Rulon Gardner to coach HS wrestling team

[WillieBoy 638]

https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/20135

 

This should be interesting.

 

Gardner won Gold and was our best at his weight for a few years.

 

Now a HS coach.

 

Don't know that his International Greco experience will help or he is hired because of his wrestling fame. No matter what, hope he does well.

 

Yes, I know - and I posted in the High School section. Thought with his record folks here might enjoy reading about it.

[spladle 142]

Could be useful for getting kids to go out for wrestling.

[hammerlockthree 1,552]

hows his weight

[spladle 142]

He was at the Colorado High School State Tournament and he looked to still be pushing 500 lbs. Not healthy at all.

[hammerlockthree 1,552]

Yeah i should have been clearer, i didn't mean it as a sneer, but last time I saw the guy it was clear he has an eating disorder. 

 

But coaching is a great source of motivation for self improvement.

Edited May 15, 2018 by hammerlockthree

[jchapman 728]

https://goo.gl/images/1GJhYz

[spladle 142]

I don't believe it was meant as a snear, I truly feel bad for the guy and hope he can get it together. I would hate for him to have a heart attack before age 50.

Edited May 15, 2018 by spladle

[NJDan 436]

Why hire a guy to coach if he so clearly cannot discipline himself?

[TripNSweep 347]

I feel bad for him.  

[GranbyTroll 388]

Why hire a guy to coach if he so clearly cannot discipline himself?

 

I imagine that kids have a harder time taking their coach seriously when he's 40-50lb overweight vs a really in shape coach. It can't be good when he's 200lb+ overweight. 

[jchapman 728]

My high school coach was an old overweight heavyweight.  He was a great teacher, coach and mentor.

[WillieBoy 638]

Why hire a guy to coach if he so clearly cannot discipline himself?

Haven't many of us wondered if PE was really going to help anything as we saw the lardbutt who was teaching the class?

 

Rulon is big. Bigger than most of us think is healthy. We know he has had weight issues since he quit competition. Hope he gets it figured out.

 

Have no idea if he has been coaching or volunteering the past few years. Hope he has. Really hope he helps motivate the kids and can get them going on the mat for a competitive program.

 

For contrast I would put up Darold Henry and Steve Sanderson - excellent High School coaches in Utah. Darold retired now(was also an NCAA ref) and I think Sanderson is as well. Both ran good programs and produced champions - Sanderson more than just his boys. Would be nice to see Rulon get into that type of success.

 

Anyone know if he is keeping up with the Greco scene in the Intermountain area?

[ClawRide 50]

Rulon, please take care of yourself.  We want you around.

[GockeS 245]

I was thinking, hey, he might be just the guy to light a fire under a program that isn't quite there yet, get kids interested... be fun, and motivate etc..

then i read in the article they are already a pretty good program...

 

hmmm, hope he has some good assistants.

[sgallan 592]

Been in camps with Rulon on board, lightest 400 pound guy on his feet ever. Also a big kid and very charismatic. Great with kids. It is a solid program, he can keep it going and his assistants can do what they do. If HS wrestling precluded good coaches with issues away from the mat the talent pool would thin a lot. This is decades of interactions with coaches, many local legends, and what they are like when not being "coach". FWIW, for the year of 2017 the community I lived hired a HS coach with one year of HS wrestling as. 9th grader. and no coaching experience. Y'all need a little perspective.

[GockeS 245]

well said sgallan, those were pretty much my initial thoughts...

[airmail 46]

Good luck to him.

 

A few years back, one of the locals became buddies with Rulon and wanted him to do a clinic at the school where I coached.  A lot of the stuff he showed was, in my opinion, dirty & not high school appropriate.  The way he karate chops necks and such, I don't believe he realizes he's a 500 pound guy who's strong as a friggin' ox.  If I or another average joe would have shown the same stuff, some of the parents would have had my ass.  But it was funny/cool because it was Rulon....

[ConnorsDad 364]

He has definitely been working with wrestling because last summer I went to watch my kid wrestle at Fargo and he was there with the Wyoming team pointing out technique to kids, sitting in kids corner in both freestyle and Greco and so on.