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

And yet 2-9 was converted to 7-4....

 

Explain the failure...

7-5.

The failure (as usual) is in your logic. You cite weird non-sequitors like a qb's completions from one year to the next as examples of your coaching success. It's just part of a larger pattern in almost all of your arguments on this board.

Well if you're looking for answers to how to prevent or cure "runner's knee" pain or any other patella femoral issues that runners face, then understanding its most debilitating injury gives better picture to the cause and prevention of its lesser injuries. That list includes, but not limited to IT band pain, groin pull injuries, Hamstring pulls, ankle sprains and many others...

Oh, and to better understand injury prevention, has the nasty byproduct of improving speed...

Most ultra runners don't want to learn how to stop anyway.

 

This right here is the major problem. Yes.

Wait, what were we discussing?

Oh, and to better understand injury prevention, has the nasty byproduct of improving speed...

If simply understanding injury prevention were to produce a byproduct of improved speed, that would make you the fastest man on earth, right?  I mean, as you've stated, there is nobody in your league.

As for distance running injuries, I'll happily run ignorantly along without caring about ACL tears.

The t-rex short arming passes was an instant classic.

What strikes me here is a corollary to an old saying:

Arguing with SJ is sort of like wrestling with a pig in mud. After about an hour or so you get the sense that the pig likes it.

Fascinating. Carry on.

 So did your attempt at criticism

Double dumbass on me.

T-Rex's football skilz

Ileneforward:

Eric scolded me for being rude to you earlier.  I was, so I'm sorry.  But, in my defense, had I known you are a beautiful lady runner, I'm certain I wouldn't have been nasty--I thought you are one of those guys, which I don't care if I get nasty or not!! ;o)  So at least you should have your picture on the profile page!! ;o)

And Spaniel is right, I guess I do have some information most people don't and I have no trouble sharing.  I didn't get to "work with" Salazar for 2 years but I had had maybe a half a dozen "encounters" with him.  One time we sat down and talked about training and Lydiard for over an hour.  A very nice guy, generous and humble, down-to-earth.  Always seems to have time for you and you can really tell he's a student of the sport.  I don't necessarily buy into all the gadgets thing but that is actually a reflection of him trying to learn as much as he could to get the edge for his runners.  

Above all, what impresses me most about Salazar is this; when we didn't have much money and every time I went to Boston, I stayed at Coach Squires house.  Coach Squires helped Salazar when he was in high school, bringing him to his Greater Boston Track Club workouts, helped his training and all.  He (Salazar) come into the limelight when he was under Delliinger at U of O but, really, Squires was the one who laid down the foundation for Salazar's future success as a runner.  Every time I went to Coach's house, there's something from Salazar.  Every book Salazar has written (I didn't know he wrote a book on treadmill running!), a copy is there, autographed, most of them simply reading "Thanks for everything, coach!"  I always saw a box of new Nike shoes there and, while they were not autographed, it's not that difficult to see where he got them from.  Their connection was more than 35 years ago but he doesn't seem to have forgotten about it.

Now, that's the side of Salazar a person.  I think it's almost stupid (well, here I go again...) to even ask whether or not Salazar is a good coach or not, given the results; but I can add this to it as well.  When Kara Goucher ran her first Boston (I think that was her second marathon), I was watching that race in the media room with Coach Squires.  He told me, while Salazar was forming Oregon Project (I think that's the name...), he would fly out Coach to Portland, asking him questions, making sure he was doing things right.  That alone, to me, exhibits his humbleness, willingness to learn more.  I remember several years ago, I ran into him at one of the major marathons and I happened to have this publication about all the top Japanese marathon runners' training.  He was going over it very intensely and asked me if it's going to be translated.  Of course, in it, there were chapters on 4 runners who beat Salazar at his best; Seko, Soh Brothers and Kunimitsu Itoh.  All these 4 runners beat him in the same race where he ran as the world record holder.  If anything, I think Salazar probably thinks of himself as a failure as a runner.  I actually feel his attitude toward coaching as if it's his redemption.  Somebody said his current runners are all already good runners.  Well, take Ritz for example.  He was a high school star.  How many high school stars do we waste every year?  Same thing with Rupp.  How many high school hopefuls we destroy every year?  It's easy for the outsiders to say, well, his runners were talented to begin with.  It's how you nurture them, after all these years, is what really counts.  After all, that's what coaching is all about.  Kara might have changed the group but I really don't think that's got anything to do with Salazar's coaching.  Somebody posted her comment about Salazar and she's right; she wouldn't have been a marathon runner she is today without Salazar.  Of course, you can't forget the foundation Wetmore had built for her as well!!  I worked with this lady and her husband several months ago.  He improved his marathon from 5:30 to 4:50.  That's one of my biggest success stories.  I think that's as good of a success story as a coach as who had developed a high school 4:05 runner (I don't know exactly what time he ran...) into a mature 2:09 marathon runner years later.  Most coaches would destroy them.  Coaching runners is all about how you improve them as a runner.  Is there anything else to it?  And if that's the case, I think Salazar has been a success--pretty darn good one too.

 It's how you neuter them, after all these years, is what really counts.  

Ah, Nobby! Great post, but please don't neuter your students!!!!

Teasing, of course, we know you meant "nurture" (at least, we hope we know).