PROVO — Ed Eyestone — singer, songwriter, guitarist, Olympian, TV commentator, writer, father of six daughters, and, oh, yeah, coach — is quietly restoring BYU's prowess in distance running. So far, Eyestone and the Cougars haven't produced, well, another Eyestone, but they're on the brink of doing so.
Eyestone was hired to coach BYU's distance and middle-distance runners in 2000, and his effect on the program has been apparent. Four of his runners will compete in this weekend's NCAA track championships in Sacramento.
In retrospect, the hiring of Eyestone was a no-brainer. When it comes to running, he has pretty much done it all. Coming back from a two-year mission layoff? Done it. Competing in big-pressure competitions? Try two Olympic Trials and the '88 and '92 Olympic Games, plus the world track championships, world cross country championships and several of the world's most prestigious road races. Championships? He was a four-time NCAA champion and the No. 1-ranked U.S. road racer.
"He's done everything an athlete can do," head coach Mark Robison says.
Great athletes don't necessarily make good coaches, but somehow anyone who knows Eyestone knew he was a good fit for the job. He's a laid-back, humorous man whose personality always won over media types, peers and rivals. His expertise and articulation were such that he was hired years ago by ESPN and later Fox Sports to do color commentary for their TV coverage of road races. He also writes a monthly column for Runner's World.
When Robison was hired as head coach, he turned immediately to Eyestone. "Just observing things over the years, I knew that your assistant coaches are the most important decision you'll make," says Robison, "and I knew that I didn't ever want to fire anybody. I actually started talking to him about it a year before I was hired."
BYU's distance running had slipped after thriving for years under coach Sherald James. The school is affectionately known as Quarterback U. because of all the top quarterbacks the Cougars have produced, but actually BYU has produced more Olympic distance and middle-distance runners than NFL quarterbacks.
It culminated in 1984, when BYU graduates swept the distance races at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Los Angeles — Henry Marsh won the 3,000-meter steeplechase (a year after setting the still-standing American record), Doug Padilla won the 5,000-meter run and Paul Cummings won the 10,000. This was just a week after Eyestone won the 10,000-meter run in the NCAA Championships. A year later, Eyestone pulled off NCAA's triple crown by winning the cross country championships and the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the collegiate track championships.
But no one came along to replace those Olympians, and BYU's distance program began to decline. During the 13 years from 1987 until 1999, the BYU cross country team qualified for the NCAA championships only four times and produced just three all-Americans; since Eyestone was hired in 2000, they have qualified for nationals every year, placing everywhere from 23rd to fifth in the team race.
In track, the Cougars produced 14 all-American citations during the 14 years before Eyestone arrived; they have surpassed that total in the seven years Eyestone has been there, with a chance to add to the total this weekend when Josh McAdams and Chandler Goodwin compete in the steeplechase and Kyle Perry and Dustin Bybee contest the 1,500 at the national championships. If not for an injury to Josh Rohatinsky, a 2005 all-American, the Cougars undoubtedly would have another contender at the meet.
"There's no question that Ed has made a difference," says Robison. "He's been phenomenal. The kids love him."
Why wouldn't they? Eyestone brings his own style to the job. Name another coach who runs with his team two or three times a week. Name another coach who plays guitar and sings songs he has written about the team at their annual team postseason banquet/roast or who brings his guitar to the team's summer cross country camps and occasionally on road trips? ("The songs are funny," says Bybee. "We always look forward to them.") Eyestone even wrote a rap song to Eminem's "Lose Yourself," which contained a lot of inside jokes about members of the team.
"He's awesome," Bybee continues. "He's like one of us, yet we respect him. He goes to the movies with us after a race. He gets ice cream with us. He jokes with us. But he's serious at the right time. He just makes us feel comfortable."
Says Perry, "We love him. He's a grown-up, but he's one of us. And he's one of the most knowledgeable guys out there."
Eyestone hopes it all adds up to another distance juggernaut at BYU. "It's going well," he says. "Hopefully, we'll keep getting better."
After BYU's distance medley relay team placed second at indoor nationals, he received a call from a magazine writer who noted that he was surprised that BYU had challenged the powerhouses in the race — "You don't usually think of BYU as one of the powerhouses and there you were," he said.
Says Eyestone, "It was a backhanded compliment. BYU once was a powerhouse. Hopefully we can regain that reputation."
E-mail: drob@desnews.com