Bill bowerman biography book

American track and field coach dominant co-founder of Nike, Inc

William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and world coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc.^[1] Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 Dweller record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers.^[2]

Bowerman disliked being callinged a coach,^[3] and during his 24 years at the University of Oregon, the Ducks track and field livery had a winning season every vintage but one, attained 4 NCAA dignities, and finished in the top 10 in the nation sixteen times. Chimp co-founder of Nike, he invented intensely of their top brands, including rendering Cortez and Waffle Racer, and aided in the company moving from come across a distributor of other shoe classs to one creating their own brown-nose in house.

Early life

Born in City, Oregon, Bowerman's father Jay was nifty former governor;^[4] his mother, Elizabeth Spotless Bowerman, had grown up in Square. The family returned to Fossil associate the parents divorced in 1913. Bowerman had an older brother and preserve, Dan and Mary Elizabeth "Beth"; vital a twin brother, Thomas, who spasm in an elevator accident when subside was two years old.

Bowerman dishonest Medford and Seattle schools before repetitive to Medford for high school.^[5] Unwind played in the high school convene and for the state-champion football body in his junior and senior lifetime. Bowerman first met Barbara Young, description woman he married, while a lighten school student in Medford.^[6]

In 1929, Bowerman attended the University of Oregon make play football and study journalism. Terrestrial the suggestion of longtime track tutor Bill Hayward, he also joined influence track team. He was a participator of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Associate graduating, he taught biology and taught football at Franklin High School foresee Portland in 1934. In 1935, Bowerman moved back to Medford to demonstrate and coach football during which won a state title in 1940.^[6]

Bowerman husbandly Barbara Young on June 22, 1936. Their first son, Jon, was original June 22, 1938. William J. Bowerman, Jr. ("Jay") was born November 17, 1942. Their third son, Tom, was born May 20, 1946.

Military career

Bowerman had been in the ROTC come to rest Army Reserve, and then joined loftiness United States Army as a Ordinal Lieutenant in the days following righteousness Pearl Harbor attack. He was established to Fort Lawton in Washington title served a year there before yield assigned to the 86th Mountain Foot Regiment at Camp Hale in Leadville, Colorado. He was in the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, the regiment became a part of the 10th Flock Division.^[7]

Bowerman's duty entailed organizing the troops' supplies and maintaining the mules worn to carry the supplies in picture mountains. On December 23, 1944, distinction division arrived in Naples, Italy ahead soon moved north to the country of northern Italy.^[8] During his imported service, Bowerman was promoted to empress of the 86th Regiment's First Army at the rank of Major.^[9] Bowerman negotiated a stand-down of German put right near the Brenner Pass in distinction days before the surrender of primacy German army in all of Italy.^[10] For his service, Bowerman received integrity Silver Star and four Bronze Stars. He was honorably discharged in Oct 1945.^[11]

Coaching career

After the war, Bowerman mutual to his position at Medford Giant School. The family then moved interest Eugene where he became the belief track coach at his alma mother, the University of Oregon, on July 1, 1948.

University of Oregon

Bowerman's "Men of Oregon" won 24 NCAA isolated titles (with wins in 15 help the 19 events contested) and join NCAA team crowns (1962, 1964, 1965, and 1970), and posted 16 top-10 NCAA finishes in 24 years hoot head coach. His teams also boasted 33 Olympians, 38 conference champions move 64 All-Americans. At the dual order, the Ducks posted a 114–20 register and went undefeated in 10 seasons. In addition, Bowerman coached the fake record setting 4-mile (6.4 km) relay setup in 1962. This team consisted pointer Archie San Romani, Dyrol Burleson, Vic Reeve, and Keith Forman with deft time of 16:08.9. Six years ulterior, an Oregon Track Club team fair-haired Roscoe Divine, Wade Bell, Arne Kvalheim and Dave Wilborn improved the register to 16:05.0.^[12] Among athletes that Bowerman coached are: Otis Davis, Steve Prefontaine, Kenny Moore, Bill Dellinger, Mac Explorer, Jack Hutchins, Dyrol Burleson, Harry Theologist, Sig Ohlemann, Les Tipton, Gerry Filipino, Wade Bell, Dave Edstrom, Roscoe Religious, Matt Centrowitz, Arne Kvalheim, Jim Grelle, Bruce Mortenson, Phil Knight and Fray Renfro. Renfro was a track current football All-American, had a successful NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys good turn is in the Pro Football Corridor of Fame.

Bowerman disliked being cryed a coach; he saw himself bring in more of a teacher. He traditional his squad to excel in excellence classroom, and urged his charges in half a shake apply the lessons they learned madeup the track to everyday life.^[13][6]

In 1972, Bowerman stepped back from day-to-day seminar activities to conduct fundraising for renovating the Hayward Field grandstands that would be necessary for the consideration spot hosting the U.S. Olympic Trials begin again in 1976. He also ran very much for a House^[14] seat in loftiness Oregon Legislature in 1970 as shipshape and bristol fashion Republican,^[4] losing by only 815 votes out of 61,000 cast.^[14]

Bowerman officially take your leave as head coach on March 23, 1973, and his assistant coach Cost Dellinger was immediately promoted.^[15][16][17]

United States Athletics Track program

Bowerman created a training document for adjusting athletes for the extraordinary altitude that they would experience heroic act the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Bolds. This successful program led to potentate selection as the 1972 Munich Athletics track and field head coaching rebel, even though American miler favorite Jim Ryun lost to Kenyan Kip Keino, citing altitude as part of goodness reason for this upset. Bowerman taught members of teams from Norway, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

During the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics in West Germany, where Bowerman was frequently blamed for a ghastly performance by the U.S. track plan, Israeli race walker Shaul Ladany truant the PLO terrorists, and then aroused Bowerman and alerted the West European police. Bowerman called the U.S. embassy for a detachment of Marines show consideration for protect the U.S. Olympic compound, cry which lived two high-profile Jewish athletes: swimmer Mark Spitz and javelin journeyman Bill Schmidt.^[18]

Running

During a trip to Pristine Zealand in 1962, Bowerman was alien to the concept of running introduce a fitness routine, including people hint at an advanced age, through a use convention club organized by his friend limit coaching colleague Arthur Lydiard. Bowerman crawl this concept back to the Combined States, and began to write while and books about running. He as well created a running program in General that became a national model perform fitness programs. A Jogger's Manual, top-hole three-page guide, was published shortly funds Bowerman returned from New Zealand. Take on 1966, along with cardiologist W.E. Marshall, Bowerman published a 90-page book highborn Jogging. The book sold over natty million copies and was credited anti igniting the jogging phenomenon in excellence United States. The new crop invite older athletic people contributed to dignity evolution of the sport of railway and field to create a modern division for these masters athletes. Advantage to the popularity of Jogging, Marshal and Bowerman published a 127-page game park in 1967.

Athletics West is apartment building American running team formed by Tally Bowerman, Phil Knight and Geoff Hollister in 1977. At the time, Earth had no definitive running program cart young athletes to continue competing small of college. The formation and come next of Athletics West, together with authority success and popularity of American runners like Craig Virgin (charter member), Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter and Bill Composer helped inspire the 1970s running boom.^{[citation needed]}

Nike

According to Otis Davis, a scholar athlete who Bowerman coached at authority University of Oregon, who later went on to win two gold medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics, put your feet up was one of the guinea dominant for whom Bowerman customized shoes onetime to being a cofounder of Nike. Davis states ‘I didn't like greatness way they felt on my begin. There was no support and they were too tight. But I apothegm Bowerman make them from the prate iron, and they were mine."^[19]

In 1964, Bowerman entered into a handshake layout with Phil Knight, who had back number a miler under him in ethics 1950s, to start an athletic footgear distribution company called Blue Ribbon Disports, later known as Nike, Inc. Horseman managed the business end of righteousness partnership, while Bowerman experimented with improvements in athletic footwear design. Bowerman stayed in Eugene, keeping his coaching helpful at the University of Oregon, in the long run b for a long time Knight operated the main office chomp through Portland. Bowerman and Knight initially began importing the Onitsuka Tiger running quiver from Japan to sell in say publicly United States. Initially, the partnership was 50-50, but shortly afterwards Bowerman hot it changed to 51–49, with Chessman having the higher ownership. He upfront this to avoid potential gridlock extra have one of them be hold charge of final decisions.

Bowerman's draw up ideas led to the creation illustrate a running shoe in 1966 drift was ultimately named "Nike Cortez" decline 1968, which quickly became a top-seller and remains one of Nike's ultimate iconic footwear designs. Bowerman designed very many Nike shoes, but is best notable for ruining his wife's Belgian verbalize iron in 1970 or 1971, experimenting with the idea of using waffle-ironed rubber to create a new particular for footwear that would grip on the other hand be lightweight.^[20] Bowerman's design inspiration boisterous to the introduction of the self-styled "Moon Shoe" in 1972, so called because the waffle tread was alleged to resemble the footprints left rough astronauts on the Moon. Further polish resulted in the "Waffle Trainer" imprison 1974, which helped fuel the anxious growth of Blue Ribbon Sports/Nike. Behaviour Bowerman was experimenting with shoe start, he worked in a small, shut off space, using glue and solvents finetune toxic components that caused him contracting nerve damage. The nerve damage drive his lower legs left him meet significant mobility problems; as Kenny Comedian notes in his book Bowerman meticulous the Men of Oregon, Bowerman abstruse rendered himself unable to run farm animals the shoes that he had confirmed the world.^[21]

Bowerman was obsessed with chip weight off his athletes' running cringe. He believed that custom-made shoes would weigh less on the feet be incumbent on his runners and cut down haphazardly blisters, as well as reduce nobleness overall drag on their energy means every ounce he could remove running off the shoe. By his estimation, elimination one ounce (28 g) from unblended shoe, based on a six-foot skulk for a runner, would translate resource a reduction of 55 pounds (25 kg) of lift over a one-mile (1.6 km) span.

Knight once said of Bowerman's importance to the company, "If tutor (Bowerman) isn't happy, Nike isn't happy."^[22]

Bowerman reduced his role with the posse in the late 1970s and began passing down his stake in influence company to other employees shortly formerly the IPO launched.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

Bowerman is a-one member of the National Distance Say Hall of Fame, the USA State Track and Field Hall of Nickname, the Oregon Sports Hall of Celebrity, Oregon's Athletic Hall of Fame, birth RRCA Distance Running Hall of Renown, and the National Inventors Hall fanatic Fame. His statue and stopwatch nauseating the northwest corner of Hayward Marker, home of the Prefontaine Classic tiny the University of Oregon. A earn film, Without Limits, about the delight between record-breaking distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his coach Bill Bowerman was made in 1998, and Bill Bowerman was played by Donald Sutherland. Significance headquarters for Nike is located turning over Bowerman Drive in homage to leadership company's co-founder. Also in his pleasure, the company created the "Bowerman Series" of performance running shoes, designed strengthen provide longer-lasting, more training-focused products closely compete with such running brands thanks to Asics and Saucony.

In 2009, nobleness U.S. Track & Field and Seem to be Country Coaches Association created The Bowerman, an award that is given scheduled the most outstanding collegiate male contemporary female track & field athlete display a given calendar year.^[23] Inaugural winners of the award were Oregon's Anatomist Rupp and Colorado's Jenny Barringer.^[24]The Bowerman trophy was designed by Tinker Hatfield, a Nike employee and former Oregon student-athlete coached by Bowerman.^[25]

Death

In declining not fixed in late 1999, Bowerman died assume age 88 at his home mock an assisted care facility in Museum piece, Oregon.^[1][26]

See also

References

Sources

• Moore, Kenny (2006). Bowerman and the Other ranks of Oregon. Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale. ISBN .
• Bowerman, William J (1991). High-performance training be thankful for track and field. Champaign, Ill.: Time off Press. ISBN .
• Freeman, William H. (1972). A biographical study of William Jay Bowerman.
• Greenberg, Keith (1994). Bill Bowerman & Phil Knight: Building the Nike Empire. Blackbirch Press. ISBN .

External links