Andrew Maloney - John McDonnell: The Most Successful Coach in NCAA History

John McDonnell

Copyright 2013 by The University of Arkansas Press

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

ISBN-10: 1-55728-992-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-992-6

E-ISBN: 978-1-61075-520-7

Text design by Ellen Beeler

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maloney, Andrew, 1982

John McDonnell : the most successful coach in NCAA history / Andrew Maloney and John McDonnell.

pages. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-55728-992-6 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. McDonnell, John, 1938 2. Track and field coachesUnited StatesBiography. 3. University of Arkansas, FayettevilleTrack and fieldHistory. I. McDonnell, John, 1938- II. Title.

GV697.M4M35 2013

796.42092dc23

[B]

2012048315

John McDonnell, interview by Scott Lunsford and Andrew Maloney, July 7, 2010, Arkansas Memories Project, The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville. URL: http://pryorcenter.uark.edu

To my wife, Ellen, who has been there for me night and day throughout the years. I love you with all my heart, and you are the voice of reason, comfort, and unending love.

To my son, Sean, who has been an instrument of peace, love, and companionship to me. You are my son of strength, talent, and success.

To my daughter, Heather. You are the apple of my eye, and you make the world a better place to be because of your love, personality, laughter, and encouragement.

Contents

Growing Up in Ireland (19381963)

Early Experiences in America (19631972)

Starting Out at Arkansas (19721978)

Climbing the Mountain (19781981)

Reaching the Pinnacle (19811984)

John McDonnell on Physiological and Psychological Preparation

On Top of the World (19841986)

Fayettenam (19861988)

Closing Out the Decade (19881991)

The Triple Crown of Triple Crowns (19911994)

A New Generation (19941997)

A Pain in the Neck (19972000)

A New Lease on Life (20012003)

John McDonnell on Leadership

Rising to the Occasion (20032006)

The Final Years (20062008)

Retirement

John McDonnells AllTime Head Coaching Record

Cross Country Conference and NCAA Championship Record

Indoor Conference and NCAA Championship Record

Outdoor Conference and NCAA Championship Record

Olympians

Arkansas National Champions as of John McDonnells Retirement

My first encounter with John McDonnell occurred in my first few weeks as a collegiate coach at a cross-country meet on a hot September day in Joplin, Missouri, in 2005. It was still early in the season, but Arkansas had put ten runners in the top fifteen at the first mile of the race at a pace that simply seemed unsustainable, yet they didnt seem to be slowing down. Over in the shade underneath the trees at the second mile, I observed John calmly but forcefully exhorting his eighth and ninth runners that they could do better. It was an interesting juxtaposition to say the least. The man whom I understood to be the most successful coach in American collegiate sports history hustling around the course harder than I was at a third of his age, seemingly dissatisfied with the performance of a team that had just laid waste to the entire field, paying as much and possibly more attention to those at the back of his team than those at the front. This was the quiet intensity and underlying humility and decency that appealed to so many of us who have encountered him over the years.

This book is not merely about success in athletics, though it follows the life of a man singularly successful in that field over four decades. It is about an individual so specially attuned to the human condition that he was able to lead hundreds of student athletes in discovering something about themselves they didnt know was within them. It is also about his own journey as an athlete, coach, father, and mentor, and about the profound impact he has had on those around him.

In chronicling the life of John McDonnell, I relied upon the candor and assistance of many of those who had come across him throughout his life, including his family, former athletes, fellow and opposing coaches, athletic directors, and friends. Where I have quoted individuals in this book without footnotes, such material comes from personal interviews conducted over the past year and a half and published with the interviewees permission. I would like to thank the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History for my participation in their interview with John McDonnell and allowing me to include the material in my book. I am also grateful to the University of Arkansas Athletics Media Relations for the archives, pictures, and materials supplied for this endeavor.

But most of all I am grateful to John and his wife, Ellen, and Larry Malley of the University of Arkansas Press for their guidance. It was a pleasure working with each of you throughout this process.

Andrew Maloney

One of the great joys that I had as president of the University of Arkansas System was the opportunity to become friends with arguably the most outstanding coach in the history of collegiate athletics. The winning record of John McDonnell as the track coach of the University of Arkansas is phenomenal. Johns track and cross-country teams won forty NCAA championships and eighty-four conference titles in the Southeastern and the Southwest Conferences. His record is truly unbelievable.

I have been a university president for thirty-two years, and I have personally known many great leaders in education, business, politics, athletics, the military, and other fields. I can honestly say that John McDonnell is one of the most, if not the most, productive and successful leaders that I have ever known. He has a special God-given talent to encourage and inspire young men to achieve goals that they never dreamed were attainable. And those young men love and respect their coach like a father.

Johns human qualities are very much a part of his tremendous leadership ability. He knows what it takes to be a great track athlete. He works extremely hard, is completely honest, and always treats others with dignity and respect. John created a winning environment by first believing that the Razorback mens track-and-field program could be the very best in the nation. But his confidence in himself and his team was coupled with a profound humility that led him to win the right waywith class and grace.

You simply cannot buy the kind of positive national publicity that John and his teams brought to the University of Arkansas and our state. While we are all proud of what was accomplished during his tenure, the real winners are the young men who had the privilege to run track under John McDonnell. They learned the valuable life lessons of hard work, self-discipline, and commitment.

John McDonnell represents the best of what coaching is all about. He is a great role model for young people, especially for aspiring coaches, and I encourage them to read this book about an exemplary human being.

Dr. Alan Sugg, President of the University of Arkansas Systems, 19902010

O IFIG AN T AOISIGH

O FFICE OF THE T AOISEACH (P RIME M INISTER OF I RELAND )

Message from Taoiseach Enda Kenny

John McDonnell epitomises the Irish abroad at their very best. Having emigrated to the United States in the 1960s, he achieved extraordinary success both on and off the running track, winning numerous national honours, firstly as an athlete and later as a coach. The seeds of John McDonnells passion for athletics were planted in his beloved Co Mayo. He was an accomplished athlete in his youth, winning six Irish National Championships and gaining a coveted place on the Irish team for the Rome Olympics in 1960. Sadly, the financial state of the country prevented some of the Irish team from travelling to Italy and John missed out on a glorious opportunity to win Olympic honours. But he was not to be deterred and went on to win the mile event at the 1966 British Selection Games, also defeating the legendary Jim Ryan in a two-mile race in Louisiana, USA.