Oct. 10, 2005

By Matthew Shapiro

Special to CSTV.com

When thinking about the most successful coaches in NCAA history, most jump to names like Wooden, Bryant and Rockne.

But the first name out of our mouths should be McDonnell - as in John McDonnell, cross country and track coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

McDonnell has won 41 National Championships, more than any coach in any sport at any NCAA level.

The coach's unprecedented success has bred even more accomplishments, as his culture of winning has consistently lured top recruits to the school and in turn made his program even more lethal.

But in the end, it's not all about the quality of runner, it's about the way the coach teaches the athletes once they reach the school.

What is the most important thing that McDonnell preaches to his runners?

"Patience," McDonnell said. "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a great athlete."

One of McDonnell's biggest key's to success is making sure that his runners simply worry about the race that they're in, and let him be concerned with the long term plan.

"Take care of today, tomorrow will be fine," McDonnell said. "Some of our better athletes never ask what the plan is. They say `Hey, tell me what to do and I'll do it.'"

For the plan to work however, all of McDonnell's runners must "buy in" to the system. Two of his top athletes certainly have. Josphat Boit, who finished in third place overall in last year's national championships, and Shawn Forrest, a runner who has finished in first, second, and third overall in his first three races of the year, are two runners who are completely on board with McDonnell.

"I think he knows how to handle athletes really well," said Boit, a Kenya native. "He's been in this business for a while. Anything he tells you, he's not wrong, he's always right."

Forrest, originally from Australia, notes McDonnell's ability to create a strong bond between teammates as the seminal factor in molding Arkansas cross country into the habitual winner that it has become.

"Everyone gets along really well. We like to be family," Forrest said. "No one is treated differently. Regardless of their ability, we're all friendly and work together. It's a happy environment."

McDonnell has maintained that happy environment for 33 years, and doesn't plan on stopping just yet. But, at 67 years old, with a plethora of National Championships to his name, what keeps the coach hungry for more?

"Have a kid or two walk on that nobody ever heard of," McDonnell said. "That makes my day."

Cultivating a runner that may not have had the formal training before reaching Arkansas is one of McDonnell's biggest challenges, but is also one of the reasons that the he continues to coach. He revels in the ability to turn those raw "blue chippers", as he calls them, into top-notch runners.

"I see a kid run a couple of times," McDonnell said. "He may not run fast, but the ones that are going to make it, you'll always see a little spark of brilliance somewhere."

There have surely been many sparks of brilliance along the way from hundreds of different runners, but the most consistent light has been from McDonnell. His success has transcended the track, as those not directly involved in the sport have been forced to take notice. McDonnell has even been praised by our 42nd President, an honor not every cross country coach can boast.

"I have followed John McDonnell's career for many years," Bill Clinton is quoted as saying in McDonnell's bio. "I have marveled at his outstanding accomplishments with the Razorback cross country and track and field programs. His countless national and conference championships are proof of his ability to train and inspire young people to not only compete, but to win at the highest level." 

When former presidents attest to your skills, you know that you must be doing something right.

As for exactly when "Coach Mac" will hang up the whistle, no one, including McDonnell, is quite sure.

"I don't know," he said. "I'll stay with it as long as I'm enjoying it."

When his wife asked him when he would stop coaching, he told her that there was no way he could leave this group of runners. She astutely pointed out that there would always be a new group of runners to which he would connect.

But no matter how rational his wife's idea may be, it is still tough for McDonnell to pull away from the sport, and his athletes.

"When you have a bunch of kids like that," McDonnell said. "Life is easy."