Head Coach Russ Rogers Announces Retirement – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 5, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State track and field head coach Russ Rogers announced his retirement Monday, effective Sept. 30. Rogers will be leaving Ohio State to spend time with his mother in West Orange, N.J.
“I need this time to spend with my mother,” Rogers said. “She is 87 and in need of assisted living. I’m an only child and this is something I need to do. She has always followed everything in the sport of track and field and has been my biggest fan.”
Head coach at Ohio State since 1989, Rogers mentored more than 100 men’s and women’s student-athletes to All-America status and helped lead more than 120 Buckeyes to Big Ten titles. Rogers produced back-to-back conference outdoor men’s team titles in 1992 and ’93. The Buckeyes also won the indoor team crown in 1993. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year following both the 1992 and ’93 seasons.
At the national level, Rogers’ men’s teams placed in the NCAA outdoor Top 6 three times and in the indoor Top 10 three times. Rogers’ top NCAA finish with the men came in 1993, when the Buckeyes took the national runner-up spot. The previous season saw Rogers earn NCAA Coach of the Year honors after leading the Buckeyes to a fifth-place NCAA team score. In 2004, the Buckeye men tied for fourth nationally.
Individually, four Buckeye men combined to claim eight individual national titles. Chris Nelloms (1992-94) was a two-time NCAA 200-meter dash indoor champion in 1993 and ’94, while Mark Croghan (1988-91) claimed back-to-back outdoor national crowns in the steeplechase in 1990 and ’91. Most recently, Dan Taylor (2001-04) became the first student-athlete in NCAA history to win both the shot put and weight throw at the national meet in 2004.
Rogers took over the women’s helm in 1994 and quickly guided the Buckeyes into the Big Ten forefront. The 2001 squad that placed second in the Big Ten indoor meet was led by multiple-time national champion Donica Merriman (1998-01). Rogers helped Merriman to 2001 NCAA titles in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and the outdoor 100-meter hurdles. Since Merriman’s departure, nine Buckeyes have combined to claim 16 All-America accolades. “It has been a great 18 years for me at Ohio State,” Rogers, a 1965 graduate of UMBC, said. “When I first got here, I did not think I would survive, but the people I met in the department and at the university were outstanding and showed me utmost generosity. They will be what makes it most difficult to leave. My time here was one of the most exciting of my life. We had great student-athletes who made this a truly great experience. We broke just about every record in the book (at Ohio State) in my time here. I am proud of that. I’m proud of all the All-Americans and Big Ten champions I worked with.”
Rogers has more than 30 years of head coaching experience on both the national and international level. In 1999, he was selected head coach of the national team that participated in the World Indoor Championships in Macbashi, Japan. Rogers also coached the U.S. team at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia and was the sprint coach for the U.S. team during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was the head coach at the World University Games in 1987 and coached the U.S. track team in 1985-86.
“Russ did a marvelous job touching the lives of many buckeye students,” Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics, said. “We appreciate the service he provided to The Ohio State University and wish him and his mother the best. He helped so many young people have a quality experience and we thank him.”
