This year marks 40 years of Eddie Reese as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, and what a 40 years it’s been. Among 13 NCAA titles, numerous champions both at the NCAA and Olympic level, and accolades for being one of the greatest coaches in the nation, Eddie has an extensive resume. So what makes him stand out? What does he do differently?
What makes Eddie Reese great?
Eddie explained a few pieces of the puzzle to his success. The first were the things he tries to change. Eddie explains that even if the team wins a national title, there are still areas where he feels he fails every year, and at the end of each season he goes back and looks at where he can be better.
The next piece was things that he’s kept consistent over the years. In practice, he makes sure to be engaged, mostly by doing one thing: talking with his athletes. He measures his steps every practice, but not for the normal reason. If Eddie’s walking, that means Eddie’s talking. And that means he’s helping his athletes get better. Eddie also emphasized focusing on technique, something that he even admittedly didn’t enjoy, but something that has been key to the success of his swimmers.
The final piece Eddie discussed was maintaining the team culture, which meant making decisions that would benefit the team as a whole, even if they were hard to make. Eddie spoke of removing a group of swimmers from the team that weren’t positively contributing to the team environment, something that he doesn’t enjoy doing. But he goes on to recall that it was the right thing to do, both for those swimmers and for the rest of their teammates.
I love hearing him speak about swimming & his team spirit – its never gets old – on the contrary – it feels refreshing and so inspiring . thank u Eddie – i love swimming even more thank to your passionate groove .
Yea BUT can he demonstrate endurance in coaching…I mean 40 years is not that long. When Eddie has coached for 60 or 70 years, then I be impressed.Seriously HE IS THE GREATEST ever in coaching.
I was swimming at the Texas High School TISCA meet at UT back in like 95 or 96 and got a bloody nose while sitting in the bleachers for whatever reason. I went into the medical room and Eddie came in for some reason and asked me where I was from. I told him that I was from Houston and he told me that it must be the elevation change as to the reason why I got a bloody nose. I laughed and will never forget that conversation we had back then.
Well, his office is right across the “medical room,” if you can call it that way. I talked to Eddie right after his Singapore trip last year. He said he enjoyed the visit a lot but the travel was long and exhausting. And we talked about Atlanta NCAAs. I was warned by his swimmers well ahead so I made sure I stand on his “good side.” 🙂 Eddie will talk to you like you have been friends for 50 years.
An Eddie’s National Champ breaststroker told me stories about his recruitment and Eddie’s in home visit, where Eddie talked mostly about hunting with his father and not about swimming at all. Eddie’s ex-swimmers often recommend local swimmers to Eddie to… Read more »
This would have had to have been when I was a freshman or 8th grade. It was at Indianapolis and I believe it was World Champ trials or Nationals. But I had a cap that was Aaron pearsall’s with his name on it. I got him to sign it and it was sitting in the printer room and someone stole it. Eddie Reese found out about it and had Ian Crocker, Aaron peirsol, and Brendan Hansen all signed the cap and it was the exact same cap that Aaron had warned that night when he broke the world record. Aaron and Eddie came up to me and talk to me and gave me the cap ask me questions about what… Read more »
I would love to know if he remembers that!?
I’m sure he does!
great story!
Lovely passionate story . We need more real stories like yours to be shared . It shows the beauty of the sport and the Greatness of some Coaches accessible .
We want Mel!
Coaching is 90% personality. Eddie has that and more. He’s also a great role model for his athletes.
Back in the early 90’s I attended a clinic outside of Philadelphia where Eddie was the featured coach. I remember him specifically commenting on my underwater kick, both complementing me on it but also suggesting improvements. It stuck with me through high school and college. My brief exposure to him provided a spark that I needed. Great teacher and communicator.
If coaching is really 90% personality, then any relatively nice person could do it. Except it is rarely done well, whether the coach is pleasant or surly. Reese is consistently great because he has a winning personality and an excellent program that he isn’t afraid to change.
Being “relatively nice” is a very shallow and totalitarian way to look at the personality traits that make a great coach, in my opinion.
I agree with you. Eddie has a charisma and “special something” that sets him apart. He had me hook, line and sinker the first time I met him. Very genuine. I can see why his guys want to work so hard for him. They want it more for him than they do for themselves.
For what it’s worth, Eddie had coached the two sprinters (presumably John Murray and Matt Ellis) to huge 50 free time drops in 2014, and both of them were in that 6-up 2015 100 fly final with huge time drops as well. They just didn’t have good 50s at 2015 NCAAs. I don’t think he’s ever satisfied with his own performance except in the rare moment when a guy has a huge breakout meet like Haas in 2016 or Licon in 2015, and even then he’s just happy he didn’t mess up their hard work.
WHO WOULD DARE QUESTION EDDIE RECCE GREATNESS
Eddie would, and probably Randy too.
Definitely Randy.
Who would dare question your spelling?