Coaching changes: why not more?

Coaching changes are normal.  Every year, thousands of high school and NCAA athletes graduate and change locations, training groups and coaches.  Every year coaches retire or transfer schools.  And every year some athletes make a decision to try something new.  But this year feels different for some reason.  I can't remember a time in the recent past in which so many high profile coaching changes took place at the elite level.

In February we had the departure of Shalane Flanagan and Erin Donohue from John Cook's training group.  We then saw Dathan Ritzenhein leave Brad Hudson and the Jeremy Wariner/Clyde Hart mini-drama come back full circle as he returned to his old mentor.  Four Olympians have made dramatic coaching changes in the first few months of 2009.

After thinking about this long and hard, my question is, "Why not more?"

Every runner seeks a magical connection with their coach.  The kind of relationship that allows them to work with one person for their entire career, and feel as though they achieved every bit of the potential that lay inside them.  But if one thing is true, it's that coaches have a hard time changing their methods too much over time.  If anything, as they achieve success, their early experimentations gradually decrease and their confidence in their methods makes their approach more rigid.

But that's not the same development path of an athlete.  Athletes live and train with coaches during the most crucial phases of their lives (18-35).  During this time they gain independence, they study, they date, they marry, they parent, and they inevitably deal with a host of personal issues, financial, emotional, and physical.  In short, they grow.  And at each stage of that growth, what they need from a coach changes.  The 18-year old who needed to be motivated to train and attend classes and told to reign it in has different needs at age 28. 

Given this fact, I think it's surprising that more athletes don't change coaches.  Especially just after the conclusion of an Olympic cycle.  But change is hard.  And it's compounded by the personal relationships that get formed over the years of working with someone.  It really is like a divorce.  It can be amicable or it can be messy, it can be a relief or a trauma.  And often, it can just plain be necessary. 

There are four key criteria where I feel athletes misinterpret the role of their coach as they plan their goals for the future.  You will notice that I don't discuss a coach's knowledge of the event or the sport.  There are plenty of coaches who have the knowledge to coach an elite athlete.  If an athlete finds that they don't, there is no question in my mind that they should leave.  It's a basic (and assumed) requirement.

1. Financial -- It's not about the cost, it's about the value

The Jeremy Wariner/Clyde Hart saga is a great lesson in the importance of understanding the financial aspects of an athlete/coach relationship.  In January of 2008, when the pair first split, it was attributed to being "just business ": they couldn't agree on a contract.  A year and a half later, that squabble doesn't seem so important anymore , as Wariner has lost his seat on the 400m throne and, presumably, many of the financial benefits that came with it.

Athletes get in trouble when their focus is on cost and not on value.  Is it worth it to pay a premium for the best?  Absolutely, if there is a premium to be received for being the best.  Coaches can add value in many ways.  Some add value by virtue of having been through it before.  Or by keeping an erratic athlete stable.  Or by deflecting attention and creating a bubble for their athletes.  Or doing just what it is their particular athlete needs them to do.

Value is not always easy to quantify.  It's very much a case of perception.  But when any athlete finds themself staring at the dollars, it's important to take a step back and think about everything you're paying for.  If you are confident that you can get greater value someplace else, then a decision to switch is justifiable.  Even if your costs go up to make the switch!

(The funny thing about the Wariner/Hart saga is that it's not clear Wariner did anything wrong last year.  He ran sub-44 three times, to Merritt's two.  He won 3 of 7 head-to-head races.  All-in-all, it appears that Merritt stepped up his game and Wariner lost the important race.  Maybe he'll regain his edge over Merritt by training with Hart, or maybe there's a new sheriff in town.  It's too early to say.)

2. Personal -- It's not about the credentials, it's about the connection

A lot of coaches know what they are doing.  Some have proven that through the results their athletes have put up over the years.  So it makes sense that athletes would look to these coaches first when they are out of college or otherwise looking for a change.

But as good as some coaches are, they may not be right for a particular athlete, especially when at a particular stage in their life.  Shalane Flanagan left John Cook in February , and from what I could tell, it was because something had changed or was otherwise missing in their connection.  It doesn't matter how much Cook knows if Shalane no longer felt comfortable listening.  Credentials aren't what create trust, faith, and the willingness to go with your coach's judgment above your own.

Business-people like to talk about synergies.  Synergies exist when the sum of two parts is greater than the whole.  A positive relationship can indeed create a synergy that doesn't exist between two people who rub each other the wrong way.  On the other hand, emotional energy expended can be just as hard to recover from as physical energy...and a bad relationship consumes a ton of emotional energy.  Again it goes back to the question of cost vs value, this time from an emotional standpoint.  If the emotional costs of the relationship are greater than the value, it's time to change.   

3. Historical -- It's not about what you've done, it's about what you will do

Loyalty is an admirable trait.  But it's also a huge barrier to achieving potential for many athletes.  That's because it's not about the good times you've had, but the better times you're aiming to run in the future.  Economists refer to this concept as sunk costs.  You shouldn't make a decision about the future by factoring in costs you can't recover from the past.  It's a tough concept for many people to grasp, and an even tougher one for people to live by.

I'm not recommending that anyone treat their relationship with their coach like a Vulcan.  That you don't allow emotion to enter your relationship so that you don't suffer any if it comes time for a change.  But what you've done in the past needs to be set aside, maybe labeled as a Tie Breaker, and only allowed to enter the decision if all other things are found to be equal.  Loyalty colors one's perception of value, and often masks inertia.  How many athletes are living where they're living and training with a certain coach because they're comfortable?

Athletes need to constantly seek out the best situation for their futures.  If they've plateaued with one coach, and they feel there's more in them, maybe it's time to move on.  I commend Dathan Ritzenhein for his recent change , not because I believe he'll do better with someone other than Brad Hudson, but because he thinks he will.  And if that's the case, this is what he needs to do.  There will always be "what-ifs" in life.  The person who tackles his challenges proactively will benefit because even if it doesn't work out he can always say, "At least I never stopped trying."

4. Conceptual -- It's not about realism, it's about living the dream

This one is a big one for me.  If a coach and an athlete can't get on the same page in terms of goals, potential, and expectations, the relationship needs to end.  In the case of an athlete on a high school or collegiate team, I generally recommend that the athlete defer to the coach and make the most of the situation, especially if it's about balancing individual goals with team goals.  But elite athletes are a different matter.

Elite athletes could almost all make more money if they went into coaching or business or any other career.  They run to live their dream, and if a coach doesn't believe in that dream, the two have no business working together.  It sounds harsh, but John Cook dumping Erin Donohue because he doesn't believe she can be as good as she wants to be is absolutely what needed to happen.  Neither of them would have benefited from a relationship in which Donohue felt held back by a coach who is trying to keep things "realistic".

Is Cook right?  It doesn't matter.  Donohue has goals, and Cook's job as a coach is to develop a plan to help his athletes achieve them.  If he doesn't think it's possible, he has two choices.  Design the plan anyway and give his all to helping her prove him wrong.  Or tell her he can't do it and let her move on.  He chose the latter.  But if he hadn't, she surely should have.

Athletes and coaches can't will a relationship to become magical.  In fact, trying too hard for that will almost ensure that it won't happen.  Rather, relationships that span the test of time come about because at every given point in the process, either the athlete or the coach can evaluate the relationship and determine that there is no better alternative.  It's not that neither athlete nor coach could ever consider a change; it's that the value of the relationship at every stage in the athlete's career exceeds what they perceive to be available elsewhere.

All of the above coaching changes had a different flair, ranging from amicable to antagonistic.  Could they have been handled better?  Yeah, I believe so.  I'm not a fan of airing dirty laundry in public, even if it's true.  But the changes themselves came about for legitimate reasons.  In many cases, they were probably overdue.  Since it's too early to tell what impact they will have on the fortunes of the athletes and coaches involved, my only question is, "Who's next?"

Bryan ran cross country and track and field for UCLA, as well for Japanese ekiden teams while living in Japan. He now pretends to be a runner (mostly on weekends) and a writer (mostly after running). Check out his popular running blog Optimal Training and his distance running lenses at Buraian's Lensography . He welcomes your feedback via comment or email at buraian@lifeofburaian.com