I must first state that it is coach Francis who is to be respected for putting in the work that he did to create and organize his track club and the associated opportunity he has created for who knows how many athletes. I think he is to be commended for these things.
I’m also confident that coach Francis could give a flying @#&% about a group of individuals debating his methods on a computer forum.
That said, I must question his skill at management as well as coaching based upon past factors as well as a glaring contradiction he made in the interview:
First the contradiction: he mentioned the importance of understanding the energetic demands of the various events then goes on to state how the majority of athletes perform the same training (ergo 100m and 400m athletes performing 90% of the same workload). This is a course of action that is inconsistent with someone who understands the energetics of the various events
Which leads one to further question Asafa’s past inconsistency in multiple rounds (while it’s a guess, I have to question how his training reflects the bioenergetic demand of multiple rounds on consecutive days)
- the pec tear that Asafa sustained (Charlie shared that this was reflective of some supra-max slow lowering of the barbell which is beyond unacceptable; particularly for an athlete of that caliber)
The talent pool he has to work with, as well as Glen Mills Racers Club and any other coach whose stable is so densely packed with talent, cannot be ignored and the holes in his statements in the interview, as well as in other text interviews and youtube clips I’ve seen over the years, justify, in my view, the questioning of his coaching and management tactics.