"creates poor team culture and puts athletes down without celebrating many successes if you are on his bad side. Injury group is made to practice separately from the team and treated extremely poorly by constantly being scolded for “not wanting it” and being”lazy” for being concerned about their health and listening to doctors. It is a common experience for girls to leave meeting or practices in tears."
"No one who comes through here gets better as a player because of this coaching staff , you either take things as yourself and have to level up on your own or you do not matter to this program"
"Overall experience was horrible. Communication between coaches and most players on the team was really bad. Coaches would schedule checkin meetings with players to basically play mind games with them. The culture this coaching staff has implemented while at Rutgers is really bad and is reckless towards a large number of players on the roster. I would not recommend anyone send their daughters to play at Rutgers while this coaching staff is employed at RU. Look at the number of players that enter the portal after every season. It is not just players that are not playing. The program has lost some of its top players due to the coaching staff actions and how they treat the players."
"Justin turned RWR from absolute dog s*** to a respectable team. I will never disagree with his ability to do that. He talks in circles and knows how to beef up what he is saying to make it sound better when in actuality he is a professional at making most people on the team feel insignificant. Unless you are a v8 contributor your importance in his eyes diminishes. In my time on the team, he would speak about how he valued academics yet would berate you if you missed a team lift or had to leave 5 minutes early from practice for a lab or an internship opportunity. It’s truly disappointing to see the value he places on athletes from a mental health perspective and how much he devalues your physical health as well despite the number of resources the university has. "
"He is more like a father figure than a coach. As much as he wants you to be successful on the track, he rather you be a successful human. Treats the sport with a school-first attitude. Overall great coach and an even greater person."
"A great leader, played under Mere for 5 years, looks after every player as though her own family. Understands and acknowledges player needs on and off the field. Wants to win, keeps being a student-athlete fun and competitive at the same time."
"Justin is incredibly motivating and has real goals to make us the best team possible and to make sure that every single athlete is included in the growth and development of the team. "
"One of the best coaches I had. Believes in you when you don’t. Always told us story’s about his youth and connected to us. Still checks in with me asking if I need any recommendations letter for jobs or anything. He is a people person. Cares more about the athletes health then their performance. Made me fall back in love with running when I was at my lowest of lows. Wish he was there for my 5th year. Love that man. "
"Does not care about MENTAL HEALTH. Many suffered with mental health and didn’t care about it. Made me fall out of love in track. Very power hungry. Made us feel like animals not knowing what was happening. Lacked social skills with connecting with athletes are a people standpoint. "
"Tends to talk in circles. Becomes confusing, but is very motivational and only cares about the team. Very grateful for the opportunities we are given. How hard you work picks your place on the team. "
"He is a great guy and means extremely well. I just wish he was able to take his players and develop them to their utmost potential because we had so much talent. He lacked consistency in his coaching methods and tactics. A good assistant, not a great head coach."
"If you want a coach that holds you accountable and gets you to the level you want to be at, this is your guy. If you want a guy that is a babysitter and lets you party and do whatever you want, this is not your guy"
"Justin is definitely very knowledgeable when it comes to the sport of rowing. He has very particular goals in mind for the team when it comes to standards and pushing ourselves to get a little better every day. "
"Justin is all about consistency. He is dedicated to having all his rowers act as leaders. He communicates the plan he wants us to execute well and goes over a better way to approach it based on the results. He is intense yet supportive and encouraging which is crucial in such a mental sport. "
"Coach Stringer is known for teaching life lessons to prepare us for the real world! She made sure we went thru extreme texting to improve our physicality along with our mental! We spoke about books she gave to us in practice while running. Best thing I learned while playing for her is to never accept crumbs, go get what you want!Tough but mean well"
"He needs more volleyball skills. Needs to attend coaching clinics from coaches who have found success in the volleyball world and division one athletics. FAR beyond club volleyball at URI , which is his and his assistant coaches pool of knowledge comes from. They do not know enough about the game and how to push athletes. "
"Needs to learn better communication skills with players. He is not very approachable when it comes to uncomfortable topics. He does not have a very good way of controlling his emotions and often brings them to the court which makes the atmosphere very uneasy."
"Coach Brecht understands his players and has a unique relationship with all of them. He is caring and considerate towards his players decisions on the field as well as off in the real world. He promotes good grades in the classroom before good play on the field. Overall cares so much for our team and gears his players towards success."
"Mike has outstanding knowledge about soccer and years of experience. He cares more about technical and tactical ability than fitness. He is too critical at times and plays favorites occasionally."
"Justin is extremely knowledgeable in the sport and has turned athletes into elite rowers and coxswains. Being said his methods have created an absolutely terrible team culture and this past year over 16 girls have left the team. He often will say hurtful things to try and motivate athletes such as “when I look at you I see us losing Big Tens” or straight up telling injured girls they are simply “lazy.” Many girls struggle with mental health issues and are often penalized for taking a step back from the team. Injured athletes are totally separated from the team and are given little support. The entire coaching staff is not very approachable and most interactions are like a business transaction. Justin is responsible for creating his lineups for the top 2 eights, but the rest of the staff creates lineups and places rowers and coxswains purely off of opinion even if you won your seat race. When asking for answers athletes are told they lack in “competitive spirit” or something else dumb. If you’re looking for a warm and fuzzy environment with an open door policy this is not it. Went to a lot of sports psych when I was there."
"He gives you the time and attention you deserve if you're genuinely making an effort. But if you're not putting in the work (girls on my team would fake their long runs) he'll call you out on it like a real coach should. Some people on my team got upset about not getting enough attention, but the truth is, they weren’t putting in the effort to earn it."
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