UMASS IS BETTER ON HIS WATCH

Legendary O’Brien headed to Hall

APPRECIATION

AMHERST — The bus rides back to UMass were often after sundown and always felt longer than the trip out.

For Ken O’Brien, in his 50th season coaching the Minutemen’s cross country and track programs, those road meets presented what I thought were his finest teaching moments.

The quiet hum of a motor coach in semidarkness, unopened text book in your lap, created the ideal backdrop to reflect on the day’s events at some faraway track, despite the usual physical distractions. The aches that wouldn’t let up, the meal that wouldn’t stay down, the residual aftershocks of two open races and a relay.

Silhouetted by a dozen overhead reading lamps, O’Brien would retreat to the rear of the bus and make his way back one athlete at a time. The insights O’Brien conveyed resonated with clarity when the competition was still fresh in mind and body.

Praise was never over the top, the critiques never overly biting. What you got was an honest evaluation, thoughtful pointers and a synopsis of next week’s practice. The encounters lasted only a few minutes but played in your mind until the bus arrived at the Curry Hicks Cage, an antiquated edifice at center campus with 1,000 stories inside.

It’s a funny thing, what college athletes remember about the coaches that oversaw their four-year transition from adolescence to adulthood. Competing in the 400, 600, 800 and every relay combination imaginable from 1974-78, my lasting memories are those personal connections on race day.

“I was never really conscious of it,” said O’Brien, “but when kids would come back or send me letters, they say it was the personal touch that they received that helped them get really good in track and survive in college.”

His service to UMass extends beyond a half century, to setting a half-mile record as an undergrad before joining the staff as an assistant in 1966 and becoming head coach in 1968. It will all be recognized on Friday night, when O’Brien is inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Student Union Ballroom.

“The Hall of Fame was something I had never given a thought,” he said. “I’ve been there with my runners, but I had never thought of it for myself so it took a while to sink in. “I really didn’t know what to make of it.” His record only tells half the story, but impresses all the same. O’Brien has guided the Minutemen to 19 conference championships, two New England cross country titles and two IC4A crowns. The two-time A-10 Coach of the Year has produced seven All-Americans.

O’Brien’s first was Randy Thomas, the women’s cross country and track coach at Boston College. Many of the lessons Thomas learned under O’Brien he now extends to the BC women.

“He sat us down and said, ‘This is who you are, this is where you are going to be and this is how you are going to get there,’ ” said Thomas. “It was pure and simple, not rocket science, and what he taught his athletes exceptionally well was how to manage all that time.”

O’Brien stays current in training techniques, but hasn’t altered his approach while a diverse parade of Boomers, Xers, Yguys and Millennials came up through the program.

That includes Herald editor Vin Pullia, a decorated hurdler from Brockton who captained the UMass team through the 1999-2000 indoor and outdoor seasons — the latter year despite severe tendonitis, the first major injury of his career.

Pullia missed a good amount of competition, but O’Brien never quit on him.

“One day I was hurdling when coach randomly appears holding a broomstick,” Pullia said. “I was baffled, but then he simply holds it over the hurdle and says, ‘Let’s go.’ I don’t know if you are aware how tall a hurdle is, but decapitation isn’t generally one of the things you need to worry about.

“At that point, it wasn’t about the pain in my leg, but only trying to keep my head. It was one of the best practices I ever had.”

He told another story of O’Brien handing him a stopwatch after a grueling workout, having him start and stop it on his command as a way to keep his focus.

“I was too young and distracted (from the pain) at the time to realize it, but in retrospect, little moments like that, I really appreciated,” Pullia said. “When I needed a boost, he continually tried to pick me up, and I’ll forever be grate- ful for it.”

More than 1,000 athletes from four generations feel much the same way.