Bob Kersee-Crazy is Relative

By Michael Takeuchi
Reprinted Article from April 2012


There has always been a method to legendary track coach Bob Kersee's madness, including holding a training camp here in Santa Barbara this week.

And with his athletes' collection of hardware — particularly of Olympic gold medals — it is hard to dispute how he works.

One of his longtime athletes, Allyson Felix, can attest to this. The sprinter, who has garnered a 4x400-meter Olympic relay gold medal, two Olympic silver medals in the 200 and a total of seven IAAF world championship golds while working with Kersee since 2005, smiled broadly when asked to describe a coach for whom she has genuine fondness.

"He's crazy," Felix laughed after a recent hard sprint session at the Westmont track on Thursday morning. "But he knows that's what we think. But that's also what we love about him. He's super demanding, and comes up with these insane workouts.

"Sometimes you hate him for it, but in the end, we both know that you're going to love him for the results it brings."

After being told how his athletes described him at a late-afternoon workout on Thursday at San Marcos High, he cackled.

"Crazy does come up often when describing me," Kersee said, beaming. "But Allyson, who is a great member of this positive atmosphere we have, and the rest know that if a coach doesn't have crazy somewhere in their resumé, then you really haven't won a championship yet.

"So if getting in their head makes them understand that I am going to get the best out of them by any means necessary, then so be it."

After moving to the U.S. from the Panama Canal Zone in his childhood, Kersee has always had a fascination with sports, particularly the aspect of coaching. Starting at the youth level, he made his way to UCLA, where he has spent the last 28 years, first as head coach, and currently in his position as an assistant.

While successful in Westwood, he has built his stellar reputation on the international stage, starting with several athletes from the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, like 200/400 double gold winner Valerie Brisco-Hooks, and his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who holds a total of six Olympic medals, including a gold in the long jump in 1988, and back-to-back golds in the heptathlon (1988, 1992).

That hardware, along with four IAAF World Championship medals, led to her being named by Sports Illustrated as the "Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century."

The amount of Olympic gold medals, which also include three from hurdler/sprinter Gail Devers, is enough to pull a small town out of a recession. It is also a number that escapes the 2005 USA Track and Field Coach of the Year.

"I really don't know, to be honest" Kersee said. "It's probably somewhere around how many championships the Montreal Canadiens (24) or New York Yankees (27) have won. But in truth, I haven't won any because as it should, the athletes get the glory and coaches get the blame.

"Maybe they've been so successful because I didn't want to get the blame."

Along with Felix, who is aiming for a 100/200 double gold in London, the last two women's Olympic 100 hurdles champions Joanna Hayes (2004) and Dawn Harper (2008) are here in camp along with fellow hurdlers Michelle Perry (two-time world champion) and Ginnie Crawford (two-time U.S. champion), along with 400-meter hurdler Nicole Leach, the 2007 NCAA champion. His men's group includes 2004 Olympic 200 champion Shawn Crawford, and hurdlers Bano Traore and Kenneth Ferguson.

Each arrives in camp with a different story, but all express hope that Kersee will guide them to another Opening Ceremony.

"I've been working with Bob since 1995, so I guess I'm the senior here," Hayes said. "After being injured for a while, I never officially retired. I had a baby 16 months ago and gained 43 pounds in the process, then coached in high school and middle school, cross country of all things.

"I then started coming around the track to Bob's group and realized I missed being part of it. I don't know if I'll make the team or not, because of athletes like Dawn, but at least I'll have closure and a good experience doing it. I think all of us realize that if anyone can lead us, he is the coach to get us there."

During the morning session at Westmont, Kersee was a vocal presence, exhorting each athlete through their workout with a vocal vigor followed by an almost imperceptible "good job" after. In the afternoon, amidst the youth soccer players and track runners populating the track, he playfully kicked errant balls, clowned with kids and even encouraged a young runner not to dwell on the negative.

He then introduced his group to Santa Barbara resident Joyce Brisby, a former long jump prodigy of Kersee's that cleared over 15 feet as a nine-year-old in 1972.

And then, it was back to work, something that Kersee still feels with a passion.

"People ask me when I'll retire, but I'm in pretty good health and still enjoy it too much — especially with this group they have now," Kersee said. "They know it, but when I introduce them to someone like Joyce who I coached as a kid 40 years ago, it really shines through to them and others how much I love doing this and hope to be doing for a long time to come."