Tom was briefly my high school XC coach (and freshman history teacher, believe it or not). I am living proof that no matter how good a coach is, there is only so much a man can do with a talent-less athlete. Seriously, he was my XC coach for my first two years in high school, after which he took the gig at Haverford. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tom came very close to being the head coach at Villanova, in the aftermath of the John Marshall exit. IIRC, Marcus actually was pushing for Tom when he himself got the job. I seem to recall that Villanova muffed it a bit by delaying asking Tom when Tom was seemingly in a position to say "yes" -- and by the time Villanova actually did ask, Tom had decided to stay at Haverford.
Tom coached both Marcus and Sydney Maree during their heyday. Both set world records, etc. By all accounts, Tom is one of the truly good guys out there.
Here's a picture of Tom (on the right, with the hat) from his days as head coach at my alma mater (circa 1972-74), LaSalle College High School, just outside Philly.
This post was edited on 8/11 3:38 PM by LSU-Nit