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Charles Foster completed his eighth season as an assistant coach with the Tiger track & field program in 2006-07. Foster is responsible for working with the sprints, hurdles, and relay programs. In his eight years at Clemson, his athletes have produced three national titles, 28 All-America performances, and 40 ACC event titles. He has also coached 56 NCAA event qualifiers, including five in 2007.
Foster's group experienced outstanding success in 2007, led by Travis Padgett's national title in the 60m dash. He also coached Padgett to All-America honors in the 100m dash and 4x100m relay. Corey Brown, Cowin Mills, and C.J. Spiller comprised the remaining three legs of the relay squad that placed seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also coached Jacoby Ford to All-America honors in the 60m dash after the freshman placed third in the event. Ford set the school record in the 60m after a winning time of 6.52 at the ACC indoor meet. He was named the league's Indoor Freshman-of-the-Year as a result of his impressive performance. Ford (indoor 200m), Spiller (100m), and Padgett (outdoor 200m) also earned All-ACC recognition under Foster's guidance. He also coached the 4x400m relay team of Mills, Andrew Porter, Travis Swaggard, and Brown to an ACC title, a first for the school at the conference outdoor meet since the 1996 season.
In 2006, he coached Padgett to one of the most spectacular freshman seasons in school history. He won the ACC Championship, Penn Relays, and East Region titles in the 100m dash. Padgett was named ACC Freshman-of-the-Year and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors. Foster's best coaching job may have been with the underdog 4x100m relay team of Roy Cheney, Brown, Padgett, and Mills. After finishing in the final qualifying spot at regionals, the team surprised everyone with its second-place finish to earn a berth to the NCAA Championships. Indoors, he coached Brown and Padgett to All-ACC honors in the 60m and Cheney to all-conference honors in the 60m hurdles.
He guided a pair of 2005 performers to All-America honors, Scott Kautz and Ronald Richards. Kautz earned an All-America certificate in the 400m intermediate hurdles. Richards earned the honor with a fifth-place finish in the 100m dash at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In addition, Foster's athletes claimed seven All-ACC honors during the 2005 season, indoor and outdoor.
Foster's most highly decorated athlete early in his tenure was Shawn Crawford, who won four All-America certificates in 2000. Crawford went on to claim a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in the 200m dash for the United States.
In 2004, seven Tigers under Foster's tutelage earned conference titles with championships in the 60m dash, 100m dash, 400m hurdles and 4x100m relay. A total of 15 Clemson sprinters and hurdlers were named All-ACC and 11 Tigers posted NCAA Championship qualifying performances. Clemson's 4x100m relay championship was the fifth consecutive title in that event.
In 2003, Foster coached five All-Americans, six ACC Champions, and 18 All-ACC honorees. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Tigers' 4x400m relay team placed seventh, and another Tiger earned a seventh-place finish in the 60m. At the 2003 ACC Indoor Championships, the Tiger sprinters swept the top three places in the 60m, and also won the 200m and 400m titles. Outdoor, Clemson's 4x100m relay team claimed the conference title for the fourth consecutive year. A Clemson athlete won the 110m hurdles as well. Clemson also won the 400m, and an additional five Tigers earned All-ACC honors in three events (100m, 200m, 400m hurdles).
Nationally, Clemson's sprints and hurdles led the 2002 Tigers to a fourth-place finish outdoors, as well as a seventh-place finish indoors. Six Tigers earned All-America honors in seven events, and a school record was set in the 4x100m relay. At the ACC Indoor Championships, Clemson sprinters swept the top three spots in the 60m dash, and the Tigers finished one-two in the 60m hurdles. Clemson also claimed the 200m and 400m titles. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Foster coached three Indoor All-Americans, one each in the 60m dash, 60m hurdles and 400m dash.
Five Tigers earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, LA, and Clemson took second-place finishes in four events (100m, 200m, 110m hurdles, 4x100m relay). Clemson's 400m relay team set a school record at the national meet, helping the team to its best-ever finish at the NCAA Outdoors. Foster coached the ACC Outdoor Performer-of-the-Year as well as the Penn Relays 110m hurdles victor.
In 2001, Foster coached three Tigers to NCAA All-America status, collected the 4x400m relay USA Indoor National Championship, and coached the ACC Indoor Most Valuable Performer and Rookie-of-the-Year. He also coached three World Championship participants, with one Tiger bringing home a bronze medal in the 4x100m relay.
During the indoor season, Foster coached the Tiger sprinters to one-two finishes in the 60m dash and 60m hurdles. In the 200m, Foster's sprinters swept the top three places at the ACC Championships. As a result, Clemson athletes earned the Most Valuable Performer and the Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Outdoors, the Clemson sprinters swept the 100m dash, taking the first four places in the championship. The Tigers also took a 1-2 finish in the 110m hurdle championship. In the 400m, Foster coached Ato Modibo to a new Clemson record in winning his second 400m title in 2001, and the 4x100m relay defended its conference crown.
Foster is a former world record holder at 13.20 in the 110m high hurdles. He was ranked number one in the world in the event in 1974 and 1975, and placed fourth in the Olympic Games in Montreal. Foster also was a member of the shuttle hurdle relay teams that set three world records.
The 1974 NCAA National Champion in the 110m hurdles, Foster was an 18-time All-American at North Carolina Central in the 55m hurdles, 110m hurdles and the 4x100m relay. He was the TAC (now the USATF) National Champion in the 110m hurdles from 1974-1976, and was the Penn Relays Champion in the event from 1972-1975.
On the world scene, Foster has traveled to 86 different countries as a competing athlete or as the director, coach and consultant for a variety of track and field training camps, clinics and conferences. He has served as technical advisor and coach for nine countries' Olympic teams as they prepared for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. He is internationally recognized as a strong motivator and expert in the field of speed training and conditioning.
Foster came to Clemson from Raleigh, NC, where he worked with the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games as the Director of Venue Management from 1997-99. Prior to his time in Raleigh, Foster worked with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, beginning in 1992. He directed five events at the 1996 Games: track and field, baseball, softball, sport shooting and field hockey. Foster was also involved in the coordination of the opening ceremonies, plus the training and competition schedules. Prior to the Games, he designed the track that was used during the Olympic Games. He is also a member of the United States Olympic Committee, having served on several committees, including the renowned coaching committee.
Foster was an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina for six years prior to his work in Atlanta, where he was instrumental in the Tar Heels' number one ranking in the national dual meet power rankings. At North Carolina, Foster coached 35 NCAA All-Americans, including 1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson.
A 1975 graduate of North Carolina Central with a bachelor's degree in recreational administration, Foster is married to Sophronia Qualls of Enfield, NC. The couple has one child, Sydney (11).
