Dan O’Brien is one of the most popular figures in the history of track & field. He is an Olympic decathlon gold medalist (1996), and in 1992 he broke the world record in the decathlon. He is also a three-time gold medalist at the World Championships. In 1998, after having to take time off from the decathlon because of injury, Dan once again proved his greatness by nearly breaking his own world record at the Goodwill Games. He was considered by many to be the “world’s greatest athlete” at the time of his multiple victories.

Tom Tellez coached the University of Houston Men’s and Women’s Programs for more than 22 years. Tellez began coaching in 1956, and has coached some of the sports all-time greats, including Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell. Tellez led the Cougars to seven Southwest Conference championships and four Conference USA championships. He was a member of the 1980 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Men’s coaching staff, and was named the Indoor and Outdoor coach of the year for Conference USA on two occasions.

In just his first two seasons as the University of Houston head coach, Leroy Burrell garnered consecutive Conference USA Coach of the Year awards. Among his many accomplishments, Burrell has led the Cougar Men’s team to four consecutive C-USA Indoor Championships as well as two C-USA Outdoor titles. He has also led the women’s team to two C-USA Indoor titles as well as three Outdoor Championships. As a competitor, Burrell is the former 100 meter world record holder and an NCAA champion.

Dan Pfaff enters his second year serving as an assistant coach at the University of Florida. Pfaff has more than 30 years of coaching experience at the high school, college, and international levels. In an international role, Pfaff has coached on three Olympic team staffs as well as seven World Championship staffs. His former students include world 100 meter record holder Donovan Bailey and Olympic gold medalist Sheila Echols. In all, 33 of Pfaff’s pupils have gone on to become Olympians and 29 of them NCAA individual champions.

Brad Hackett has guided the Muhlenberg College Mules to 73 school records in just his first six seasons as head coach. This year he was named NCAA Mideast Region coach of the year. Hackett has coached at the collegiate level for more than 15 years, including stints at Syracuse, Bucknell, and Colgate. In addition to his coaching duties, Hackett has also served as chair of the Men’s Development Committee for USA Track and Field since 1998 and is nationally recognized for his commitment to instruction in the sports of track & field and cross country.

Ron Mann came to the University of Louisville in 2004 after a legendary career in which he served as head coach at Northern Arizona for 24 years. During that span, he led the Lumberjacks to a combined 58 Big Sky conference championships. During his career he has produced 107 All-Americans, five Olympians, and four individual national champions. With Northern Arizona, he earned 57 league Coach of the Year awards and also won 12 NCAA Regional championships in cross country. Mann coached on this year’s U.S. Men’s Outdoor World Championships staff.

Entering her seventh year as Penn State’s Women’s Head Coach, Beth Alford-Sullivan remains one of the most highly respected coaches in the country. Among her coaching accomplishments, she was a member of both the 2004 U.S. Women’s Olympic and 2003 U.S. World Championships coaching staffs. Under her guidance, Penn State won its first ever Big Ten Women’s Indoor title in 2004. Her extensive coaching experience includes coaching stints at Stanford, Mankato State, Southeast Missouri State, and Southern Illinois.

Robert Weir enters his second season as Men’s Head Track & Field Coach at Stanford University. Weir is a three-time Olympian, three-time NCAA individual champion, multi-time All-American, and a collegiate and world record holder. Under Weir’s guidance, Stanford has produced multiple NCAA All-Americans in every throwing event. With his acute technical knowledge of throwing, Weir has coached athletes to medals in the Olympic Games as well as the NCAA Championships.

Ramona Pagel is a four-time Olympian ('84, '88, '92, '96) and won a Gold Medal at the 1987 Pan Am Games. She is the current American record holder in the shot put. At the collegiate level Ramona enjoyed massive success as she was a seven-time All-American as well as the 1984 NCAA Outdoor Champion. Pagel was appointed Assistant Coach at Fresno State in 2005 where she will serve as the throws coach. This follows successful stints as a throws coach at Southeastern Louisiana University, Kent State, and Radford.