1) Coaching Philosophy
I believe God has placed within all of us certain gifts. I want my athletes to realize they have a responsibility to develop their gifts and be good stewards of those talents - in practice, meets, classroom or wherever they are at. I want them to run for something beyond themselves. I try to teach my runners that developing those gifts comes through hard work and a person ultimately will "reap what he sows!"
2) What do you teach at Daviess County HS?
I teach health and physical education classes.
3) How long have you been the Head Coach at Daviess County? Did you coach anywhere before Daviess County?
I began as the head boys cross country and track coach here at Daviess County in the fall of 1977 and have never coached anywhere else. This is my 30th year.
4) Where did you run in high school?
I had the privilege of running for Bob Puckett at Owensboro HS.
5) Best time?
On the track I ran the equivalent of 9:49 for 3200 meters. In cross country we only ran one 5,000 each year. That was at the DeSales Invitational on a very hilly course at Iroquois Park in Louisville. My best time in that meet was 16:45. All of our other high school races in those days were 2 miles.
6) Any accomplishments as a runner in high school?
While in high school, our team at Owensboro won state cross country championships my freshman, sophomore and junior year in class AA. We were second my senior year. Ironically, it was Daviess County, coached by Chuck Gullo, who broke our streak.
7) Did you run in college?
I walked on at Eastern Kentucky University as a college freshman and competed in cross country and track throughout my college years.
8) Who influenced you the most when you first started coaching?
I was extremely fortunate to run under two great coaches – Bob Puckett at Owensboro HS and Art Harvey at EKU. Those two men put us through extremely tough sessions. I learned how to run and how to work and both men greatly impacted my future coaching.
9) Your teams have had quite a bit of success. What continues to drive you as a coach?
I love the interaction with my athletes and feel that I have something to offer them on their journey to manhood. The success we have had definitely has helped keep me motivated but I have tried to never really embrace that success and become complacent. Coaching both sports leaves very little time to rest on your laurels and moving on to the next challenge is very important to me. Success is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right preparation. As with the gifts God has given us, how we handle success and honors that might come our way say a great deal about the measure of a man.
10) Wackiest thing you have ever seen as a coach?
Over the course of a 30 year career there have been lots of fun moments. I describe many of them in the book I wrote so I will defer to the book on this question.
11) Describe the book you wrote?
The book is called Trails, Trials & Triumphs and it is a tribute to the Daviess County cross country program. It chronicles each year of my involvement in the program describing incidents, personalities and significant races of each season. There also is a training/mental preparation section in the back of the book. I tried to make it both very informative and just good fun reading. I am very pleased with the feedback I received from people that I asked to read different parts of the book as I wrote it.
The writing was a labor of love because I am so passionate about cross country. I believe folks will enjoy the book.
12) Has it been published yet?
The book is in the final stages of production now. Originally, I was told it would be available in February but it looks like it could be earlier – I am hoping for a release by Christmas. When released it will be in some bookstores and online at: www.tatepublishing.com
13) What do you think about your son, Mark, following you into coaching, just at a different level?
When the job a Campbellsville University opened, several people encouraged Mark to apply. Apparently they saw something in him they liked and I couldn't be happier for Mark. He is doing what he loves and the learning curve is very high right now but Mark is well prepared for the challenge. He will build a good program there. I am thrilled that both my sons chose to pursue running and it was a great experience coaching them in high school. Matt is a junior on the Austin Peay State University team. I can see him also continuing his involvement in this sport as a coach.
14) Why have teams from Owensboro had so much success with running in the past and recently?
I suppose there is something in the water here! Actually, it is a combination of many things. Owensboro is a very sports-minded town. Although we are not near the size of Lexington or Louisville, the four local high schools here all have excellent sports program and it is very competitive locally. The town newspaper does an excellent job in their focus on high school athletics and people are well aware of what is going on in all our prep sports here. Cross country in particular has had a great tradition of excellence going back to the 60s and the interest of the health of the sport has never waned. I feel we have terrific coaches at all four high schools as well as the middle schools here and the sport is just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
15) Do you follow any particular training philosophy? (Jack Daniels, etc.)
There are many people that have impacted my training philosophy. I still use some of the workouts my high school coach used. I studied Joe Newton's program a great deal early in my career and I consider Arthur Lydiard an absolute genius; he was light years ahead of the game. Joe Vigil, Rich Rostel, Scott Simmons – I have begged and borrowed ideas from many different coaches and continue to learn every year.
16) What accomplishment are you the most proud of as a coach?
I am proud that we are recognized as a solid cross country program and one that has been developed with integrity. Perhaps the greatest reward is when you see former athletes succeed, regardless of their profession. Of course, I particularly get a kick out of seeing past athletes now coaching in our sport and there are several out there now. David Christian, for instance, is quickly building what I think will be one of the premier programs in the Southeast down at Broughton HS in North Carolina. I know the impact my coaches had on my life and I hope I have had a similar influence on my runners.
17) Any other comments?
Cross country is a very unique sport. It is so simple and pure that folks don't understand until their children get involved; then they fall in love with the sport and begin to see all it has to offer. I feel very blessed to have had the experiences that cross country has afforded me.