SMU Hall of Fame: Dave Wollman - A Life of Passion

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Hall of Fame: Dave Wollman - A Life of Passion

Long before Dave Wollman was a renowned coach who spent almost 30 years helping SMU track and field athletes realize their dreams, Wollman had dreams of his own.
Like any track and field athlete, he dreamed of one day competing for his country on the world stage at the Olympics.

“So many athletes out there were using drugs to gain an edge, and I wasn’t comfortable with the ethics surrounding this kind of decision,” Wollman stated. “I wanted to compete in the Olympics but the harsh reality was that the performance levels the others were achieving were beyond my natural talent and ability.”

When he decided to become a coach, he made a vow to himself: he was going to get his athletes to the Olympics through hard work and discipline, without any shortcuts along the way.

All these years later, he beams with pride having coached athletes in Olympic, World, European, NCAA and US Championships or medalists representing 12 different countries. “International recruiting was well established at SMU at the time, so I just expanded the concept. There wasn’t anywhere in the world I would not go to recruit.”
This philosophy of expanding the reach into these distant places where no one had ever been before paid huge dividends for the program and led to this current moment in his career when he was informed he would be inducted into the 2024 SMU Hall of Fame.

“It’s something I never would have imagined. It was my goal when taking over at SMU to elevate all six programs, Men’s and Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field and Cross Country, to the highest levels in the NCAA. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to lead so many quality young men and women while they chased their dreams on the Hilltop. Every single athlete from every graduating class played a huge role in this legacy. Arguably, one of the most successful in all of SMU’s various sponsored sports programs history.”

Prepared to lead
During his high school and college years, he had yet to find a passion outside of athletics and had no idea where his life would lead him after graduation. He loved competition. That much he knew.

It wasn’t until he was an assistant track and field coach at Purdue and started graduate school that he discovered areas of study that would change his life forever: biomechanics and kinesiology.

“As I began to understand the science behind human movement, I developed an incredible passion for creating new ways to apply it to specific event movements,” said Wollman. “The country was immersed in the world of strength development and the means to improve was just to get bigger and stronger. It became my intention to go about things differently. I was going to increase the emphasis on the technical training and reduce the reliance on the weight room.”

After leaving Purdue, he secured a job at Stanford and achieved considerable success. With Stanford national champions and Olympians on his resume, he knew now was the time to capitalize on his athlete’s accomplishments in his hopes of leading his very own program.

“Being a head coach for a DI program was a dream of mine,” Wollman said. “I had the skills for it, as I’ve been a leader my entire life and thrived in being in front of a group. I was only 30 at the time when I started to look for head coaching opportunities. I needed that interview experience of selling myself to DI programs so when SMU opened up, I threw my hat into the ring.”

Despite his lofty dreams and goals, he never envisioned being hired for the first head coaching job he interviewed for. Yet, that’s precisely what happened when SMU hired him in 1988.

“I was motivated, prepared, and determined when I went into the interview process,” Wollman explained. “Apparently the hiring committee at the time felt my ideas were sufficient to overcome my inexperience as a head coach and offered me the position. Looking back on it all, recognizing the number of amazing coaches that apply for every opening in NCAA athletics, divine intervention had to play a role.”

SMU was the perfect opportunity for a young coach. SMU had won the 1986 NCAA Championships two years prior. With the departure of Hall of Fame Coach, Ted McLaughlin, the men’s roster was pretty barren and the women’s team was just beginning, but the tradition of excellence in men’s track and field at SMU had been established so he felt he could expand the success and bring this level of excellence to all the programs.

“When Coach McLaughlin left, not many national points remained but he left me with the most important ingredient, the highest level had already been achieved so the seeds of excellence were still in the ground. I intended to expand this success and plant a few seeds of my own.”

“At the beginning, we took our lumps, make no mistake about it. That first year, we had one girl on scholarship, only a few men, and the rest of the team was filled with men and women with a lot of passion. The most important ingredient in laying a foundation for success was filling the team with athletes who loved the sport and had love for each other. That first group displayed this every day and they are all still very special to me.”

The Phoenix moment came seven years later when the fledgling women’s team broke through the ice by finishing third at the NCAA Championships.
“That’s something I’m always going to remember and be forever grateful to those young women and everyone in the program who helped initiate the overall return of the Mustangs to national prominence,” Wollman declared.

This achievement marked the genesis of the women’s program and led to the renaissance of the men’s program four years later when they returned to the podium picking up their own third place team trophy at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

From 1995 to 2004, Coach Wollman built SMU into one of only two Division I programs that won top four NCAA Championship team trophies in all four sports, Indoor and Outdoor men’s and women’s track and field, and produced top 20 teams ranking in both of the cross country programs as well as qualifying for the Team NCAA Championships. Not to mention all the team conference Championships in all six sports. Coach Wollman sums it up: “We clearly were one of the best programs in the NCAA in all six sponsored sports. Even today, very few programs elevate to this level of across-the-board success.”

He was quick to add that many hands carried the bricks in the building process. “I have had good fortune having had only eight assistant coaches in my 27 years at the helm of SMU, Greg Duhaime, Louise Ritter, Dave Cianelli, Rene Sepulveda, Yolanda Belin, Cathy Casey, Tony Miller, and Ashley Mort were all very talented, loyal, and dedicated coaches. Five of them went on to lead very successful Division I programs of their own. I am so proud of each of them for their life successes but also for the love they brought to the individual athletes they coached. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. It would not have been possible without them.”

It was my goal when taking over at SMU to elevate all six programs, Men’s and Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field and Cross Country, to the highest levels in the NCAA. I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to lead so many quality young men and women while they chased their dreams on the Hilltop. Every single athlete from every graduating class played a huge role in this legacy.

Reinventing himself
In the landscape of collegiate athletics, it’s exceedingly rare for a coach to stay at a particular place for an extended period of time, but Wollman defied this norm.

Having led SMU track and field for 27 years, there were a few different factors that kept Wollman in Dallas all these years, most of which he credits to his wife, Shelley.

“She [Shelley] was the consistent voice in my life and a positive calming voice in the lives of the student-athletes. I was the engine but Shelley truly was the heart of the program and my best friend in life. She had always wanted to invest in the community we lived in and establish our lives in one place, and truthfully, I did as well,” Wollman explained. “As the years passed, we were happy in Dallas and had no reason to leave. I was building the track and field program that I had always envisioned, and it was the thrill of my life to see my athletes succeed and accomplish such amazing achievements.”

The only time he felt at a crossroads at SMU was in 2004 when the university made the tough decision to cut the men’s track and field team. While there is never a good time to hear this news, the timing was especially difficult. The program was coming off three consecutive top-three finishes in the NCAA Championships and had multiple Olympians and finalists in the Olympic Games that year.

Needless to say, Wollman had an agonizing decision to make.

“SMU had become our home. I had put my entire life and so much of myself into building a rich environment where kids came together and excelled in all aspects of life. Shelley had also sacrificed so much in the process. I poured all of myself into these young men and women at this University and there wasn’t much left at the end of each day. Once again, Shelley became my saving grace and gave me the best advice. Maybe we can hold onto our years of investment in the community if I was willing to reinvent myself a bit.”

Heeding her advice, he realized he could benefit not only his women’s team but all teams and programs at SMU. In order to recruit elite athletes on campus, SMU needed to provide them with a source of more intense academic as well as life skills support to succeed, and Wollman devised a plan to do just that.

“I actively approached the new athletic director at the time with my ideas and soon after added assistant athletic director for academics to my role at SMU. With Dr. Turner’s and the Board of Trustees support, I helped create what is known today as the Academic Development of Student-Athletes (ADSA),” Wollman said. “They provide academic counseling to help student-athletes make informed decisions about their degree, major selection, plan their semester courses, and maintain NCAA eligibility.”

The program was a resounding success and made a tremendous impact on student-athletes on campus and the direction they wanted to take in their lives. As proud as Wollman is of everything he has achieved in the sport, helping to kickstart and direct this program is what he considers his lasting legacy at SMU.

“I did need to reinvent myself,” said Wollman. “Once I did, ADSA became a passion project that gave me the clarity I needed to move forward in life with a broader mission and make an impact on many athletes’ lives in multiple sports and call SMU my home forever.”

A legacy cemented
When Wollman received the call informing him of his induction into the 2024 SMU Hall of Fame, he felt a rush of emotions. Thinking back on all the memories, moments, and amazing athletes he coached was a powerful and overwhelming feeling.

“It became evident to me the Good Lord directed and guided me to a place He wanted me to serve Him. He provided me with my best friend to keep me grounded and to enjoy the everyday moments of helping others achieve their dreams. We put SMU athletics at the center of our lives and we were blessed with the opportunity to influence so many beautiful young men and women from all across the world who remain in our lives through social media to this day” Wollman said. “Between the late nights, early mornings, practices, meets, and hectic traveling schedule, there isn’t a whole lot of time to smell the roses. This induction has given me time to do that and gives me gratitude knowing we made a positive difference in many athletes’ lives.”

Spending so many years at SMU, he’s more than aware of the immense talent and extraordinary achievements associated with the SMU Hall of Fame.

“To be considered among these exceptional athletes and human beings is a surreal feeling that brings a storybook ending to this chapter of my life,” said Wollman. “Although,” he added, “I am a long way from actual retirement as I now consult with athletes and coaches of all levels across the world. Many of which are the children of my SMU alumni.”
Reflecting on his collegiate coaching career, he recalls his initial goal to transcend the sport and prove that unnatural strength and size weren’t necessary to achieve the pinnacle in track and field.

“While I believe I was able to accomplish that, I’ve gained something so much more with 27 years’ worth of memories, moments, and a Mustang family I’m beyond blessed to be associated with forever,” Wollman concluded.