Texas Tech University Athletics
A Staff of Many - Red Raider track and field
March 14, 2005 | Track and Field
March 14, 2005
Every notable head coach has a staff brimming with experience and knowledge assisting them along the way. Track and field head coach Wes Kittley is no different. Kittley's name and reputation is well-documented and respected in the track and field world, as well as the West Texas community. Kittley's assistant coaches are also held to the same respect and notoriety with which he has become familiar.
"One of the best compliments I get is about my assistants," explained Kittley. "Everyone walks up to me and says `Coach Kittley, you have a great staff.' Everyone in the track and field world knows members of our staff and I love hearing that because there is a lot of respect for our staff. More then that, I'm just pleased that they are here because I know what good coaches they are."
During Kittley's early years, the track and field staff has had somewhat of a revolving door with numerous coaching changes. Kittley, associate head coach Diane Wholey and assistant coach Cliff Felkins have been the constant since Kittley's tenure began in 1999.
"When I took the job in 1999, it was myself, Coach Wholey and Coach Felkins. Cliff was with me at Abilene Christian from 1992-1999. He knows exactly what he was doing in the weight room and he has joined that with his philosophy of track and field. He knows me inside and out and I think that has been a real plus, because he knows exactly what I want in the weight room and it is exactly what he wants in the weight room, so we are on the same page," said Kittley.
Felkins, the head strength coach and throws coach, is no stranger to collegiate track and field. Felkins was an All-American at Odessa College, UTEP and ACU.
"Diane Wholey came from Texas, Mississippi before that, and Tennessee, where she did her graduate work. She's been with national championship teams and has coached every area," said Kittley.
Wholey, high jump and multi-events coach, has a multitude of experience in track and field on the national and international levels.
Don Hood was the next to join the growing staff. Also a member of the ACU family, Hood, the horizontal jumps and pole vault coach, came to Tech from Southwest Texas State, where he was the head track and field coach.
"The first two years Coach Kittley was here, I was on the outside looking in and I thought `Wow, they have a long way to go!,'" said Hood. "But every year you could see it get better and you could see the staff get better. When I had a chance to come in, I felt like I fit in pretty well and the other coaches were really good at making it work."
Adding coaches may sound absurd for any other sport, but as track and field has grown, especially at Texas Tech, more coaches are needed to provide for the constantly growing number of athletes.
"We have really tried to organize it so that, as our program grows, our kids get the attention they need and deserve," explained Kittley.
David Oakes and Burke Binning were the next additions made to the staff. Oakes, a five-time All-American at Oklahoma, instructs the women's sprints and hurdles. Binning's group includes the men's and women's distance events (1000M and above).
"David and Burke are fairly young coaches, but they add to the group. David has junior college experience, as well as Big 12 experience when he ran at Oklahoma. Burke has been with us for three years now and the kids are really used to him and understand his way of doing things. The neat thing about what we are doing with the women is giving the sprinters and the hurdlers more attention by moving David to that area, now that Coach Silvey is here to cover the men's sprints and hurdles."
Steve Silvey is the most recent addition to the Tech staff. Silvey joined the group in July 2004. Silvey came to Tech from the University of Oregon.
"Coach Kittley wanted to bring me aboard here to help him finish off what he has put together. I think 95 percent of the program was put together and I added the last five percent to try to instill some discipline and dedication into these sprinters and hurdlers. Hopefully, my experience at successful programs like Oregon, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Blinn Jr. College will add to this program and help to bring a Big 12 track and field championship to Texas Tech."
"We have moved things around. I have coached different areas. Coach Wholey has coached different areas. I think who we have now is the best we can do, with the addition of Coach Silvey and Joe Walker as our operations director," said Kittley.
Walker came on board in the Fall of 2004 as the director of track and field operations. Walker comes to Tech from Arkansas, where he worked under legendary coach John McDonnell.
"Joe Walker has made the biggest difference. I'm not worried about travel this year; my main concentration goes on coaching my kids and recruiting. Joe has freed everybody up tremendously. We know exactly what we are supposed to coach and we trust the other coaches. Everybody knows what they are doing in their respective area. Everybody had experience in the area and everybody has success in their area," explained Hood.
With a complete staff, Kittley and his coaches have nothing left to concentrate on but the athletes.
"We are building every area more and more. I think the more continuity we continue to have, the better we will be as a staff and as a team. I won a lot of national championships at ACU, but the great thing we did was keep our staff. The staff remained the same for those championship years. That is what I am hoping to do here. We have had some staff changes over the years but I think we have gotten better and better with those changes and we understand what works at Texas Tech," said Kittley.
With continuity and consistency, more time devoted to the athletes is the priority of the staff.
"I think anytime you can allow your athletes to get a lot of time and attention and more hands-on coaching with less distractions, they're bound to be more successful."
Every event group, jumps, sprints, distance, throws, etc., has its own coach and its own identity amongst the Texas Tech athletic community.
"We have better time management with this structure in place and our staff complete. Athletes know who their coach is and they know who to go to with any questions or concerns. I think we are much more effective as a coaching staff," said Silvey.
"I think over the years, we've worked really hard and have overcome a lot of adversities to get here. We definitely have had a lot of growing pains through the years, but that's part of what makes the end results so joyous. You had to work really, really hard to get where you are and I think that has kind of proven itself to be true. It definitely made those early years tough, but it makes the success so much sweeter," said Wholey.
Success is something every member of the track and field staff has gotten used to lately, as every event group as proven successful on the various levels of competition.
"The greatest teacher is experience and that is what I tried to bring. They have seen it all and they know how to adapt to that. I don't know if we have it perfected, but I am more pleased with how we are doing it now, because I think we do a better job for the kids," said Kittley.
