Bob Pollock Hometown: Rochester, NY Position: Head Coach

About Coach Pollack:
Under the direction and guidance of 13th year head coach Bob Pollock, the Clemson track and field teams closed out the 20th century by winning the indoor and outdoor ACC Championships and posting two 10th place NCAA final rankings. The indoor ACC title was the fourth straight for the Tigers.

The 1990's truly were a decade of champions. During the 1999-2000 season, Clemson had its first individual American record holder and its most decorated track athlete ever in Shawn Crawford, who won the NCAA Championship in the 200m indoor and outdoor while earning All-American status in the 60m indoors and the 100m outdoors. Crawford was one of four All-Americans and 17 All-ACC honorees for the Tigers last year.

In 1999, Clemson won the indoor ACC title for the third consecutive season. The Tigers finished third nationally, behind the national championships of Ato Modibo in the 400m and the 4x400m relay team of Charles Allen, Kenny Franklin, Davidson Gill and Modibo.

Clemson placed second at the 1999 ACC outdoor meet, then finished 19th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Tigers brought home a record 12 All-America certificates at the meet.

At the 1998 ACC indoor meet, Clemson scored 144 points to win by 9.5 points over North Carolina, and eight Tigers were honored as All-ACC. At the NCAA indoor meet, Clemson tied for third place with Washington State. The Tigers had seven All-Americans, including 200m national champion Shawn Crawford.

During the 1998 outdoor season Clemson won the ACC Championship with 194 points and had six ACC Champions. At the NCAA outdoor meet Clemson tied for 11th place and brought home 10 All-American certificates.

During the 1996-97 season the Tigers, led by seven All-ACC selections, won the ACC Indoor title. Although the Tigers claimed only two event titles, they did most of their damage with depth and balance. The team scored in every event and had multiple scorers in 10 of the 14 individual events.

The Tigers excelled during the outdoor season as well, winning the ACC Outdoor Championships with 216 points to break an 18-year-old record. This was the first time in four years that the Tigers had won an outdoor championship. Scoring in all 19 events, Clemson walked away with nine ACC Champions and 15 All-ACC athletes.

Under Pollock's direction, Clemson finished 17th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earned seven All-America honors. The 4x100m relay team of Carlton Chambers, Tony Wheeler, Jeremichael Williams, and Charles Allen were the NCAA runner-up in a time of 38.92, and the time broke the Clemson record.

In 1995, Pollock's team finished 10th nationally in outdoor track, tying for Clemson's best finish ever at the national competition.

Pollock had nine All-America athletes return to Clemson during the 1996 indoor season and eight more All-Americans returned during outdoors. For only the second time in Clemson's outdoor history, a national champion individual title returned to the Clemson ranks. Another first for Pollock's tenure was the winning of an All-America certificate in the field events (John Thorp-high jump).

The 1995-96 year was a banner one for Pollock off the track as well, as he was inducted into the Appalachian State Hall of Fame for his coaching of the Mountaineers' track and field program (1974-1988).

The 1992-93 season was one of the most successful in Clemson history. The Tigers won both conference track titles, finished second nationally indoors for the second year in a row, and posted a 10th-place finish at the NCAA outdoor meet. Clemson athletes won three individual national championships in 1993, with Michael Green bringing home honors in the 55m indoors and the 100m outdoors, and Wesley Russell winning the national indoor title in the 400m. Pollock was named the ACC Coach-of-the-Year for both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

Former Clemson athletes James Trapp and Michael Green were 1992 NCAA indoor champions on the way to leading the Tigers to a number-two team finish at the NCAA meet. Pollock was also awarded the National Coach-of-the-Year honors for his team's accomplishments that season. The Tigers repeated that feat in 1993, once again finishing second at the NCAA Indoor Championships, winning three national champion individual titles in 1993.

James Trapp won the U.S. and world indoor championships in the 200m in 1992, while three members of the 1991-92 squad (Trapp, Green, and Anthony Knight) and one of Pollock's former Tigers (Terrance Herrington) traveled to Barcelona to compete in the 1992 Olympic games.

During the 1988-89 season, Pollock's first at Clemson, he led his teams to the "Triple Crown" of ACC track. That year, the Tigers won the conference titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track, a first in Clemson track history. Clemson finished eighth nationally indoors in 1990. Seven individuals were awarded All-America honors and the Clemson squad made national news by running a world-record time in the 4x800 meter relay to win the national championship in that event. Since that first season, the Tigers have won nine of the last 12 indoor ACC championships and have won seven outdoor titles.

Pollock's athletes have also enjoyed success in the classroom as well. Distance runner Trent Kirk was honored with the 1998 ACC Most Outstanding Senior Scholarship Male Athlete Award after posting a 3.80 GPA. Hurdler Duane Ross was awarded the prestigious IPTAY Athlete-of-the-Year honor in 1995 because of his academic and athletic accomplishments. James Trapp received the IPTAY award in 1992, and Olympic sprinter Michael Green received the IPTAY award the following year. Hurdler Anthony Knight was the recipient of the ACC's Jim Weaver Award in 1993, one of the highest academic awards given by the Atlantic Coast Conference, and a NCAA Postgraduate scholarship. The Jim Weaver Award has also been awarded to two other Pollock proteges, Henrik Skov in 1989 and Dov Kremer in 1991. In 1991, Cormac Finnerty, a four-time All-American for the Tigers in track, was named a cross country Academic All-American, and Mike Kauffman won cross country and track Academic All-America honors during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

Pollock admits that his success would not have been possible without great student-athletes and great assistant coaches. Tigers have brought home an incredible 143 All-America certificates and have won ACC Championships in 21 different events since his arrival at Clemson. The Tigers have added nine indoor conference titles, seven outdoor conference titles, a cross country conference title, and 18 top-20 national rankings, including 10 top 10 finishes to the Clemson history books.

With those accolades, he can now boast of 16 Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in only 12 years at Clemson, more than any other coach in Clemson history. He has been named a conference coach-of-the-year a total of 29 times during his coaching career. In his 28 years of coaching, he has now led teams to 27 conference titles (10 Southern Conference Championships at Appalachian State, 17 ACC titles at Clemson).

Success and conference titles were nothing new to Pollock when he came to Clemson. During 14 years as head track and cross country coach at Appalachian State University, Pollock led the Mountaineers to five Southern Conference outdoor titles, four indoor championships and one cross country title. His teams swept the Southern Conference indoor and outdoor meets in 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987.

The Rochester, NY, native began his coaching career at The Citadel, where Pollock served as head cross country and assistant track coach from 1972-74.

Pollock earned his B.S. degree in physical education from The Citadel in 1971, and was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs as a distance runner. His senior year, he was voted the team MVP as well as team captain. He also earned a master's degree in physical education from the University of Georgia in 1972.

Another important part of Pollock's coaching philosophy that has paid off during his years at Clemson and before is the importance he places on family. His wife Jackie, and children John (20), a student and baseball pitcher at The Citadel, Kristen (17), and Kathryn (13) are familiar sites out at the track, whether during actual competition or just during daily practice.