Melvin "Mel" Rosen (March 24, 1928 – March 25, 2018) was an American

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

coach. He was head coach of the

Auburn University Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

track team for 28 years, from 1963 to 1991, during which time the team won four consecutive

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) Indoor Track & Field Championships, from 1977 to 1980, and an outdoor track and field championship in 1979.

Early life

Rosen was Jewish, was born in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

, and grew up in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, where he was a

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

, in 1950.

Coaching career

Rosen then coached at University of Iowa as an assistant for three years, while earning a master's degree and beginning work on a doctorate which he then continued to study for at Auburn. In addition, he served two years in the Army at

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees ...

, where he was track coach for the post. Rosen joined Auburn in 1955, as an assistant professor in the university's physical education department, and as an assistant track coach. He was in charge of the school's distance and relay teams until 1964, when he became head coach. In 1978, Rosen was named the SEC and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Coach of the Year, in both indoor and outdoor competition. That year his team placed second at the SEC outdoor, fifth at the NCAA outdoor, first at the SEC indoor, and second at the NCAA indoor meets. His teams finished in the top ten at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships for four consecutive years (1976–79). He was again named NCAA Indoor Coach of the Year in 1980, and SEC Indoor Coach of the Year in 1985. During his coaching career he coached 7 Olympians and 143

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

ns. After the 1991 season, he left as Auburn's track coach to become head coach of the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Track Team. He had been assistant coach for the 1984 Olympic Team, and head coach of the 1987 Outdoor World Championships team. Rosen was

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

men's track & field committee chairman. He was President of the track coaches association from 1978–79. To honor him and another former track coach, Auburn renamed its new track and field complex

Hutsell-Rosen Track Hutsell-Rosen Track (originally named Wilbur Hutsell Track) is an outdoor track and field facility located in Auburn, Alabama on the campus of Auburn University. It is the official outdoor track and field facility for the Auburn Tigers track and fi ...

in 2006.

Awards and inductions

Rosen was inducted as a member of the

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame ...

in 1993, and was inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1995. He was inducted as a member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2004, he was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around ...

References

External links

''Practical Coaching Techniques''
by Mel Rosen, Championship Books & Video Productions, 1981, , {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Mel 1928 births 2018 deaths Track and field athletes from Iowa American track and field coaches Auburn Tigers track and field coaches Auburn University alumni Auburn University faculty Iowa Hawkeyes men's track and field athletes College men's track and field athletes in the United States College track and field coaches in the United States Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from the Bronx Jewish American sportspeople American male middle-distance runners Sports coaches from Alabama Sports coaches from Iowa Track and field athletes from New York City 21st-century American Jews