I have been out of town for a few days, so maybe this is well knowqn to others.

Anyway, I was talking to my son's CC coach (high school)earlier this evening, and he told me that Dave Hartman has been released by Pat Henry. I hope this isn't true. Hartman is a hell of a coach, and to make a move right before the season starts isn't too swift if you ask me. I have seen the press releases regarding new coaches and all of them are well known guys with great credentials. Still, what the hell happened? Anybody know anything about this???

"It takes a man to be a father....."

Well, I guess it must be true. You can't access the CC website. "This site is being updated," says the note.

Wow.....

"It takes a man to be a father....."

Hi Monarch,

I ran for Dave for a couple of years and talk to him on a weekly basis. Even though lately it has been daily....

When Pat was hired the AD at A&M Bill Byrne said that Hartman has done well at A&M and they would "put in a good word for him" to Pat.

About a week later Pat meets with Dave and says "we would like to interview you and a few other candidates" for the job. Which to me blew my mind as I ran at A&M before Hartman was there and know first hand how great a coach he has been (and still will be).

Two weeks later Pat Henry interviews a former coach at UT and Dan Waters (Geogia Assistant) for the Cross/Track job. This past Monday/Tuesday morning Dan accepts the offer. Pat then calls Dave from Baton Rouge, LA and fires him on the phone: Over 6 years of service to A&M and he was fired on the phone.

As of now Dave is "reassigned" till his contract is up on August 31. This "reassignment" was informed to him by reading the Eagle sports section on the web and then also a letter in the mail the following day. No-one in the athletic administration met with him to discuss this.

Dave is currently trying to figure out his options but unfortunately this late (only a few weeks till the runners start reporting to cross programs) it could be difficult.

Scott

Cross:
Thanks for your response.

This situation sucks. I know there are two sides to every coin, but if what you said is true, I don't like it.

The way we are going through coaches on this campus right now makes me wonder what is going on. Pretty soon we are going to have a real bad rep in college sports, and we don't need that.

Dave is a good man and a great coach. We e-mailed back and forth on some things and I hate to see him go. Not knocking the inbound guys, but to justify this mess, they better perform to the level he established.

This ain't good.

"It takes a man to be a father....."

[This message has been edited by monarch (edited 8/6/2004 5:38a).]

Monarch,

Yes, you are right, this is 100% Dave Hartman's version of the events.

But I can say I was witness to his "reassignment" as I was on the phone with him when he brought up the website and saw it. I am very disappointed in how the Administration handled his departure.

If you are wondering I do know and have competed against Dan Waters' coached teams and have always thought him to be a very nice person. If I was picking straight on coaching (I should say probably coaching philosophies) I would pick Dave's but that is a very biased opinion. Hartman took me from a very regional runner into a national one.

If you have any more questions please let me know. Still love helping the High School circuit (your child)...

Scott

Scott:
I had no reason to think otherwise re Hartman's situation. I just don't like what happened- this stinks, particulalry finding out in the manner he did. I hope Byrne gave him some kind of severance to help the guy out. To jump into the job market as a CC coach right now, before the season starts, that is real tough, not to say what it is going to do to the team.

As for my son, he runs for Klein HS and will be running varsity this year as a sophmore. His coach is Thom Hensley, who competed at SHSU & Diboll HS I believe. My son has done pretty well over the years- district champ as a 7th & 8th grader in middle school CC, fifth as a freshman last year on the 9th grade level in CC, very well in track, etc. He also has placed either 2nd or 3rd in his age bracket for each of the past four years at the HP Half Marathon, has won the Bellaire Trolley Run a bunch of times, has won the Summer KO Fun Run in Clear Lake twice and others too. He has way more medals and trophies as a 15 year old than I ever got in my HS career or since, believe me. He has a lot of potential to do more. He's a competitive kid too- very tough to beat, and will battle a challenge. He is a good 1600 meter kid, but his strong point is 5000+ meters: he will eat you alive in a long race.

Enough of this. Where did you go to HS and where are you now? My son posts on this site as "Bearkatrunner", BTW.



"It takes a man to be a father....."

Brandon:
Thanks! My stars are back!!!

"It takes a man to be a father....."

Monarch,

Enjoyed reading about your son's accomplishments. I barely remember mine but he and I have similar 7th, 8th, and 9th grade running resumes.

Speaking of highschool -> Did you see that an 18 yr old ran 13:37 in the 5K last week in Europe?

I went to Dobie High School (Pasadena ISD) and currently live in San Franscisco.

Cross:
SFO is a great place. If I had to live there, it would be in the Seal Rock Inn area (48th and Point Lobos). Out of the city, I would live in Napa or Tiburon. I have always thought about putting a house on Treasure Island, which of course is impossible, since it is a US Navy installation.

Dobie has a good men's program. They have a woman coaching the team, and they improved each meet last year. In my opinion, they would be anywhere from 6- 10 in a metro-Houston ranking. I think the top seven/eight teams would be The Woodlands, Kingwood, Klein, maybe Friendswood, maybe Klein Oak, maybe Brenham, maybe Nimitz, maybe Jesuit. John Cooper out of The Woodlands isn't bad either. Dobie would be in that group somewhere. The Woodlands, Kingwood & Klein will be running against each other at The Woodlands invite Labor Day weekend, I think. After that, they won't see each other until WHS and KHS run in District. Then again, most of the schools I mentioned will all be at the TAMU Invite or at the SHSU Invite later in the year.

As for that 5k time, the kid needs to be in AThens, and if not there, was the course actually a 5K?? WOW!!

"It takes a man to be a father....."

[This message has been edited by monarch (edited 8/12/2004 5:38p).]

hartman is out

BIG XII:
Duh, brilliant deduction. Thanks for the breaking news...

"It takes a man to be a father....."

Monarch,

About the HS Kid from Oregon who broke the 5000 Junior Record.

http://www.kptv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2128667

FWIW, I'll update you on Hartman when he lets me know where he'll land this season. Still up in the air.

Cross:
Thanks. Keep me posted on this site.

"It takes a man to be a father....."