John McDonnell (July 2, 1938 – June 7, 2021) was a

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

for the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...

Razorbacks

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team. He began as the cross country and track head coach for the university in 1972 and became head track coach in 1978. McDonnell retired after the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He is considered by many to be the single most successful head coach (any sport) in collegiate athletics history.

Early life

McDonnell earned his bachelor's degree from Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette) in 1969. While competing to become a six-time all-American in track and cross country at USL, he became the 1966–67 AAU 3,000-meter champion, and won the mile at the 1966 British Selection Games. He coached at New Providence (N.J.) High School (1969–70) and Lafayette (La.) High School (1971) before coming to the University of Arkansas.

Coaching accomplishments at Arkansas

McDonnell was hired as the cross country coach in 1972 and added the entire men's track and field program in 1978. Coach McDonnell led the track team to their first national championship at the 1984 NCAA Indoor Championships while the school was a member of the now-defunct Southwest Conference. Since then, the University of Arkansas has won 40 NCAA championships, including 11 cross country, 19 indoor track and 10 outdoor track. Other schools have won only 24 combined NCAA titles in the three sports during the same period. McDonnell's 40 national championships (which include 19 in indoor track, 10 in outdoor track and 11 in cross country) are more than any coach in any sport in the history of college athletics. The next highest is 31 by Pat Henry, former LSU and current track coach at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

. McDonnell also won five national triple crowns (in 1984-85, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95 and 1998–99).

Texas-El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

has won three national triple crowns. No other school has ever won one. In addition, McDonnell's team and individual achievements include:www.secsports.com - Arkansas Sweeps SEC Cross Country Championships
* 20 conference triple crowns since 1982, including eight straight between 1987 and 1995 * 25 consecutive conference titles in cross country with indoor track and outdoor track combined from 1987 to 1995 * 73 conference championships in the last 77 events Arkansas has entered since 1981-1982 * 84 conference championships overall since 1974 including 38 in the SWC and 46 in the SEC (out of a possible 50, or 90 percent) * 12 consecutive NCAA indoor track championships (1984–1995) * coached 185 track All-Americans, earning 652 separate All-America honors * 34 consecutive league cross country championships, including 17 straight in the SEC (1974–2007) * 54 individual national champions * 23 Olympians coached spanning three decades and six different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

including gold, silver and bronze medalists * his 1994 indoor track squad won the national championship by the widest margins in the history of the sport as well as scored the most points (94) in the history of the NCAA event * his 1994 squad scored a meet record 223 points at the SEC Outdoor Championships * has been named national, regional or conference coach of the year a total of 140 times * has coached 23 Olympians, including gold, silver and bronze medalists, 105 NCAA individual event champions and 331 individual event conference champions The Razorback outdoor track facility on the campus of the University of Arkansas is named in his honor. McDonnell has been inducted as a member of the United States Track Coaches Hall of Fame, the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Southwestern Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Mayo Hall of Fame.

Personal life

McDonnell was granted United States citizenship in 1969, the same year he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana. After retiring, McDonnell enjoyed spending time on his

cattle ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

Pryor, Oklahoma Pryor Creek or Pryor''Oklahoma Atlas & Gazeteer,'' DeLorme, 1st Edition, 1998, p. 36 is a city in and county seat of Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,659 at the 2000 census and 9,539 in the 2010 census. Originally n ...

. He owned over 650 head of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

. McDonnell was also involved with several non-profit organizations, including the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deat ...

and the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute and he worked closely with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to promote prostate cancer awareness. He was married to the former Ellen Elias of Bayonne, New Jersey and has two children, Heather and Sean. McDonnell died in Fayetteville on June 7, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, John 1938 births 2021 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States American track and field coaches Arkansas Razorbacks track and field coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's track and field athletes People from Pryor Creek, Oklahoma Sportspeople from County Mayo Arkansas Razorbacks cross country coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's cross country runners