What is your opinion of Alberto Salazar as a coach? (Read 1632 times)

    I am not asking about his career as a runner.......

     

    He has had or is having success with some of his athletes, Rupp, Farah and Lagat as examples, but although Ritz ran 4th in Houston there has been some controversy over the effort to change his form.

    Kara Goucher has recently joined the Schumacher group, presumably  because she felt she could do better elsewhere.

     

    He seems very keen on experimental or at least innovative, and often technology-based training methods.

    PBs since age 60:  5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.

                                        10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.

     


    #artbydmcbride

      As a know nothing outsider it seems to me he coaches shorter distance runners better than marathoners.

       

      Runners run

        As a no nothing outsider it seems to me he coaches shorter distance runners better than marathoners.

        Actually, all due respect, that's a stupid thing to day.  I think he certainly coached Kara very well.  To "judge" his ability to coach a marathon runner based on Ritz is rather short-sighted too.  Dan Browne did alright though I felt it was a mistake not to go over the course a little more closely at Athens...

         

        When you talk about coaching, there are two sides of it; one is development, the other is peaking.  I think his peaking skill is pretty darn good, proven from a lot of runners he had coached so far.  Development is a tough one but he certainly had done a marvelous job with Rupp.  As far as I'm concerned, Rupp is one of those examples that could be worth checking out by any coach anywhere around the world.  I was interviewed once about Salazar-Rupp-Lannana relationship (while Rupp was still at U of O).  I felt the interviewer was trying to get some dirt from me and trying to put "words" in my mouth.  Unfortunately, I really thought that was very interesting, if not good, situation once again that should be evaluated by many coaches around the world.  

         

        Of course, it is hard, for most coaches, because Salazar has a resource from Nike that, pretty much, he can do whatever he wants, that he can experiment with runners as much as he can as well.  Not too many coaches, even some professional coaches in Japan, wouldn't have that sort of luxury.  Whatever the image he may project, Salazar is a very modest and humble guy.  He's quite sincere and that's the side I probably respect him most with.  If you're interested in comparing Salazar with someone like Canova, it's very difficult and it's a totally different situation.  Even Salazar doesn't have the luxury of bringing in literally hundreds of aerobic monsters and pick and choose the "survivors" from these huge samples.  His challenge, as with most coaches around the world, is to "develop" what you got.  He still gets a little better than most; but still, there aren't too many Ritz and Goucher and Rupp.  

         

        In terms of his "obsession" with, what was it, nip to nip or something???  Or thumb to nipples or whatever...  I don't think that's what screwed up Ritz or that's something Salazar was really obsessed with.  Reality is; that's what most OBSERVERS were obsessed with, starting from (I believe) my beloved NYT.  Media don't care about so-and-so runs 120 miles a week...  Boring.  They want something different; something unique and that's what they FOCUS.  Just because NYT article focused on Salazar's working on Ritz's running form, it may not necessarily mean that's HIS focus.  

         

        Sure, he seems to have a tendency to pay too much attention to some very small minute stuff but sometimes that's what separates great coach to okay coach.  I think he's still experimenting and, once again, I think he has that luxury to experiment.  I think he's genuine.  I actually think he's pretty darn good.  Certainly better than most.  I really believe Webb would have been better off with Salazar.

        Hannibal Granite


          He doesn't and has never coached Lagat. 

          He has certainly had great and long-term success with Rupp and great initial results with Farah and Ritz.  Runners running 3K - 1/2 marathon all.  He has not been as effective with milers or marathoners.  He has that irish miler now and we will see how that goes, but it didn't work out for whatever reason with he and Webb, and Ritz and Goucher seemed to underperform in the marathon under him.  Just like anyone in any profession he has his strengths and weaknesses, but he is doing as well or better than anyone at what he does well and he has every resource imaginable at his disposal.    

           

          If I were an up and coming runner and had the opportunity to join that group I would jump at it especially if I were focused on doing well in the 5K-10K.  If I were a miler I would want to go to Arizona and join the group coached by Li that group includes Lagat and Lawi the college stud and it also includes Abdi - though I would probably feel like I glowed in the dark standing next to them Smile  If I were a marathoner I'd want to go to Mammoth and train there or join the Schumaker group.  Hanson's has a great marathon program as well, but I couldn't live in Michigan.  

          "You NEED to do this" - Shara


          Why is it sideways?

            I like what Nobby said; I don't think we always get a clear picture of Salazar from media reports. The article was actually not a NYTimes article; it was a New Yorker article. 

             

            There are lots of rumors about drugs around Salazar and his team--they do seem to be willing to push at the edges of legal pharmacology in order to find advantages. Some of that seems sorta out of line to an old school mentality, but of course this stuff goes on in all big-time sport at all levels. He looks hard for edges.

             

            I think a lot of the rumors about Salazar is a consequence of his secrecy. When no one knows what is going on, you get weird rumors about drugs and weird articles about thumb position.

             

            What he has done with Galen Rupp has been amazing.

            sport jester


            Biomimeticist

              The guy's a worthless prick not to mention pathetic coward.

               

              And I say that from having a personal experience with him. He's an arrogant fuck that can't run anymore and takes that out in his sadistic treatment of the runners he bought with Uncle Phil Knight's credit card.

               

              Nobody under him is a better runner because of him.

               

              Uncle Phil buys him the best runners given his mandate is to take the Boston Marathon crown from the Kenyans who own it. Uncle Phil buys him the best and he can't do anything but injure them.

              Experts said the world is flat

              Experts said that man would never fly

              Experts said we'd never go to the moon

               

              Name me one of those "experts"...

               

              History never remembers the name of experts; just the innovators who had the guts to challenge and prove the "experts" wrong


              Why is it sideways?

                Uncle Phil buys him the best runners given his mandate is to take the Boston Marathon crown from the Kenyans who own it. Uncle Phil buys him the best and he can't do anything but injure them.

                 

                Salazar developed the guy who is arguably the best American runner from high school. So, besides being pretty offensive, your post is just wrong.

                 

                What is it about our sport that leads people to be so hateful towards and suspicious of the folks who excel in it?


                Feeling the growl again

                  Actually, all due respect, that's a stupid thing to day.

                   

                  You know I like you Nobby...so please don't take this personally...but given ilene's self-professed status as a "know-nothing outsider" I think this was a bit harsh on her for voicing an opinion.  You're working with a lot of information and perspective a lot of us do not have access to....I don't think that makes one stupid (or their opinions stupid), they're just working from a different set of information.

                   

                  I think one of the fundamental issues judging someone's effectiveness as a marathon coach is simply that the athletes don't run a lot of them.  And when they do....seems the American runners tend not to be as consistent as the Africans, for whatever reason.  So there's a small data set and a lot of variability in it.

                   

                  I have a hard time really picking between a lot of these coaches because of the selection bias.  Sure, Rupp is doing great things.  And Salazar got Rupp, Webb, and Ritz, three of the top HS talents ever.  How do you judge that against, say, the Hansons, who produced several solid national-class runners from comparatively mediocre talent?

                   

                  IMHO these coaches play to different strengths, and it's when you match the athlete with the right coach that great things will happen.

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   


                  Feeling the growl again

                    The guy's a worthless prick not to mention pathetic coward.

                     

                    And I say that from having a personal experience with him.

                     

                    The common thread between all the people you've had bad experiences with is you.

                    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                     

                    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                     


                    Prince of Fatness

                      The guy's a worthless prick not to mention pathetic coward.

                       

                      You continue to speak about people like this then whine about being misunderstood and not taken seriously.  Amazing.

                      Not at it at all. 

                        Here's something my wife thought was pretty amazing about Salazar.  We were watching Rupp break the 2 mile indoor record and afterwards Salazar went up to him, and took his own sleeve and wiped the snot from Rupp's nose.   It's funny the things that woman notice.

                        LedLincoln


                        not bad for mile 25

                          IMHO these coaches play to different strengths, and it's when you match the athlete with the right coach that great things will happen.

                           

                          +1

                            The guy's a worthless prick not to mention pathetic coward.

                            Well, I wouldn't go that far.  I think there's a little bit of a language barrier.  

                            "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                            sport jester


                            Biomimeticist

                              You continue to speak about people like this then whine about being misunderstood and not taken seriously.  Amazing.

                               I'm not misunderstood, I have incredible experiences with an incredible number of people, that's the fun of this for me.

                               

                              If you kiss his ass, he'll lick yours. When you can easily prove how little he knows about the science of teaching running skill, then he'll treat you like shit...

                               

                              And since you've never met him, spoken with him, or even run with him, you opinions of him have no relevance to who he is...

                              Experts said the world is flat

                              Experts said that man would never fly

                              Experts said we'd never go to the moon

                               

                              Name me one of those "experts"...

                               

                              History never remembers the name of experts; just the innovators who had the guts to challenge and prove the "experts" wrong

                                Wow........wow.....gee, Nobby...wow Shocked

                                 

                                Actually, all due respect, that's a stupid thing to day.