Mark Coogan has a long resume in the sport. I remember him as a member of the 1996 Olympic team at the marathon. Since he ended his running career, Mark has developed into a fine athletics coach.
A succesful coach combines the knowledge of the scientific and anecdotal. A succesful coach is cheerleader, confessor, analyst, observer, among other traits.
Mark Coogan, 2007, photo by PhotoRun.net
We spoke to Mark Coogan at the FootLocker Cross Country Champs. Mark Coogan was there with some of his New Balance athletes, including Abby D’Agostino. This is an audio interview with Mark, where we asked him about a dozen questions on how high school coaches can improve their coaching, how he looks at coaching and how he looks at some of the basic thoughts on high school coaching.
Listen carefully, there are many lessons here for coaches of all abilities. Thanks for Mark Coogan for sitting down with me at the Hotel Del Coronado.