like they are not overly interested in getting the program back to the next level. With NIL money out there -- and boy is there a lot when it comes to CU -- it felt a ton more like getting along to get along instead of a progressive thought process that is interested in building/rebuilding a program. Which also could end up being a younger person who is well thought of and isn't overly concerned about proper compensation.
The other thing -- it is time that track/distance/xc coaches move away from the "lets be friends with the coach" routine. It makes it a ton easier for kids to fall through the cracks -- and to hide the eating disorders. You can develop relationships with athletes --- and have solid discussions and give and take -- without acting like you are going to be drinking buddies as soon as you graduate.
The sport is changing massively -- and all the former high level runners who think they are coaches usually have no understanding of what it takes to be a "real" coach. They understand how to be buddies and how to run with their coach -- instead of being coached. These great former runners who are now coaching usually have no understanding of how to deal with anyone other than exceptionally talented athletes. That group is so small to begin with -- and you are leaving the majority of the rest of the program off to the side ... trying to figure out what to do on their own -- when they obviously are not there yet. CU needs a coach who is more worried about coaching everyone on the roster -- than the 2-3 elite level athletes. Until that focus comes back -- eating disorders will continue -- because it is the only sure fire way to help an above average female runner make it to the next step -- because your famous elite runner/coaches can't relate to the average, middle of the road student athlete.
Football coaches have told players to lose weight. I bet every year on every team there is a player who is overweight. However, the weight loss is not going to put the player in a unhealthy situation whereas asking a distance runner who is likely already pretty lean to do so might.
A defensive lineman being asked to go from 360 to 330 is not likely to develop major health issues. Having a woman distance runner who barely breaks 110 to get to 100 could. (Or drop below 14% BF could). Men can get to a lower BF% because well men and women are different and fat plays a very different role in each.
Good points, but the main one is........... the footballer being asked to drop weight isn't a female.
They should add some separation between the men’s and women’s programs. Hire Diljeet Taylor as women’s head coach and give her the “Director of XC/T&F” title (a great hire, plus they’d still get kudos from the non-running media who doesn’t know the difference). Then for the men’s head coach, hire a rising star assistant like Trevor Dunbar, who has turned the UVA guys into a distance power in just a few short years under Vin. That should check all the boxes for CU — a little flash without the egos.
If they go that route, she'd be better hiring an assistant with xc success working with /recruiting americans like Jarred Cornfield NAU, Ian Moini UNC, or Chris Kwiatowski from Washington
CU did not exist as XC power before Wetmore, nobody expected they could ever would become one, that's how Wetmore managed to sneak in with NJ high school coaching and four years of Seton Hall college coaching as his resume.
CU was absolutely not a "complete backwater" before Wetmore. While Q was coach, they had many many years of top-level success on the XC scene. Please do more research before making such an outlandish claim. Marc Scrutton comes to mind, among many amazing Buffs from the '70s and '80s. CU's teams routinely placed in the Top 10 at Nationals.
I ran for Q the one season I had eligibility ('86) as third man on our D1 fourth-place at Nationals. We could have placed as high as second if our number two man had not been hobbled by an injury.
I also knew of Wetmore since my high school in NJ was in the same conference as the XC powerhouse Bernardsville, the alma mater of Brad Hudson. Wetmore apprenticed under Ed Mather, the legendary Bernards coach.
Buzz in TrackTown is Mike Smith to CU is only a matter of time……..
Seems like this makes the most sense… hold off on making official announcement until tomorrow after the Trials are finished and Wetmore’s contract ends 6/30.
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