COACH-ATHLETE RELATIONSHIP: “At its ideal, the coach-athlete relationship is one in which each would perform her/his respective duties with full TRUST and CONFIDENCE in the other. This is not easily achieved. ” – Jeff Johnson
WHEN: 1970
WHO: Steve Prefontaine (Athlete/NCAA Champion) and Bill Dellinger (Coach/Olympic Medalist)
WHERE: Williamsburg, Virginia
WHAT: NCAA XC Championships
Photo by John Goegel
Note: Bill Dellinger recently passed away. He was known as one of the 3 “Bills” who coached University of Oregon to essentially what it is today. Can you name the other 2 coaches? Below is a a recent video recirculated on Bill Dellinger on YouTube. We urge you to watch it! Great history of our sport via one corner of our country and an appropriate tribute to one of our nation’s best distance runners ever and certainly one of our nation’s best coaches in history.
Editor’s Note: Due to the graciousness of Jeff Johnson, John Goegel and others, we continue one of our favorite series. For those of you that don’t know, Jeff Johnson was employee #1 for Nike. He actually is the one responsible for naming what is now a world corporation. Fortunately for us, he was also a world class photographer of our great sports in the 1960s and 1970s during which he captured thousands of sports photographs. We are honored and thankful for their choice to use our sites as their medium for sharing their passion. We hope our presentations can do them justice! Many of his quotes are also being housed on the NHTFCA website.
Photos by Jeff Johnson
Quotes by Jeff Johnson from his work in progress: “In Other Words: Things I Think I Said When I Was Trying To Think Of Something To Say.”
