Calling them crappy athletes is just an eye catcher. I'm not talking about the lost causes like the 100lb freshman who wants to throw shot. More so the athlete that picks up the shot and doesn't throw 50 without trying.

You might get a great athlete who throws 50ft in shot as a freshman and you think to yourself, “he's going to be great, unless...” That “unless” is the important word. I've seen athletes throw 60 with horrible technique. They'll be good “unless” they stop trying or working hard. When someone is throwing 5-10 feet farther than 2^nd place what's the point of working hard? First place will always be first place.

Back to the crappy athletes. These are the guys that with a slight push will work hard every day, always dreaming of holding the first place medal. They may never get there but if you are going to excel as a coach, these are the ones that make you better. Their drive to be the best means they'll be bugging you constantly to help them improve. They won't accept that you have nothing new to teach them. It's your job to go out and make them better. They expect you to go out to learn more.

This constant pushing between the athlete and coach means both will improve. Stop hoping for someone to come along and be an automatic national champion. Rather hope for the crazy athlete who won't accept second place and demands you get them to first. Creating national champions is far better than getting lucky. But getting lucky ain't all that bad either.