Dec. 11, 2013
Less than a week from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame (USTFCCCA) induction ceremony for South Carolina track & field head coach Curtis Frye, GamecocksOnline.com is taking a closer look at the steps of Frye’s career.
Frye returns to the collegiate ranks, makes his SEC debut, and meets some familiar faces.
After five years as a coach at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, N.C., Curtis Frye made the jump back to collegiate track and field at NC State University in the fall of 1984.
Determined to “work harder and longer than the next guy”, there was one person in particular Frye wanted to show this work ethic to at NC State, Jim Valvano. Frye was waiting for Valvano at breakfast every morning and stayed after, cataloging their conversations and clinging to each and every one-on-one opportunity he had with the larger-than-life figure.
While in Raleigh, Frye picked up an extra job in the athletics department to support his growing family. Working as the mailman, he met and sparked up a friendship with Ray Tanner who worked in the ticket office at the time. The two would, of course, reconnect later at South Carolina.
The Wolfpack saw tremendous success on the track during Frye’s stint, capturing the men’s Atlantic Coast Conference outdoor championship in each of his four years at NC State. In 1985, the men’s 4×100-meter relay team that Frye worked with earned the only relay NCAA championship in the school’s history. The crown was the first won by Frye-coached athletes.
During the summer of 1988, Frye took his family on a vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The trip served another purpose though; the coach had been offered a job in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Florida, and he wanted to take a visit. He fell in love, and the family’s vacation was extended indefinitely.
Confident he was ready for the jump to the most dominant track and field conference in America after sustained success at NC State, Frye was in for a rude awakening. An awestruck Frye went to his first SEC meet, and was met by Olympians and saw world-leading times set in race after race.
Frye quickly adjusted to the high-level competition and had a hand in coaching three individual NCAA champions, one 4×100-meter relay NCAA champion, and 29 All-Americans. When talking about Florida, Frye is quick to mention a special sprint duo in Dennis Mitchell and Tyrone Kemp. Mitchell owns multiple Olympic medals, including a 4×100-meter relay gold medal, while Kemp was the first individual NCAA champion Frye coached and still holds the 400-meter school record.
Drawing upon the recruiting lessons he soaked in from legendary Pat Dye at East Carolina, Frye made five stops in one day to sign the top recruiting class in the country. Four of the five prospects were the top-ranked athlete in their respective event.
Track was not Frye’s only concentration in Gainesville. Never shying from an opportunity, Frye began working with Steve Spurrier as the football team’s sprint coach. Superstar Emmitt Smith was one of the athletes under Frye’s watchful eye during the stretch.
Frye remembers Spurrier letting him draw up plays from his high school coaching days and the football coach responding with laughter. The track coach relished the chance to be around someone who was at the top of their game at a young age.
The exposure to big-time athletics and successful colleagues added more seasoning to the blossoming coach and readied him for the next step.
Frye is one of six coaches who will be inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame (USTFCCCA) on Mon., Dec. 16, in Orlando, Fla. Started in 1995, the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame exists to recognize coaches who have brought great distinction to themselves, to their institutions and to the sports of cross country & track & field. Each of the honorees exemplifies the qualities of dedication to the sport, leadership and passion for their profession that serve as an inspiration to coaches everywhere in the sport.
Frye joins Weemie “Weems” Baskin as one of two Gamecocks included in the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame. Baskin was the track & field head coach at the University of South Carolina from 1948-69 and the University’s outdoor track is named in his honor.
For more information on the USTFCCCA’s Hall of Fame and the Class of 2013, click here.
