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    • duckwatcher
      • Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 3:43PM
      • duckwatcher
      • Interesting pick. Seems to be more of an event specific coach rather than an assistant head coach.

        ---------

        Former National Combined Events Coach Harry Marra to Join Track & Field Staff
        Marra has coached five decathletes to score more than 8,000 points.

        EUGENE, Ore. -- Harry Marra, who coached Team USA’s national decathlon squad from 1990-2000, has been named assistant track and field coach, Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna announced Wednesday. He will work primarily with the Ducks’ combined athletes, including NCAA champions Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen, as well as the pole vaulters and high jumpers.

        Marra, who coached Paul Terek to a 10th-place finish in the decathlon at the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, has more than 30 years experience coaching athletes at every level from high school to professional.

        “Harry Marra has been a leader within the combined event community and has guided athletes to success in the biggest meets in our sport for over 30 years,” said Lananna. “His passion, technical expertise, extensive experience coaching athletes to success at the Olympics and World Championships, unparalleled work ethic and enthusiasm, and his understanding of the special place that Oregon track and field occupies in the sporting world are valuable assets that he brings to our program.

        “Our national search for Dan Steele’s replacement was comprehensive and involved extensive conversations with many experts in the sport, including head coaches, Olympians, and leading technicians,” said Lananna. “Those conversations reinforced my realization that, as one of those experts, Harry Marra will be an excellent addition to our program and help guide our teams to success.”

        Marra was Team USA’s national decathlon coach from 1990-2000 and helped five different decathletes score 8,000 points.

        Among those competitors is Terek, a three-time national U.S. indoor champion and 2004 Olympian who ranks as the 14th-best decathlete in American history with 8,312 points. Other Marra-coached decathletes who have eclipsed the 8,000-point mark are Bart Goodell (8,109), Paul Foxon (8,254), Brian Brophy (8,276) and Chris Wilcox (8,026).

        “I’m thrilled to join a program with the stature and tradition of the University of Oregon and to have the opportunity to work with the outstanding student-athletes in the Duck program,” said Marra, whose first day on the job was Wednesday. “Being able to coach at Hayward Field and in this community is truly something special.

        “Oregon has a long-standing tradition in the combined events, as well as the pole vault and high jump, and I’m looking forward to continuing that tradition,” said Marra, who has been coaching Terek and a group of elite athletes privately for the last decade.

        Marra was the head track and field coach at San Francisco State for 12 years (1981-93) where he was twice named Northern California Athletic Conference coach of the year (1985, ’90) and is also a member of that school’s hall of fame. He coached one NCAA champion and 24 All-Americans while at SFSU. During that time, Marra was also a speed and fitness consultant for the San Francisco Giants. He previously served as head coach at Springfield College in Massachusetts for four years and as an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara for two years before that.

        He was a member of the United States’ coaching staff at the IAAF World Championships in Paris (2003), Helsinki (2005) and Osaka (2007) and was an assistant coach for the 1999 Pan American Games, where U.S athletes won five gold medals, four silvers and a bronze and set a pair of meet records. He was also a coach for the 1981 and ’82 U.S. Olympic Festivals.

        Marra resides with his wife Madeline in Atascadero, Calif.

        Born in Cohoes, N.Y., Marra graduated from Mount St. Mary’s and holds a Master’s Degree from Syracuse.

        Lananna also announced on Wednesday that assistant coach Robert Johnson will now oversee the men’s and women’s sprinters, hurdlers and horizontal jumpers, while volunteer assistant Jenni Ashcroft will expand her role to aide with the combined athletes and high jumpers, in addition to the pole vaulters.

        - www.GoDucks.com -

        Greg Walker

        Associate Director, Media Relations

        University of Oregon
    • statsguy
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 3:48PM - in reply to duckwatcher
      • statsguy
      • neato replacement.
    • a Duck
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 3:58PM - in reply to statsguy
      • a Duck
      • statsguy wrote:
        neato replacement.
        Yeah, he sounds like just the kind of experienced and dedicated individual to make sure the Ducks have the multi and field events balance to their distance heritage.

        I wonder if recent recruiting, if Lananna is going to consciously, or sub-consciously take the program more towards the 800/1500 and less towards the 5k/10k side of things.

        If so that will kind of effect the XC squad's abilities.

        On the other hand, maybe Lananna is taking a "best athlete available" strategy.
    • Ginormous Douche Face
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 4:50PM - in reply to a Duck
      • Ginormous Douche Face
      • a Duck wrote:
        I wonder if recent recruiting, if Lananna is going to consciously, or sub-consciously take the program more towards the 800/1500 and less towards the 5k/10k side of things.

        If so that will kind of effect the XC squad's abilities.
        This didn't affect the Razorbacks under John McDonnell. He was routinely placing sub 4:00 milers in the top 20. I believe he even had a 1:45 800m runner grab 7th at NC's one year. The great ones, and many Ducks consider Vin to be great, can get it done with middle distance guys, if not, he will have to have his status down graded.
    • Holy Cow!
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 6:59PM - in reply to inda no
      • Holy Cow!
      • Brilliant, maybe if you consider who all turned it down first. This was not the first or second choice.
    • So Absolute
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 11:09PM - in reply to Holy Cow!
      • So Absolute
      • No one turned down the job. The number of applicants was astounding and Vin had a heck of a time deciding on his selection. In the end he took the "comfortable" choice, a guy near his own age, who comes from the same part of the country and who has a proven record as a coach, has administrative experience and has no ambitions to move on to another job before retiring. Good selection, and it will make a powerhouse program even more powerful.
    • MikeF
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/4/2009 11:17PM - in reply to duckwatcher
      • MikeF
      • Am a former Harry Marra coached athlete (and as it turns out, a distance runner)...there is no more qualified coach on the planet for this UO gig...surely no one with greater enthusiasm and technical skills...outstanding choice..go Ducks!!

        MF
    • Oh Really
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/5/2009 12:03AM - in reply to So Absolute
      • Oh Really
      • So Absolute wrote:
        No one turned down the job. The number of applicants was astounding and Vin had a heck of a time deciding on his selection. In the end he took the "comfortable" choice, a guy near his own age, who comes from the same part of the country and who has a proven record as a coach, has administrative experience and has no ambitions to move on to another job before retiring. Good selection, and it will make a powerhouse program even more powerful.
        You don't have clue what you're talking about. I personally know of two people who they approached and said that they were not interested. Both are significantly more accomplished than Marra who was probably not even their 5th choice.
    • So Absolute
    • Premonition
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/5/2009 2:33AM - in reply to Holy Cow!
      • Premonition
      • With the amount of money that Oregon pays for this assistant coach position, I cannot imagine any intelligent track and field coach turning it down. So, put up or shut up, and tell us who turned it down.
    • inda no
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/5/2009 12:31PM - in reply to Oh Really
      • inda no
      • You don't have clue what you're talking about. I personally know of two people who they approached and said that they were not interested. Both are significantly more accomplished than Marra who was probably not even their 5th choice.
        Oops: I have concerns that you are misinformed.

        Vin spoke with everyone. He had a few options, most importantly he had to choose which direction to take the UO program. Not every "significantly more accomplished" coach was the right fit.

        For one, short of clearing house and rebuilding the UO coaching staff from scratch, Vin had to hire someone temporarily - probably for this year only. How many coaches would leave their gigs after the season is well underway to take a temp job? Not many.

        If Vin was offering coaches the exact job Dan Steele had, more coaches would likely be willing to uproot and become a part of the UO machine. This was not Vin's offer to any coaches.

        Harry is a brilliant choice. When he headed up the U.S. decathlon program for TEN years, he got VISA to sponsor the team - remarkable. He was a college head coach and recently, as a private elite coach, he ran a summer kids program in California that infected entire families with the track bug. How many elite or college coaches are doing grassroots work like this?

        And yes, Harry is at the point in his career where he isn't trying to prove anything - he has the skills but isn't jockeying to run his own program. And yes, he and Vin are homeboys: both from the bay area and also from New England.

        UO is lucky to have Harry. I am curious how long Harry will stay with UO and what happens with the staffing - if anything - next summer.


        P.S. Vin called Dan O'Brien, but I surely hope you would not consider Dan a "significantly more accomplished" choice than Harry Marra. Dan, an Oregon native, did turn down the opportunity to explore this opening. Dan is a product of Harry's VISA decathlon program.
    • Decathlon
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/5/2009 4:00PM - in reply to duckwatcher
      • Decathlon
      • Great choice! Harry Marra is one of the most talented combined events coaches in the world, with a wealth of experience. Any program would be lucky to have him on staff.
    • PT in Eugene
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/6/2009 11:04PM - in reply to statsguy
      • PT in Eugene
      • Anyone know when Harry M. was head coach at Springfield College?? I thought that position went from Vern Cox to Ken Klatka. Am I mistaken? Thanks.
    • Cat Shucker
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/9/2009 10:10PM - in reply to Premonition
      • Cat Shucker
      • Premonition wrote:
        With the amount of money that Oregon pays for this assistant coach position, I cannot imagine any intelligent track and field coach turning it down. So, put up or shut up, and tell us who turned it down.
        Two Big 12 coaches along with the aforementioned O'Brien and an SEC coach.

        The more mature coaches become in the business, the more they value things like a workable situation over money. Oregon is not a workable situation for many under Lanana.
    • Premonition
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/10/2009 2:24AM - in reply to Cat Shucker
      • Premonition
      • As "Inda no" commented: P.S. Vin called Dan O'Brien, but I surely hope you would not consider Dan a "significantly more accomplished" choice than Harry Marra. Dan, an Oregon native, did turn down the opportunity to explore this opening. Dan is a product of Harry's VISA decathlon program.

        And who are these two "significantly more accomplished" coaches from the Big 10? You haven't given any names, and you obviously don't know the difference between "being spoken to and considered" and "turning down the job". So, I ask again...put up, or shut up.
    • ??????????
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/11/2009 11:13AM - in reply to Premonition
      • ??????????
      • You have no idea what you are talking about. I know of two coaches personally who were offered the job and turned it down. As respect toward these coaches I am not going to give out names.
    • Steele Fan
      • RE: Dan Steele's Replacement = Harry Marra 11/11/2009 12:07PM - in reply to ??????????
      • Steele Fan
      • Marra may in fact be a good "temporary" fit given the circumstances and timing of Dan Steel's departure to Northern Iowa and his dream of becoming a head coach before he turned 40 years old, which is his current age now.

        That having been said, I would not be surprised if the Oregon program suffers a "set-back" on a number of levels given the amount of effort and energy that Dan Steele put into the Oregon Duck program. He was literally doing everything that a head coach does, and more while at the U of O.

        Personally, I think that he will be greatly missed.