March 29, 2018
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - Harvey Glance may have been the fastest man in the world, but one afternoon early in 1976, when the Auburn freshman was slow arriving to practice, Coach Mel Rosen promptly pointed to the exit.
"Basically telling me to leave because I was late for practice," Glance said, recalling with clarity an incident from his freshman year at Auburn more than 40 years ago.
"He sat me down in his office and he said, `If you're going to be part of this program, not only do you have to be good, but you have to be a good leader, and you've got to lead by example.'
"He taught me that it wasn't fair for me to be one way and everyone else to be another way. We all had to be equal. If I was going to be the best athlete on the team, then I had to lead by example."
The reason for Glance's tardiness? He was getting his hair braided, something he did before every meet his freshman season. After getting kicked out of practice, Glance said he was angry enough to consider transferring. Until that office meeting with Coach Rosen.
"He explained that I should have called in early to let him know what my plans were, and that way we can agree upon things, rather than just take a risk," Glance said. "He taught me a very valuable lesson my freshman year that I must abide by the rules and regulations within the program. It also made me grow up, as an immature freshman, thinking that because I ran fast, I could do what I wanted to do."
In the months following that lesson, Glance set a world record, won NCAA championships in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, and won an Olympic gold medal in the 4 x 100m relay. The next year, he again won NCAAs in the 200.
"When I came to Auburn as an athlete and a student, I wanted to be around someone who was just as committed, and was willing to make sacrifices, and was dedicated to getting me to the point where I thought I could get to," Glance said. "When you're an athlete with that kind of mentality, you need someone in your corner who also has an equal mentality, trying to get you to be the best. Coach Rosen exhibited that. He demanded the best out of you.
"That dedication. That commitment for excellence is what shaped me and made me realize at that point in time that I had chosen the right coach."
When Mel Rosen retired from Auburn to coach the USA Olympic team after the 1991 season, Harvey Glance took over as Auburn's track coach, 15 years after Rosen kicked Glance out of practice for being late. When Mel Rosen retired from Auburn to coach the USA Olympic team after the 1991 season, Harvey Glance took over as Auburn's track coach, 15 years after Rosen kicked Glance out of practice for being late.
After 28 seasons and five SEC championships, Rosen retired from Auburn to coach the USA track team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Harvey Glance succeeded his mentor, becoming the third track coach in Auburn history.
Under Rosen's leadership, Team USA dominated the '92 Games, winning 20 medals, including eight golds.
'An incredible mentor'
As he had done at Auburn for decades, Rosen, who died on March 25, one day after turning 90, earned the respect of the sport's biggest stars.
"He was always the same to me," said Carl Lewis, who won two of his nine gold medals in 1992. "He was consistent. He was friendly. He was somebody I could always depend on in all the teams I went through throughout the years. I will miss him. I think he's someone that the sport of track and field is going to miss a lot, someone who had great integrity and honesty and was an incredible mentor to thousands of people."
Another gold medalist from Barcelona, Leroy Burrell, drew from Rosen's wisdom on his way to becoming the track coach at Houston.
"I don't think there was a more liked or more respected statesman for the sport than Mel Rosen," Burrell said. "He was a strong leader for NCAA Track & Field and at Auburn for years and also really involved with USA Track & Field.
"I'm really sad to see him go. I know he loved Auburn track and was a big part of everything that is Auburn track. My heart goes out to the Auburn track family and the extended Auburn community, because we lost a great one."
After the 1997 season, Ralph Spry became Auburn's fourth track coach, remarkable stability for a program that's nearing the century mark.
"When you think about Auburn track and field, you think of Mel Rosen," Spry said. "His legacy at Auburn, at the international level as Olympic coach, hall of fame. I don't think I know anybody who was more well-respected and well-liked in the track and field profession than Mel Rosen.
"He's been a special blessing for me. it was neat to have somebody with that type of experience around to shadow me. A lot of my success was leaning on Mel Rosen, and his friendship, and his love for the sport, like I had.
"Track and field lost a true warrior and a good friend to the sport. Mel was a super guy. Very funny gentleman, and I'm surely going to miss him."
As track coach emeritus, Mel Rosen became a trusted mentor to Auburn's Ralph Spry." style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/c-xctrack/auto_a_storywidenew/13224282.jpeg"> As track coach emeritus, Mel Rosen became a trusted mentor to Auburn's Ralph Spry.'Uncle Mel'
In Middle Tennessee track coach Dean Hayes, Mel Rosen found a best friend, a roommate on road trips, and an integration ally. Like Rosen at Auburn, Hayes helped his school and athletic department navigate the challenges of integration in the South.
"I'm sure that he helped a lot in integrating a school like Auburn," said the 80-year-old Hayes, in his 53rd season at Middle Tennessee. "When you think about that, it was a different time and I always call it a different world, but that was a big issue."
Rosen's greatest contribution came as a role model to generations of Auburn students, says Hayes, whose children both attended Auburn University and spent time with "Uncle Mel."
"The biggest thing for me was all those things he did for those athletes and setting an example to all the students," said. "That was the big thing."
Sharing the same sense of humor, Rosen and Hayes created an enduring nickname for each season's final qualifying meet.
"The Last-Chance Invitational," Hayes said. "It happened right here at Middle Tennessee in 1976. Mel was up here for a meet and a kid came here from New Mexico and ran, so we said, `Oh, this is Last-Chance Invitational.
"All of the track coaches liked it. It was unique, it was funny. We always had it the week before the NCAA, so it was your last chance to go to the NCAA."
In 2006, Auburn named its track after Mel Rosen and his predecessor, Wilbur Hutsell. Photo: Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics" style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/c-xctrack/auto_a_storywidenew/13224274.jpeg"> In 2006, Auburn named its track after Mel Rosen and his predecessor, Wilbur Hutsell. Photo: Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics'The Real Deal'
Auburn University professor Dr. Craig Darch literally wrote the book on Mel Rosen. In 2014, Darch authored "From Brooklyn to the Olympics: The Hall of Fame Career of Auburn University Track Coach Mel Rosen."
"His story is remarkable," Darch said. "It's a story of a Jewish kid growing up in Brooklyn, who makes his way down to Auburn, Alabama, and becomes a world class coach.
"I think what made Mel such a powerful force in the United States and in international track and field, was his ability to communicate. Mel was always gracious in his interaction with his athletes.
"I've never seen anyone who was able to be as successful as he was, and yet, have no real enemies. People never begrudged his success, because I think they knew Mel was a sincere, hard-working, competitive guy, but always played by the rules, and there was never any scandal with regard to his team.
"Harvey Glance said it in a phrase, `Mel was the real deal.' Harvey Glance told me one reason he was so successful at Auburn was Mel's coaching. He always felt that if he didn't win, he would disappoint his coach, Mel Rosen. That really tells you a lot about how Mel was able to take a sport that was essentially an individual sport, and refocus that energy and interest in trying to perform for the team."
A people person
Gifted communicator. Master motivator. Skilled technician. Mel Rosen possessed the knowledge his runners needed to shave hundredths of a second off their time, and he knew how to deliver it.
"His strength was workouts," Glance said. "He would tell you in a minute, `I'm going to give you the workout to keep you healthy.' "I ran all four years at Auburn, and I ran at a high level for four years, and that was basically because of his workouts.
"The other great thing about him was Coach Rosen was a people person. He knew how to communicate. He knew my personality was different from another person on the team's personality.
"My entire career, I trained under him. I was able to make three Olympic teams, set two world records and numerous titles, Olympic gold medal, an illustrious career under his tutelage."
A "Celebration of Life" will be held Tuesday, April 3, at 1:30 p.m. CT at Auburn United Methodist Church, 137 S. Gay Street, Auburn, AL 36830 with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to "Tigers Unlimited -- Track and Field Program" with a note in the memo line that the gift is in memory of Coach Mel Rosen. Gifts in memory of Coach Rosen can also be given here: https://secure.auburn.edu/s/1715/athletics/index.aspx?sid=1715&gid=3&pgid=666&cid=1435 GIFTS IN MEMORY OF COACH ROSEN
" style="width:100%; height:auto;" class="imported_image" legacy-link="http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/c-xctrack/auto_a_storywidenew/13224290.jpeg"> 'The real deal': Mel Rosen with his protege and successor, gold medalist Harvey Glance.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer