I was lucky enough to get to run for --and even be a captain of teams coached by -- hall of fame high school, club, and collegiate Coach Jim Bibbs, who passed away last week at age 97. After running at Michigan State University, I got to work on his staff for three more years. That was 36 years ago and all the way up to the last time I saw him (at a middle school track meet no less) he would enthusiastically ask how I was and how my family was.
Through the years, I witnessed how people responded to him. Everywhere we went, he knew somebody, and they absolutely loved him. Reading everyone's posts since his passing is amazing because they all have the same story of how much Coach Bibbs meant in their life, and how he influenced them and helped them when they needed it and truly cared about them.
As an athlete and a young coach, I saw him and his team practices and hotel room pre-meet meetings and did not fully understand his true magic. But through the years I came to understand that it wasn't about his inclusion in multiple halls of fame, or that he coached world record holders and Olympic medalists and NCAA champions, or that he once co-held a world record with Jesse Owens. It was completely about his ability to communicate and motivate through encouragement, caring, and just getting to know his athletes.
He didn't have big practices with large groups. He coached people the way his athletes needed to be coached in track and in life. He saw things in people they didn't see or believe, and he brought it out in them.
His list of accomplishments as an athlete and coach is almost unfathomable, and he was absolutely a groundbreaking coach, but he truly became a legend because of how people thought about him and appreciated what he did for them in life.
One of his go-to lines before every Big Ten meet was the night before prelims when he would say, "you better have a pep in your step tomorrow or you will need a stump for your rump on finals day."
I can only hope that everyone gets a coach like this in their life and that other coaches understand it's not all about the workouts you give people. It's also about the time and care to you give to them. He had a great career and a great life and truly always had a pep in his step, as did so many others, thanks to him.
I was lucky enough to get to run for --and even be a captain of teams coached by -- hall of fame high school, club, and collegiate Coach Jim Bibbs, who passed away last week at age 97. After running at Michigan State University, I got to work on his staff for three more years. That was 36 years ago and all the way up to the last time I saw him (at a middle school track meet no less) he would enthusiastically ask how I was and how my family was.
Through the years, I witnessed how people responded to him. Everywhere we went, he knew somebody, and they absolutely loved him. Reading everyone's posts since his passing is amazing because they all have the same story of how much Coach Bibbs meant in their life, and how he influenced them and helped them when they needed it and truly cared about them.
As an athlete and a young coach, I saw him and his team practices and hotel room pre-meet meetings and did not fully understand his true magic. But through the years I came to understand that it wasn't about his inclusion in multiple halls of fame, or that he coached world record holders and Olympic medalists and NCAA champions, or that he once co-held a world record with Jesse Owens. It was completely about his ability to communicate and motivate through encouragement, caring, and just getting to know his athletes.