Jerry Schumacher Will Take Over as Head of The University of Oregon Track & Field and Cross Country Programs

By LetsRun.com
July 11, 2022

LetsRun.com can confirm that one of the hottest rumors in track & field over the past month is true: Jerry Schumacher will be the next head coach of the University of Oregon track & field/cross country program. Schumacher, 51, previously coached at the University of Wisconsin from 1998-08, leading the Badger men to the 2005 NCAA cross country title. He has spent the last 14 years employed by Nike. Schumacher’s training group, which has included some of America’s greatest distance runners, was given official branding as the Bowerman Track Club in 2014.

Schumacher will succeed Robert Johnson, whose contract was not renewed at the end of the 2021-22 campaign after 10 years at the helm, despite winning 14 national titles during that time frame. An official announcement is expected to come out later this week, potentially as early as later today.

Jerry Schumacher (r), Shalane Flanagan (l). Photo by Tim Healy for TrackTown USA.

Schumacher is expected to continue in his role as coach of the Bowerman Track Club, but many details still need to be clarified. Does the Portland-based BTC relocate to Eugene? Will BTC assistants Pascal Dobert and Shalane Flanagan join Schumacher on Oregon’s staff? What happens to current Oregon distance coaches Ben Thomas and Helen Lehman-Winters? And what happens to the Oregon Track Club Elite – the Nike-sponsored professional group based in Eugene whose coach Mark Rowland just left to take a job with Athletics Canada?

We expect those details to be ironed out in the coming weeks.

Talk about this development on our messageboard/fan forum.

MB: Jerry Schumacher, new Head Coach of Oregon XC/Track and Field 

MB: SC members, and the next University of Oregon xc/track coach will be…..We gave our SC members two names on June 23rd – Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan.