Gators Assistant Track & Field Coach Todd Morgan will take his coaching talents to University of Virginia. Morgan will be the Head Women's Distance Coach for the Cavaliers.
Todd ...do u ever sleep... I don't know about the rest of the forum..but.I for one am glad u post often and as soon as u think a topic is relevant. Keep up the good work, this is a huge article with lots of follow-up stuff. I am sure more people than me want to know how this effects 2012 grads that have already committed to UF, who will be the new coach,etc.
@Raycer131 Nobody has technically signed yet. A verbal commitment doesn't really mean anything these days. The National Signing day is February 1st for Cross Country and Track athletes. So anybody, like Shelby Davidson, could change her college without any penalty. After she signs her National Letter of Intent on Feb 1st, however, she will be bound to that school (Unless you sit out a year).
@KBrnnr
I know that much...
I meant... who that has committed will stay and who will change their mind by the Feb 1 deadline? This will be interesting to see how it plays out, and if some will de-committ at least until the new coach is hired. We are all used to seeing this in football, XC gets to live the life of the coaching change for a few months.
Certainly possible, and maybe I am overestimating his impact on the program, but do you really think that the athletes were committing to UF because of Coach Morgan more than they were committing to the program and school? I could be way off base here, but I never really got the impression that he was the magnet drawing the talented kids to the program.
At least this happened before letters of intent were signed. You hear about this more in Football than Track, but having the Coach who recruited you leave before you even get there sucks! I know, it happened to me at UVa with Martin Smith, and he was a BIG part of the reason I chose UVa.
dddd
In response to your post, I can't speak for all of the UF distance runners, but my daughter runs there and I can offer my perspective.
First, Todd Morgan is an excellent recruiter and represented UF very well. I trust he will do the same at UVA, and wish him well both personally and professionally. UVA will get him closer to family for he and his wife, plus a chance to coach with his friend Pete Watson who just left UNC to coach the UVA men.
That said, my daughter didn't choose UF because of Coach Morgan. In fact, during her recruitment we discussed how important it was to NOT choose a school based strictly on the coach. Coaches can change, so her evaluation was based on the best combination of academics, track program, and athletic department strength/commitment to her sport. Of course, she had to like the coach there at the time and her future teammates, but those can change.
I'm glad we had that discussion, because she wasn't shocked when Coach Morgan announced his departure. In fact, six schools she seriously considered have already lost the coach who recruited her. Three before she would have started as a freshman last year, like Mr Convey experienced. What's really crazy is that four schools she took official visits were involved in a coach swap (UVA, UNC, Wake Forest and UF). The flow chart of changes would make your head spin!
Hopefully this discussion may provide some value to current and future college prospects. Don't fall in love with a school just because of a coach. Chances are, you may get your heart broken.
