Coaches Corner: Wesleyan Coach Chad McDaniel

Achievements

• Looking back at the history of this program, what was the "turning point" that moved it from a standard high school team to what it is today? 
  When Chris Yoder and I arrived at Wesleyan in 2007, the program was in phenomenal shape with the boys under the leadership of Brian Kennerly and the girls with Dan Byrne. They had both established a great team culture, work ethic, and the expectation of success. I took over as head coach of the boys in the fall of 2010 and the girls in 2011. Chris Yoder and I had each been head coaches before at other schools and had already developed a great coaching relationship and friendship, and we have continued to work together in lockstep. I think the true turning point of our program happened when the school was established in Peachtree Corners in 1996, because our administration has given us resources as a program from the very start. It is not normal to have an XC course be a part of the original campus master plan, for a high school XC team to have 9 full time coaches on staff (in addition to 7 middle school coaches), and for administrators to attend multiple XC meets a year, but that is exactly what happens at Wesleyan and I am truly grateful for it.
• How do you honor the traditions or past top athletes and teams while still pushing the current roster to carve their own path? 
  We talk about past teams every year as a way to give perspective to current teams. The stories of past athletes overcoming adversity and teams coming together at the right time to excel at state helps the teams of today to remember that they are capable of more than they realize. I think that discussing the successes and missteps of past teams helps teach today's teams valuable lessons about things they need to focus on and also on things they need to let go of. As far as "traditions" go, we have far to many to discuss here, but one of my favorites is one that I inherited from Brian Kennerly. The week prior to state each year, he would email and text all XC alumni/ae and ask them to write letters of encouragement to the current team. The night before state in our team meeting, I read these letters to our teams, and my belief is that it helps to relieve the pressure of the impending state meet. The messages in these letters are tangible evidence that our past teams heard the messages we were trying to communicate as opposed to just talking about winning or success. The theme of every letter focuses on giving your best, leaving it all on the course, running for your teammates, and using the gifts that God has given you in a way that glorifies Him. The letters rarely mention a trophy or podium finish.
• What has been the most memorable race, championship, or milestone achievement of your coaching career so far? 
  I am so grateful to have been a part of the Wesleyan community for going on 20 years now, and it is impossible to narrow it down to just one memorable moment. My goal is to soak in every day with this incredible coaching staff and enjoy my time with each team, because they are all different. But if I have to pick, there are two that stand out in my mind for one reason or another. I will pick the boys state XC meet of 2018 and the girls state meet of 2020. In 2020, our top girls finisher, Katherine Graddy, scored 19 points and our 5^th runner scored 28. Having your top runner finish that far back is usually not a recipe for success at the state meet, but it was just one of those years where team depth got the job done. Katherine had been injured for most of her career, and yet still attended every summer run that our captains led all four years of high school. She got healthy her senior year and was an excellent leader for our team. In 2018, our boys were not picked by anyone to win, and that analysis was accurate, but we had a team that just kept getting better every week with a group of young men who ran for each other and peaked at the right time. On a personal level, my son Stafford, executed a great race that day as a freshman and negative split it almost to perfection. He was in around 40^th place at the end of mile one and finished 13^th overall. We won that day by 2 points and were only 5 ahead of the 3^rd place team. Every team is special in their own way, so I hate to single out one or two teams, but those two always stand out in my head because of the improbability of each win.
• Beyond podium finishes and state titles, how do you define a truly successful season for your runners? 
  At our parent meeting prior to the start of each season, I share three things that we want their children to learn in their time with our program. 1. That the love of their coaches and the love of their Savior have nothing to do with how fast they run. 2. Every member of the team can set a goal and learn how to take the steps to achieve it. 3. Our ultimate desire would be that through their time with Wesleyan XC that they would hear the Gospel and ultimately decide to follow Jesus. XC is unique because of all the time you get to spend in conversation on long runs, so our desire as coaches is to earn the right to be heard, and that we will have the opportunity to speak eternal truth into their lives. We are all competitive people, and we want to push our kids to achieve their best, but ultimately their success as a runner is just a part of what we want to teach them as high school runners. We talk a lot about process and very little about where we want to finish at state.

Team Culture

• Cross country is unique in that a team's success often relies heavily on the 4th and 5th runners. How do you cultivate a "pack mentality" and ensure every runner feels their finish matters? 
  I think that developing a team first mentality is one of the most vital things a coach can do for a high school XC team and that helps develop the pack over the course of a season. I also believe that having a large team (hopefully 20-25% of our high school) will help develop this because when practice is competitive, it will carry over into the race and when everyone sets a high bar for themselves it will bring others along. After a few races each season, we assign groups to run with each other, which can also help naturally develop the pack. A very important piece of this is having an unselfish team where older athletes are willing to mentor and encourage younger ones while knowing that the younger athlete wants to potentially take their spot in the lineup. This is hard to develop and will fluctuate from year to year, but when you've got it you know your team has huge potential.
• You manage a wide range of athletes, from elite front-runners to developing JV runners. How do you foster a sense of "one team" when everyone is doing such different work and running at different paces? 
  Each year, I schedule time in the spring semester to speak to the 8^th grade class, and I let them know that we have runners who will compete at a high level and seek to run in college while also having team members who have never run before and may not be able to break 45 minutes for 5K at our time trial and that both runners have a place in our program. Ultimately, everyone can set a goal and we will help them work to achieve it. We celebrate the athlete who breaks 35 minutes in a 5K with the same enthusiasm as we do for the athlete who breaks 15:30 for the first time. I think the "one team" mentality develops naturally with some teams while others need more coaching. We make it clear to every team that if they are not warming up or racing, they need to be out on the course cheering on their teammates.
• If you had to describe the "vibe" of a regular afternoon practice in only a few words, what would they be? 
  Enthusiasm. Energy. Focus.
• What is the "non-negotiable" rule in your program that every athlete, regardless of talent level, must follow? 
  Effort and attitude are two things that you can control, and they will impact not only your XC practice and races, but the future of your life. Learn to manage these and you will exceed expectations and find success.
• Summer base training is the foundation of a successful fall. How do you keep athletes connected and accountable when they are logging miles away from the team? 
  We have a team meeting in the spring semester to set the expectations for the summer. After track season ends, we send out summer training plans for beginners and advanced runners, so everyone is clear about what we want them to do. We have voluntary captain led practices during the summer that are well attended, and if someone is out of town it's pretty easy to check Strava to see who is working. If people are skipping days, we follow up.

Coaching Philosophy and Workouts

• In the era of super-shoes and advanced data, how much of your coaching is "art" (intuition/feel) versus "science" (splits/physiology)? 
  I have always been more on the art side as a coach than the science side, but you really need to be able to do both. To me, the first step with a freshman (or new to the team) runner is to get in their head and convince them that running all summer is a valuable use of their time. If you can do that, then they will be far more likely to be willing to listen to and learn about the science of the sport because of the time investment they have made. I read "Running: The Lydiard Way" as a young coach, and that is still the basic philosophy I use today with some tweaks here and there. I think that having regular conversations with athletes is the best way to get them to believe that they can accomplish far more than they realize and getting them to understand how to "live in the pain house" during a workout or race is vital to success. If you have world class workouts drawn up but can't convince anyone to do them at a high level, you're going to be disappointed.
• What is your favorite staple workout that tells you the team is physically and mentally ready for a championship race? 
  There is not necessarily a workout, but more of a feeling that all of the workouts compounded over a season along with mental toughness of a team will show me if they are ready. Life is stressful enough without me adding pressure to their lives, so we try to keep everything light throughout the season while also trying to prepare them little by little for the pressure that lies ahead. If you can prepare for pressure in small ways throughout the season, the pressure at the end won't feel so big. Once the end of the season arrives, it's too late to prepare them for that, so it's key to work on it all season.
• How do you handle the "mental side" of the sport, particularly for high-pressure meets like Sectionals or State? 
  Be clear with expectations. Coach them up about how to run the course in front of them. Make them aware of their specific race assignments. Tell them to think about their teammates when it hurts the most and they want to quit. When the end of the season arrives, we remind them that they have put in the work to be ready for the big moment and that pressure is a privilege. We also tell them all season that we cannot control how anyone runs but ourselves. Again, the goal is to prepare them for pressure, but also to try and alleviate pressure by giving them important information and clear goals.
• How do you balance pushing athletes to their limits in workouts while preventing overuse injuries or mid-season burnout? 
  We try to have daily conversations with the athletes and try to adjust workouts when they feel like they are dragging or getting sick. A well timed break (physically or mentally) can be vital to keeping a season on track.