Can you share your insights on the recent changes we've seen in the NCAA?

We need to remember that the case [House vs. the NCAA] has not been settled yet. There are still many aspects about it that are yet to be determined. It's a little disturbing to me that we are acting like this is a big surprise because it has been coming for a long time.

The athletes, who have created revenue for the institutions, are now being compensated for it. It's a natural way things should play out. I'm all for the athletes being compensated.

What is created, though, is how are the universities going to pay for this? In many ways this falls in the lap of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. This is the most robust, best-compensated development program in the world. United States track and field and the collegiate system create the medals, and the medals create the revenue. Everyone should have been conscious of this, and there should be a plan of how these programs are going to be paid. The university's role is to have great collegiate track and field programs to win conference meets and vie for NCAA titles and All Americans. The byproduct is that it also develops our Olympic-potential athletes and medalists.

I think there were 1,061 athletes who competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials this year, and 960 of them were part of the collegiate system. If we were paying attention, we should have been planning for this and have had a robust plan of how we will help bridge this gap, because it's a gigantic gap.

The second part: there are so many things about it that could have an impact. Our collegiate system is under fire right now – in track field and other Olympic sports as well. But I'm specifically going to contain my comments to track.

There are so many things about our sport which are so powerful. And aside from great performances both for our U.S. young men and women and the international men and women who come here to participate in our program, it would seem that the powerful story is about their performances. But it's also about balance between women and men.

It's always been a trait of track and field that the women's 100m runners are just as highly regarded and respected as our men’s 100m runners. Both track and swimming really demonstrate that.

I also think that of all the things that college athletics does, no matter the sport, it teaches grace under pressure, working as a team, dealing with disappointment, knowing how to win, and enjoying the process. It's something really special.

It's frustrating as I hear people talking about how this may not have a dramatic effect on the sport, but I think people must have their heads buried in the sand not to understand what this has the potential to do. We need to get out in front of it.

You make a great point about how this has been in the works for a while. This isn't just out of nowhere.

There isn’t a lot of clear-cut information yet. Because of that, do you think there is a discrepancy between how coaches and athletes are interpreting the new rules?

I try to stay out of the interpretation, rumors, and gossip and try to look at what is factual because that is the only way you can create a plan. We have a tremendous number of athletes in the sport of track and field in the NCAA system who are competitive on a global level. I wonder what happens if we have major cutbacks or eliminations of programs… What happens to our Olympic team?

I wonder about the opportunities for young people, especially brown and black student-athletes, whose opportunity to get a scholarship at these universities could be cut back or eliminated. Those are the things I focus on.

Whether we have 17/45 or 10/35 on the cross country and track roster, or whatever the numbers are going to be… we can adjust to it. The question becomes: can we adjust to a monumental shift towards what's important for not just track and field, but all the Olympic sports?

I'm obviously biased and favorable to the track and field side of it. My entire life has been spent in this sport. I'm probably not the most objective on this part, and I'm happy to admit that.

I'm hopeful that the biggest fears of what's going on are not realized. It’s “shame on us” if we don't plan for this. I still have not seen a plan for what we are doing… I keep hearing about politics and congressional support. What does that mean? Who's doing it?

I could talk about a lot of things, but I'd like to see a step-by-step plan. I don't want to be melodramatic and say, “save the sport,” but I think we should have an orientation towards that. And if it doesn't need saving, then great – we're ahead of the curve.

There might not be a clear plan yet like you mentioned, but in your own perspective, what direction do you see the NCAA headed in next? Do you anticipate more changes or do you think the college system will stabilize for a bit?

In my career, this is the biggest and most impactful adjustment I've seen. I'm guessing just like other big changes, we will at some point stabilize and figure out what needs to be done.

In the interim… What we really need are people, organizations, commissioners, and athletic directors to really think about the sport. Not necessarily the distance runners, throwers, jumpers, sprinters, hurdlers, or what happens to the scholarships at the University of Virginia or wherever it is… but about the entire sport and its tremendous value. We need to tell the story of what's valuable about it and expose those who are in a position to make decisions to understand what the real value of the sport of track and field is.

I'm not sure if there's anything more compelling of a sporting event than the Olympic Games. We just came off a phenomenal event in Paris, especially for track and field. I wonder, if people aren't worried about the entire sport, will we still see those types of performances? No country in the world has a development program like our collegiate system. Nothing even compares to it. It's a great story, but I think it's a story that's never been told.

The pipeline from the NCAA to the Olympics and World Championships is just insane – and it’s only continuing to grow.

100%. I'm guessing just like everything else, there will be a period of time where this will be very messy – which it is right now.

We need a solid plan by all the groups together, locking arms and figuring out what to do to save the sport. Not just one program or one team or one event area, but what do we do for the sport? Until people start to be concerned about that and have a concrete plan… I don’t know how we can stabilize.

To close things out, what are you looking forward to most and least about the new era of the NCAA?

What am I looking forward to the most? Getting this resolved and understanding what the rules of engagement are. That’s the biggest unknown and everybody fears the unknown. What are we really dealing with? What are the exact numbers on a roster? How does it play out? What is the difference between cross country and track and field?

I'm hoping we will be able to stabilize and legislate. Right now, nobody's legislating because the NCAA essentially lost control. And so the conferences have now stepped in. I think the commissioners of the Power Four have done a very thoughtful job at trying to get this model to work. It's a huge number: $2.7 or $2.8 billion that needs to be determined. Those who are complaining about the media rights for football that each institution has the advantage of using… they just can't use it to fund these other sports. So we have to figure out other ways to make this work.

There needs to be some legislation regarding what we're doing with the age of student-athletes who are competing in the United States. Whatever way it gets done, I don't necessarily have an answer. It's easy for me to cast stones; I don't have the answers either. But I'm looking forward to seeing a plan that really puts us in the best position to navigate through this changing landscape.

We have a lot of things to repair. That powerful story I talked about… we will always have that powerful story. I'm looking forward to seeing how we do everything possible as coaches and educators to maintain the value of track and field because it is not just transaction. And right now it feels very transactional: “You do this, I'll do that. We pay you this, you'll get that.” I don't think that’s what those who founded college athletics had in mind for student-athletes. It's not all transactional.

It's tough because the NCAA is at a point now where it does feel transactional: athletes are trying to get as much of a scholarship as they can, and the programs are trying to get as much out of the athlete as they can.

It may be aspirational to believe that we can right this ship. But as long as I stay in the sport, I plan to continue to work towards providing the student-athletes with an incredibly valuable experience. All the other things we talked about – ACCs and NCAAs and Olympic Games and all that – are a byproduct. In the end, you have to provide that great experience for student-athletes because there's a lot to be learned in a college system. And that's why I love the college system. It's a special place. No one else has it like we do and we need to capitalize on it.

Do you anticipate a timeline on when decisions are going to be made with legislation?

It's something we think about, but I'm not sure that everyone else is thinking about it. I think the judge who's ruling on this is hearing arguments and it's going through the court system. But I'm not an attorney, so I don't know the legalities of all this.

I think it’s supposed to be finalized in April and then all of a sudden be enacted in 2025-2026, which will be a tall order.

Back to my first comment: we should have seen this coming. For me, I have been paying attention to this. That's why I know enough about it to be dangerous. I don't know when it's going to be resolved.

I believe coaches in the collegiate system – especially my colleagues in track and field – will adjust and keep this rolling. There's enough passion, expertise, and certainly a desire to make this all work for the student-athletes. Everyone just needs to know the rules of engagement. Once you know those, it will settle out.

All those questions that you asked… I don't think they will be answered in the short-term. Those are long-term answers that are important to us, but they're ancillary to the whole collegiate system that we're not talking about… you and I are talking about track.

We're fortunate at Virginia. We have an incredible Athletic Director and we have a great president who really cares about the values and things that we talked about. So as a result, I feel very good about Virginia… but as I said, this is not about Virginia. This is about the sport.

We’ll have to be patient as we wait to get clear answers. But it sounds like there's still a lot of hope and passion for the sport that will keep us going in the meantime.

Let's hope that's the case!

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