Coach Joe Newton, called Mr. Newton by the thousands of boys he has coached at York for over 50 years, has won 26 state cross country titles. His boys teams at the suburban Chicago school have grown to now include over 200 members. An author of training and coaching books, in 1988 Newton was the first high school coach asked to help coach the US Olympic team.

It’s not often you feel like you’re in the presence of a living, fire-breathing legend.

Tuesday night I attended a coaching clinic put on by Nike in their Los Angeles office and heard a speech from York cross country coach Joe Newton. At 81 years of age the man had complete command of the room filled – standing room only – with about 400 SoCal high school coaches and Nike employees. When he wanted us to laugh, we laughed. When he wanted us silent, we were silent. Essentially, he did whatever the hell he wanted to do - mostly telling stories aimed at getting his audience fired up about coaching, teaching or whatever else we’re doing with our lives.

The man is a dynamo, a force. There’s no other way to describe it. He could have had the whole room stand on their heads in about 5 seconds if that’s what he wanted. His speech was more like a magical performance than anything else.

But his performance is more than smoke and mirror

Read more: http://www.letsrun.com/2010/newton0225.php#ixzz0ggQCtLgD