 |
|
     |
|
|
He almost said no when the call came. He knew it was coming. Ever since he'd been an assistant to the U.S. Olympic track and field team in 1992, in Barcelona, people had been winking and nudging and saying, "So, Erv, how 'bout '96?" But he was pretty sure he didn't want to do it. What kind of coach would turn down a chance to lead the finest athletes in the world to the pinnacle of their sport amid the cheers of the home crowd in the greatest athletic event ever known? Erv Hunt is that kind of coach. In a profession known for tirades and type-A personalities, he is a quiet man, utterly uninterested in fame. He could do without the inevitable public appearances, the constant phone calls from reporters, the disruption of his personal life. He could also do without the pressure. On his way up through the ranks of national and international coaches, Hunt had seen what Olympic coaches go through. The U.S. Olympic Committee officials bring out a big chart showing which medals the team must win--not could win, not should win, but must win. It's even worse when the Olympics are held in the United States, and worst of all in track and field, the flagship sport of the Summer Games. If the U.S. track and field team does not dominate the world, the coach must answer for it. If the U.S. team does not win the sprint relays, the coach's career is pretty much over. So for a while it seemed tempting to say no, to say "Hey, I had a great experience in Barcelona. Being an assistant is enough for me." But at bottom Erv Hunt is a coach, and a coach is nothing if not loyal to the team. And the coach began to think that maybe he could live up to the expectations, that maybe he was the best chance for bringing home all these medals--that, at the very least, he had a duty to try. And so when the call came, he said yes. Ervin Hunt is the third Cal coach in history, after Walter Christie and Brutus Hamilton, to become the U.S. head men's track coach in the Olympics. Hunt was born in 1947 to a family of poor farmers in the small town of Raisin City, near Fresno. His parents raised cotton and alfalfa on 20 acres, along with cows, pigs, chickens, vegetables, and seven kids. The crops never brought in much money, but there was always plenty to eat. When Erv was 12 years old, his life changed drastically. His 36- year-old father and twin brother Alvin were killed in an automobile accident that also put his mother in the hospital. There was little time for Erv and his five sisters to wonder why, little time even to grieve. They had to take care of the farm. Every morning he rose before dawn, milked the cows and fed the pigs, worked in the fields, went to school, went to football or track or basketball practice, came home, and worked some more. "It was good for me," he says now. "I just had to work. Every kind of work you can think of, I've done. It was a tough deal, but it's helped me do what I'm doing today." Soon, though, the work began to pall. Hunt's mother had to go back to school to become a beautician, and later a nurse, to bring in extra money to keep the farm going. "When I was growing up," says Hunt, "I always assumed I'd be a farmer. But after a while, I thought, 'Boy, I really don't want to do this the rest of my life. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm definitely going to get an education.'" An outstanding high school hurdler and jumper (as well as defensive back on the football team and center on the basketball team), the Hunt earned a dual track/football athletic scholarship to Fresno City College and later transferred to Fresno State. Taken in the sixth round of the 1970 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, he played two seasons as a defensive back before injuries ended his career. By this time he knew he wanted to coach, and he spent his first season back in Fresno teaching P.E. at Clovis High. Then-Cal coach Dave Maggard '62 hired Hunt in 1972 to help with hurdlers and sprinters. The next year, when Maggard became Cal's athletic director, Hunt got the nod as head coach, Cal's youngest ever at age 25. The work ethic Erv Hunt developed as a boy stands him in good stead these days, when he is essentially coaching two teams: the Golden Bears and the U.S. team, whose members will be named June 23. He is incredibly busy--some days, he says, "I hate to leave the office because I get so many phone messages it takes the whole next day to answer them"--but he will not, as some people have advised, sideline his Cal responsibilities. "He won't even take a vacation," says Hunt's wife Jacquelyne with a bit of a sigh. "The University comes first with him. When the Olympics are over August 4, I know he'll be right back at Cal the next day." In his 24 years coaching the Golden Bears, Hunt has amassed a .749 winning percentage, the best in Cal history, and coached 61 All-Americans and 40 Pac-10 champions. The program has been respectable, consistently finishing in the upper half of the nationally dominant Pac-10, but never seriously challenging UCLA and USC for conference leadership. (As the NCAA continues to limit the number of athletic scholarships universities can offer, Cal will enjoy greater parity with the southern schools in the future, Hunt says.) Meanwhile, he has spent his off-seasons coaching various national teams, usually as an assistant in charge of hurdles, sprints, and relays. Sitting in his modest Harmon Gym office with the phone ringing off the hook, Hunt seems unaffected by the Olympic hoopla. He is a taciturn man, intense in the way of driven people but not manic like so many coaches. He is tall and wiry, with the athlete's disdain of wasted motion. Nor does he like to waste words. "Yes, I'm excited about being head coach for the Olympics, especially here in the U.S.," is all he will say about what amounts to every track coach's dream job. He does not like to do interviews because they take away from his time on the track. He does not want to go on television or make personal appearances except where he feels it will benefit Cal or U.S. track and field. For a time his modesty prevented him from signing "U.S. Olympic head track coach" after his name when writing letters to recruits, until he found out how much the athletes appreciated it (some were framing the letters). He knows this is a Big Deal, but he seems determined not to let it change him. "Erv's not the type to get a swelled head," says Jacquelyne Hunt. "His personality hasn't changed. He's always been real low-key. He doesn't yell, he doesn't shout. He just likes things done right. And he sees that they get done right." His former mentor Dave Maggard '62, who is director of sports for the 1996 Olympics , says Hunt's unassuming demeanor will be an asset. The Games are nerve-wracking for athletes and coaches alike, and the scent of politics is always in the air. "Erv is a very sincere guy, very genuine. Whether he's a rah-rah person waving the flag or not, his athletes will understand that he will act only in their best interest, and in the team's best interest." That will be a challenge, since it is getting harder and harder in track and field today to reconcile the interests of the individual athlete and the team. "This is a day and age when people are making their living in track and field, and the Olympics is not all there is to it," says Hunt. "Take our training camp. If I wanted to make it mandatory, to build some team camaraderie, and I had to tell one of our great athletes he couldn't go to Europe and make money at some track meet, he would show up the next day with his personal coach, his agent, and his attorney." Money is what makes the relays so sensitive, and so political. "You've got four people--and pretty high-strung, if you're talking sprinters--who all think they're the fastest in the world, and who all want to run anchor," Hunt says. "Running anchor could mean an extra $50,000 in endorsements from this shoe company or that shoe company, and they've got their personal coaches pushing and dealing with you." On the other hand, Hunt must make the right choice, because losing the relays would be unthinkable. "(The Olympic committee) expects us not only to win the gold, but to set a world record," Hunt says. "That's expected. It's a given." "The expectations are tremendous," agrees Maggard. "Unfortunately, there's only so much an Olympic coach can do. You deal with the athletes for a short period of time, and they're already trained. All you can do is establish a rapport and get them in the right frame of mind to do their best--and I think Erv will do that very well." As for Hunt's frame of mind, he is noticeably cool and calm, even as things heat up around him. The Olympic track stadium has sold out--85,000 spectators twice a day. The media coverage is intensifying, as speculation about a comeback for 35-year-old Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson's unprecedented bid to win golds in both the 200m and 400m make headlines. The phone calls and faxes from the Olympic Committee come every day now. But Hunt is taking it in stride. "What else can I do?" he says, shrugging his shoulders. "There's only so many hours in the day. What I don't finish today will have to wait 'til tomorrow." He reaches over and pushes the mute button on the phone. "I'm just going to low- key it as long as I can." |
| |||||||
| About
CAA Contact
Us
Update
your Address CAA Career Opportunities Privacy Policy |
©2008 California Alumni
Association. All Rights Reserved For questions about CAA: info@alumni.berkeley.edu Technical inquiries: web@alumni.berkeley.edu
|
Alumni House Berkeley, CA 94720-7520 Toll-Free: (888) CAL-ALUM Phone: (510) 642-7026 Fax: (510) 642-6252
|
