NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : No need for a debate
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa — Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain would love to carry the states where John McDonnell has been declared the national champion.
McDonnell’s 42 NCAA titles as Arkansas’ cross country and track and field coach have included meets in California and New York.
The Razorbacks also have won the big prize in Texas and Pennsylvania under McDonnell’s leadership.
McDonnell’s teams haven’t won an NCAA championship in Florida, Ohio or Illinois, but they’ve never competed for one in those states.
Arkansas has won national titles in 18 cities in 15 states in four time zones during McDonnell’s tenure, which has spanned the administrations of seven presidents, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush.
McDonnell is waging one more national campaign this week in the capital city of Iowa, where since 1972 the state caucuses have been the first major electoral event in the nominating process for president.
McDonnell’s college coaching career also began in 1972, when he became the Razorbacks’ head cross country coach and track and field assistant. In 1978, he was promoted to head coach for the track and field program as well.
After 36 years, McDonnell’s coaching run is ending at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held today through Saturday at Drake University.
Since announcing April 21 he will retire at the conclusion of the outdoor season, McDonnell has been on a farewell tour, with one more stop at the Penn Relays, one more conference title at Auburn, Ala., and one more home appearance for the NCAA Mideast Regional at the Arkansas facility that bears his name.
Now McDonnell, 69, truly has reached his coaching finale in Des Moines.
“This is it,” McDonnell said. “This really is it, but I’m trying not to make a big deal of it. To be honest with you, I’ve been so busy trying to get everything ready for the meet that I haven’t had time to think about it too much.
“ I just want to make it another meet and make it the very best we can for the athletes, but I realize this will be the last time I’ll be on the corner of the track screaming for a Razorback as a coach.”
Arkansas’ first NCAA title under McDonnell came at the 1984 Indoor Championships at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N. Y.
In the four years prior to that breakthrough, the Razorbacks twice finished second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, third once and fifth once, and finished second and third at the NCAA Indoors.
“I really began to think I might be one of those guys who was destined to come close but never win the big one,” McDonnell said. “When you look back on it now, I know I sound crazy, but that’s how I felt at the time.
“ I thought I must be doing something wrong — and I was.”
McDonnell said he’s thankful for advice he got from two of his best athletes — long and triple jumper Mike Conley and distance runner Frank O’Mara — about putting too much pressure on the Razorbacks before a national meet.
“What they said really helped me,” McDonnell said. “That’s why I’ve always said, ‘Be a good listener.’ You can learn a lot more from listening than talking.”
McDonnell said he “overcoached” at times.
“So I pulled back a little, and we starting winning the national championships,” he said.
The Razorbacks won at least one national title for 17 consecutive years — from 1984-2000 — and five times won NCAA Triple Crowns by sweeping the cross country and indoor and outdoor track championships in the same school year.
“Based on John’s record, he’s the greatest coach in NCAA history, bar none,” Michigan Coach Ron Warhurst said. “He’s had the horses to pull the cart, but he’s taken good athletes and made them better.
“ What else is there for him to accomplish ? He’s done it all.”
McDonnell has coached 185 Razorbacks who have earned a combined 652 All-America honors.
“He seems to always have the athletes’ best interest in mind, and I think that really carries a lot of weight,” Wisconsin Coach Ed Nuttycombe said. “When your athletes like and respect you as much as they do John, they’ll do anything for you. They’ll go to the well as many times as you ask them and run through the wall for you.
“ I think the results at Arkansas speak for themselves.”
McDonnell said he’s enjoyed every national championship, but some stand out.
“It was always nice to win NCAA titles in Austin,” said McDonnell, whose Razorbacks brought home three Outdoor championships from the Texas capital in 1985, 1992 and 2004. “I think Texas is the type of team that thought they were a little bit better than you, so it was fun to go into their own back yard and beat them.”
Winning four NCAA Indoor titles at Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Center in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2006 also are among McDonnell’s career highlights.
“When I went to talk to Don Tyson about getting the money for an indoor track, I said to him, ‘We’ve won all over the country, but we have never competed for a national title on our own soil and I’d like to be able to do that,’” McDonnell said. “He made it possible.”
While McDonnell had been contemplating retirement for the past few years, his announcement sent shock waves through the college track and field community.
“You’re sorry to see him go in some respects, but glad to see him go in other respects because he made it so difficult on the rest of us to win,” Nuttycombe said. “We’ve all been chasing John Mc-Donnell.”
Alan Sugg, president of the Arkansas system, said it’s nearly impossible to describe what Mc-Donnell has meant to the Razorbacks’ track program, the UA and the state.
“He’s got a special leadership quality that you don’t find hardly anyplace else,” said Sugg, a former Arkansas pole vaulter who has become a huge McDonnell fan. “He’s got a way to motivate young people to go beyond their abilities.
“ He would be successful in any field he went into because of his great relationships with people and his integrity.
“ With all the success he’s had, he’s still the most humble person you’ll ever meet. He doesn’t have any hint of arrogance about him whatsoever.”
Daniel Lincoln, the American record holder in the 3, 000-meter steeplechase and a four-time NCAA champion at Arkansas, said McDonnell has excelled as a coach with his combination of attention to detail, common sense and gut instincts.
“He’s written down every workout that’s ever been done,” Lincoln said. “He has all the data in front of him, stacks of paper, but he’s able to look back on them and be attentive enough to see what affects those workouts had and what needs to be adjusted or tweaked.
“ He’s just able to make the sound, fundamental decision that needs to be made, and you know to trust him.”
McDonnell said the hardest part about retiring is leaving the athletes, particularly the younger ones.
“I have some freshmen and sophomores on the team, and you feel like you have let them down a little bit, but there never would be a good time to retire,” he said. “You’ll always have freshmen and sophomores.”
Arkansas field events coach Dick Booth said the Razorbacks must make sure they give their best effort in McDonnell’s final meet.
“The guys are very aware of it,” Booth said. “You ask them, ‘How should John McDonnell’s career end ? The guy has been the most successful coach ever, and it would be a shame to let him limp into the sunset.’
“ We’ve all got to bust our butt. I can’t guarantee him a victory, but we all should be able to look him right in the eye and walk away saying, ‘Coach, it’s been great,’ and not hoping he doesn’t see you because you screwed up so bad.”
McDonnell said it probably won’t hit him that he’s retired until he returns home from the NCAA meet.
“I’ll wake up on Monday morning and start getting ready to go to the office,” McDonnell said. “Then I’ll say, ‘Hey, there is no office.’”
Technically, McDonnell will be employed at Arkansas through the end of June.
“It will take him that long to pack up all the trophies,” Lady Razorbacks Coach Lance Harter said.
Arkansas isn’t favored to win this year’s NCAA Outdoor title — that pressure is on LSU — but McDonnell said he believes the Razorbacks can finish among the top four.
“It will be tough for us to win the title, but stranger things have happened,” McDonnell said. “We’ll just have to line up and see how it goes.
“ I want the team to go out on a very high note. People always say you’re remembered by the last thing you did, and I hope it’s good.”
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