Any change in coaches is going to have ramifications. Sometimes it can be positive, but since KT had been so effective in coaching the group it was likely to be less so in this instance. Of course this could well have been compounded by the relatively disappointing season that both Christopher and Kunkel had in 08.
You are quite correct that lifestyle is often an issue. I don’t know if either of them took a hit in their funding this season, but that could be a factor.
While I didn’t hear the interview, as Charlie stated, the apparent switch from S-to-L to L-to-S could be part of the problem. While 08 was disappointing, I doubt that program structure was the issue.
Interestingly a number of top 400m guys don’t look particularly good right now. Wariner looked poor in the 200m, as did Neville in the 400m. I haven’t seen any results on Djhone or Rooney and Wissman hasn’t been running well thus far outdoors.