Dan Pfaff is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

coach, who has coached national, world, and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

championship athletes. Pfaff started as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

coach, and moved up to the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

ranks starting at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. He then served as a graduate assistant at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

from 1980-81 under Tom Tellez. Pfaff was then Women's Head Track and Field coach at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

from 1982-84. From 1985-94, he was the head field events coach at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, during which time the program won multiple national championships, including back to back men's and women's national titles from 1989-90. He then had assistant coaching stints at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

.. Pfaff was hired to run the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Spr ...

. In summer 2009, he was made head of the Lee Valley Athletics Centre by United Kingdom Athletics (UKA), to organise the coaching and training of the UK's athletes in the run-up to the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He also coached and trained 10 athletes within the UKA programme. Pfaff is currently one of the coaches for Altis, which is a professional track and field coaching staff as well as educational company. They are now based in Atlanta, Georgia. While Dan is listed as a coach, he is not involved in day to day coaching and currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Coaching career

College

*University of Houston 1980-1981 *UTEP 1981-1985 *LSU 1985-1995 *Texas 1995-2003 *Florida 2003-2006

Professional

*USATF 2006-2009 *UKA 2009-2012 *ALTIS 2009-''Present''

Coaching Philosophy

Pfaff has coached:

Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to become Olympic champion in 1996. He was the first Canadian to legally br ...

—The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100m; As well as

Bruny Surin Bruny Surin (born July 12, 1967) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, who was the winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 1 ...

and

Glenroy Gilbert Glenroy John Gilbert (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and head coach of Athletics Canada. Athletics career Born in Trinidad & To ...

—who teamed with Bailey to win the 4 × 100m relay in Atlanta ;

Greg Rutherford Gregory James Rutherford Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 November 1986) is a retired British people, British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World a ...

who won the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the men's

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. His career in track and field has seen incredible success over the past four decades. He is considered a leader in high performance coaching. Some of his high profile clients include NFL player Antonio Brown.

References

External links

WorldAthleticscenter.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfaff, Dan Living people American track and field coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Wichita State Shockers track and field coaches Houston Cougars track and field coaches LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers track and field coaches Texas Longhorns track and field coaches Florida Gators track and field coaches UTEP Miners track and field coaches 1961 births