Clark named director of UT track and field : govolsxtra.com

So, how will J.J. Clark relate to the men’s track and field team, now that he takes over a combined program at the University of Tennessee?

“One, by being a guy,’’ Clark said Monday with a smile. “That’s very important.’’

Clark, who has led the Lady Vols to two indoor national championships, was introduced as director of track and field as UT decided on a precedent-setting course in the wake of the retirement of men’s head coach Bill Webb.

Clark will oversee both the men’s and women’s teams as Tennessee became the ninth SEC school to combine both squads under one coaching staff.

“The philosophical decision to combine the programs was challenging,’’ UT men’s athletic director Mike Hamilton said, “but we believe it is in the best interests of our track and field program moving forward.’’

UT’s first venture in combining a sport won’t meet with universal approval. A number of men’s track alumni are upset that men’s longtime assistant coach George Watts was passed over.

Watts, who hoped to succeed Webb as men’s coach, was on vacation Monday, Clark said.

Hamilton said he hoped Watts would stay in a “significant role” with the program. Watts and Clark both are experts in middle and longer distances and Watts has coached UT’s men in cross country.

“George is a great guy with a lot of skills and expertise in the area,’’ Clark said.

“It may be as simple as he oversees the men and I keep the women (distance runners). Everything has to be evaluated. It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet.’’

Clark took over the Lady Vols in 2002 when the program was at low ebb. He has led them to national indoor titles in 2005 and 2009 and SEC indoor titles in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Clark’s teams also won SEC cross-country titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

He has coached women at both the collegiate and elite level throughout his career.

His only coaching experience with men is developing a couple of elite athletes, most notably three-time Olympian Mark Everett.

Clark, however, points out prior to becoming a coach he was an elite male runner at Villanova.

“I believe we can balance it out,’’ he said. “I understand the women and I’m a guy.’’

Chris Fuller, UT’s head of sales and marketing, played a pivotal role assisting Hamilton in the process.

Fuller said combining the programs will have some monetary savings in terms of travel and administration, but that competitiveness was the driving force.

“From an instruction standpoint, that sixth coach gives you more effective preparation,’’ Fuller said.

Clark has two hires to make for full-time assistant coaches.

Besides himself, the staff at present includes Watts, John Frazier, throws coach from the women’s team, and Norbert Elliott, who coached sprints, hurdles and jumps for the men.

Pauline Davis-Thompson, who coached the women’s sprints and hurdles, resigned Friday.

One possible addition who has been mentioned is Tom Pappas, the ex-Vol decathlete who is coaching at Kansas State.

UT also will continue to use several unpaid volunteer coaches.

Fuller and Clark both cited Texas A&M as a successful model for a combined program. The Aggies swept the men’s and women’s outdoor titles earlier this month.

Clark said the men and women would travel to the same meets the majority of the time.

“I think we’ll be singing ‘Rocky Top’ together and celebrating together as we do well in the next several years to come,’’ he said.

Clark professes great respect for the men’s tradition at UT. The Vols won outdoor national championships in 1974, 1991 and 2001, plus an indoor title in 2002.

He said the majority of the feedback he has received has been positive but understands there will be dissenters.

He mentioned securing recruits as an immediate priority.

“Most of the team, they’ve known me,’’ he said. “You’re always going to have a few that want to abandon ship.

“But hopefully they’ll want to be part of a great tradition and a winning program.’’