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givetallugot
The article doesn't mention that she was fired. When I met coach Paulson, I thought she was very nice and seemed to promote a good program. I am sorry to see her go.....
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osurunning
Trust me. She was fired by the AD. The article does not state why her era has come to an end. It just says that she will be done coaching. The article did not want to make the AD look like a bad guy.
Coach Paulson was very passionate and knowledgeable about the sport. She did make an effort to meet each and every one of her athlete's needs. She was available to talk to during and outside of practice. I also do not know anyone that is as good of a motivator as she is. Coach Paulson has great credentials. She was a state champion in HS and an NCAA qualifier in cross and track. She handled many administrative responsibilities including organizing and staffing both home meets and the high school indoor meets which the team used to bring in money. She mapped out the courses, handled team entries, hired officials, and knew many people who were happy to volunteer. Coach Paulson has been coaching since 2000. The BG womens team has consistently ranked in the middle of the MAC. On the guys side, it has been difficult with track being cut and scholarships being cut. Eddie Kipchoge was the individual champion at the All-Ohio meet in 2005 or 2006.
Simply put, you can't win without scholarships on the guys side. The guys have been steadily improving their All-Ohio place even without scholarships. 13th this year out of 40. The womens' team does give out 5 scholarships, but her job would have been much easier with an assistant coach who could help out a little more on the recruiting end.
Cmon, you have Division 3 teams with no athletic scholarships beating BG. The athletic director did the right thing considering the overall record of this coach.Yes, you can say she did this and she did that-but the bottom line is you have one of the largest public colleges in the state with an awful record in xc and track. Also, considering the historic history of BG running, the results should have been dealt with much earlier than this. The AD is not the bad guy here, he did the right thing. The results aren't there and the coach had to go. You have runners on scholarship, especially the guys, who have not performed at a Division 1 level-in my opinion.
Losers find excuses and winners adapt and overcome!
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Frankstheman
BG lost to only one D3 school at the All-Ohio meet, placing 13th out of 37 teams.
The point I'm making is teams like UD who do not have track at least can give out 5 scholarships and have 1 coach for that team. They have a separate coach on the womens' side.
FranksthemanCmon, you have Division 3 teams with no athletic scholarships beating BG. The athletic director did the right thing considering the overall record of this coach.Yes, you can say she did this and she did that-but the bottom line is you have one of the largest public colleges in the state with an awful record in xc and track. Also, considering the historic history of BG running, the results should have been dealt with much earlier than this. The AD is not the bad guy here, he did the right thing. The results aren't there and the coach had to go. You have runners on scholarship, especially the guys, who have not performed at a Division 1 level-in my opinion.
Losers find excuses and winners adapt and overcome!
@Frankstheman
All else aside, D3 schools find other scholarships and grants to get student athletes on board so you are comparing apples to oranges.
Any word on who the replacement might be?
No word. The AD might be looking into the team just coaching themselves to save money. I mean, all they do is run. Right? Who needs to pay someone to tell them that?
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givetallugot
Sorry to hear about the situation. Seem's that AD's feel this way far too often.
Quite often ADs will wait until after the NCAA championships to assure that coaches of teams at the national meet would be available to interview. It's not a matter of apathy, but more like wanting the applicant pool to be inclusive of the best coaches. I'm certain that many applicants are here in Des Moines with their athletes and will be available to interview starting next week.
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CoachWhitman
I'm not sure of any D1 head coaches who have their teams competing in the national championships who would want to coach at BG. Maybe their assistants. I would think a D2/D3/NAIA coach would want to make the jump to the D1 level for the extra $$$. Their championship season, however, is already over.
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givetallugot
Actually, I'm at the NCAA meet and there are plenty of coaches here who would like to be at BG-particularly if they have any inclination of bringing the men's program back at some point. Understand that there are a lot of teams represented here. Could they get somebody from a top 5 program? Maybe, maybe not, but don't underestimate the draw of a school that has a good indoor facility in Division 1.
A school in any division with a good indoor facility is going to draw some interest. You are probably not going to attract any top level head coaches from D1 but you might get some of their assistants. And those folks are likely at the NCAA meet. Attracting other division coaches might happen, depending on the school. For example I would actually bet that some of the NCAC and OAC schools pay their head coach as much or more as BG would offer. But BG might pay significantly more than quite a few schools in D2/D3. But if you are an ambitious coach with designs on a top tier D1 job, trying to turn around BG and develop a few top level athletes could be a good career move. Particularly since BG has a proud tradition and is perceived as underachieving now. Being seen as turning around the program could be a good stepping stone.
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cchsfan
That is an excellent point cchsfan. All too often it's about saving a buck and convenience. I hope that won't be the case at BG, but that certainly remains to be seen.
Is it true that Bowling Green State University has a total of two and one half scholarships for the Mens XC Team? Were two full scholarships needed for the two team members from Africa in the past few years? If both of those questions are correct, then that Mens Team is doing a great job in Division I.
Good Luck to the new Coach.
cchsfanIs it true that Bowling Green State University has a total of two and one half scholarships for the Mens XC Team? Were two full scholarships needed for the two team members from Africa in the past few years? If both of those questions are correct, then that Mens Team is doing a great job in Division I.
Good Luck to the new Coach.
@cchsfan
Team originally had 2.5 scholarships. Kenyans were using 2 of them. Scholarships cut last year once Kenyans graduated. Team was still improving despite poor performances by Kenyans and BG could have gottn some very good recruits had the scholarships not been taking away. Maybe they will be given back with new coach. The kenyans being recruited falls on Coach Paulson, but then again she did recruit Eddie Kipchoge and Rogers Kipchumba. Kipchoge won All-Ohio and was 1 spot away from qualifying to nationals. Kipchumba was All-MAC.
Not making any judgement about the Kenyans! Was just wondering if those 2 scholarships had opened up and was being spread around..... Did not realize that they had cut those two scholarships out. WOW! So that would make one think that the Mens XC future could be bleak! Well atleast one very good runner still has his 1/2 scholarship. Hang in there man!!
In bleak I am only refering to the future of the program. As will they drop mens cross country? .....as they have dropped mens track!
It is definitely a possibility, but I do not see that happen.
In order to be a D1 institution, the college has to offer 7 mens sports and 7 womens sports, or 6 mens sports and 8 womens sports. BG currently has 7 mens sports and 10 womens sports, so they could cut mens cross country and still be okay.
However, cross country is a low budget sport and there have been years when BG was not sure if it could fund the Hockey team due to high expenses. So if BG was to cut XC and then unable to afford the Hockey budget, then they would only have 5 sports and lose D1 status.
