Retiring Fred

If you're a former Princeton track and field athlete or even a fan and you'd like to say something about Fred Samara, email jprice@princeton.edu

TigerBlog was at Charles deGaulle Airport in Paris when he got a message from his colleague Chas Dorman.

Something big was happening at Princeton, and Chas wanted to talk about it. Hmmm. What could it be? 

TB's first guess was actually the correct answer. When he called Chas, he learned officially that Fred Samara was retiring.

The day had to come sometime, right? He couldn't coach Princeton track and field forever, could he? 

Well, no, though if anyone could coach a team for eternity, it would be Fred Samara. As it turns out, his tenure at Princeton would be 46 years.

No other coach in Princeton history has coached more athletes than Fred Samara. No other coach in Princeton history has won more championships than Fred Samara. 

Think about that.

Which of those is more important? 

The numbers of both are staggering. Samara coached Princeton to 51 different Heptagonal Ivy League team championships, and his athletes won a total of 502 individual or relay titles. There were also six Olympians and 10 NCAA champions, the last of which was this past winter, when Sondre Guttormsen won his third pole vault national championship.

That's wild stuff, right? 

As for the number of athletes, well, that's a tough number to count. It's safe to say that no other coach is even close.

TigerBlog has never heard a track and field athlete who griped about Samara. He was their coach, and he was their mentor, teacher, leader, advisor, supporter and anything else. 

He's a man of incredible strength, both physical and mental. That's the word TB would use to describe him. He looks strong. He gives off a strong vibe. His voice is strong. He's a strong man.

Like all great coaches, he set the standard for his athletes high and he then he worked as hard as they did to help them achieve their goals. 

TigerBlog has known Samara for more than 30 years. If you asked TB's late colleague Harvey Yavener to tell you who the greatest coach he ever saw was, he wouldn't even flinch. He'd say Fred Samara. In fact, TB did ask him that question and he did respond without flinching.

If Samara in his 50s, 60s and now into his 70s looks like he could still score points at Heps, imagine what he was like in his teens and 20s. He was, in fact, a multiple time All-American at Penn, not to mention a 1976 Olympic decathlete. 

He came to Princeton a year later, starting on the same day that Peter Farrell began as the first women's track and field head coach at Princeton. Peter tells the story about how Fred told him on that first day that he didn't figure to stay at Princeton very long, only he tells it in the way that Peter tells stories, which is to say hysterically.

As it turned out, Fred outlasted Peter at Princeton by seven years. TB first met them in the late 1980s, and having the opportunity to watch them coach side-by-side for all that time has been one of the best parts of all of TB's years here.

To watch them on the track in the afternoon was to see what the intersection of education and college athletics was supposed to look like. They were always teaching, always helping, always challenging – and never lowering their expectations. 

It's what Samara did until his very last day as Princeton's coach. You don't have to ask any of the male athletes he coached at Princeton. Ask Deborah Saint-Phard, the 1988 Olympic shot putter from Princeton, who prepared for the Games by working under Samara. She wouldn't have gotten there without him.

He's mentioned to TigerBlog a few times in the last few years that his tenure was nearing its end, but it was difficult to think about from TB's point of view. If that's the case, imagine how much truer that is for all of those alums.

Where does Samara rank all time among Princeton coaches? Was Yav right? Maybe. You could certainly make a case that he is the best. You can make the same case for maybe at the most six others, so no matter what, Samara is a huge part of Princeton Athletic history.

All that is for another time.

For today, there are congratulations to be offered, for a tenure that has been nothing short of amazing, from a man who is equally as amazing. 

Princeton has been far better for having Fred Samara here all these years.