Good post sir.. I think perhaps the reason we havent seen an exodus from the Ok State program vs. what Penn State had when Karl got there has to do with the fact that when the coaching change happened at Penn State, people didnt know if it was going to work or not. We now know his methodology works.
This coaching change seems to be a huge eye opening experience for alot of people to include the previous coaching staff , the current wrestlers and the fan.. I dont mean this as in anyway derogatory towards the previous staff, it seems like there was a lowering of expectations that has been trending for along time that a majority of people didnt / couldnt see.. It has to be humbling for alot of people to see the huge amount of change and resources that have resulted from the new coaches arriving. It also has to sting that the new staff only wanted to retain one person from the old staff. There seems to be a huge shift in expectations with this staff vs. what the fans were all excited about with the prospect of Coach Scott taking over.
Thinking back it seems like there have been alot of highly regarded recruits that never reached there potential and / or flamed out and either went somewhere else or left the sport. When I think about development, there is no comparison to what Penn State has done vs. almost everyone else.
When I think about the top coaches and programs in college wrestling, if I wanted to I can hear directly from multiple Ok State wrestlers to include John Smith himself.. or Iowa, I can hear from both of the Brands Brothers, doug Schwab, the Steiners, Dan Gable himself, etc... There isnt really one top program that hasnt put out videos, books, put on coaching clinics, etc that tell everyone exactly how they train and how they teach and drill, run practices.. BESIDES Penn State.. Until we got our new staff, there have been no break aways, no one has discussed or revealed how Penn State has done what they have. It seems like a big deal that the Ok State program has put themselves in a position to compete for team titles, individual titles, transfers and top recruits.
It sucks how everything turned out for the previous staff and I wish them the best. If anyone has any pause about CC leaving, I point to the Bubba Jenkins situation.. He was the highest returning placer for Penn State and was asked to leave. While he wins a national title the next year, that one individual title sacrifice led to a period of dominance we havent seen before. Nothing against CC, I would rather let him find a place where he can feel comfortable vs. keep him around and him holding the program back.
