The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Flo Knows
07.29.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
How tenacity, vision, relentless attention to detail and trust are keys to Edrick Floréal’s coaching success.
When track & field events get underway at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo on Friday, Texas Track & Field head coach Edrick Floréal will be in familiar territory. A two-time Olympian, representing Canada in the triple jump in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the long jump in 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and an assistant coach with the United States at the 2012 London Olympics, Floréal will be in Tokyo alongside seven athletes who train with him in Austin, including five current and former Longhorn All-Americans.
The Longhorn contingent will include a long jumper in both the women's and men's competitions, with two-time NCAA Champion and Bowerman Award finalist Tara Davis and All-American and Big 12 Champion Steffin McCarter each making their Olympic debuts this weekend.
"Coach Flo really knows what he's doing, and it's kind of crazy because he'd tell us, 'Both of y'all are going to be Olympians,'" McCarter said following his bronze-medal performance at the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials in June. "We're both looking at him like, 'Okay, that's a very long time from now.' He wasn't saying this at the beginning of last week (prior to the Trials), he was saying this last year or years ago. For that to come true, he really knew how to prepare us and get us ready for this moment. He's amazing, I'm so grateful to have him as a coach. It's amazing to have both of us make this team; I can't express how good that feels."
Guided by his own career successes and setbacks, Floréal strives to help his athletes achieve the best version of themselves, both as athletes and individuals. Coach Flo designs workouts and training sessions to challenge the individual and show them what they are capable of, while also closely monitoring their techniques and style to determine where any improvements can be made.
"Coach Flo is very technical; he works on the smallest details," Davis noted. "That's what makes him stand out from other coaches, because everyone looks at the bigger picture instead of looking at the smallest detail that could make you go point-two seconds faster than what you could have ever done or go further in the long jump. He's so meticulous with every little thing that we do."
It is this attention to detail that has paid dividends for American athletes in the Olympic Games.
As Team USA's jumps and multi-events coach at the 2012 Olympic Games, Floréal helped Americans capture six medals, including two gold. Ashton Eaton and Texas great Trey Hardee finished 1-2 in the men's decathlon, while Christian Taylor captured gold and Will Claye followed with a silver medal in the men's triple jump. Claye also won bronze in the long jump, while Erik Kynard took silver in the high jump under Floréal's guidance.
This year, Floréal helped Davis' resurgence into the upper echelon of long jumpers after battling through two years of injuries, self-doubt and struggles with mental health. Davis set the women's indoor collegiate record with an NCAA title-winning jump of 6.93m/22-9 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, then two weeks later broke Jackie Joyner-Kersee's 36-year-old outdoor collegiate record, surpassing seven meters with a mark of 7.14m/23-5.25 at the Texas Relays.
"He battled everything with me and has been right by my side through my lows," Davis said. "He was always supportive with everything I did and all my decisions. He truly wanted the best for me and did everything in his power to get me to where I am today."
Floréal's knowledge of track & field, as well as his ability to connect on a personal level with athletes are key factors to his coaching success.
Longhorn All-American Jonathan Jones, who holds the school record in the 400m and will compete for Barbados in Tokyo, agrees with Davis' assessment of Floréal. As a freshman at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Bajan sprinter finished fourth in the men's 400m final with a then-national-record time of 44.64 seconds, the first Barbadian to run under 45 seconds in the event. Six weeks later he did it again, improving his national record to 44.63 with a second-place finish in the Anniversary Games, a Diamond League meet at London Stadium in Great Britain that Floréal helped him enter.
"Flo is very good at finding out what different people respond to, and he knows what he needs to do for each individual," Jones said. "I respond well when a coach is aggressive and vocal, but others might need a kind word or a quick shout of their name to help them regain their focus. Off the track, we have talks just about situations that are going on in my life. He would talk to me, not just as a coach, but as a father figure. With my track career, he's opened doors for me – I ran in Diamond League as a freshman. Just being able to do that and have those opportunities because Flo is my coach and I have the talent for it, I'm very grateful for that."
The bonds Floréal builds with his athletes forge the trust they have in him that he is looking out for their best interests. While they may question parts of the training plan he builds for them, they know in the end they are a proven recipe for success.
Among Coach Flo's athletes competing in Tokyo will be Texas volunteer assistant coach and women's 100m hurdles world record holder Kenda (Keni) Harrison, who claimed her spot on Team USA with a win at the U.S. Trials. She began training with Floréal while he was the head coach at Kentucky, where she was the NCAA Champion in the 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles in 2015 and a finalist for the Bowerman Award and the 2015 USTFCCCA National Track Athlete of the Year. With Floréal as her coach, Harrison broke the 100m hurdles world record (12.20) in the London Diamond League meet in July 2016.
"Coach Flo and I have the same personality," Harrison said. "We both like to work hard, we like to perfect our craft, and just the fact that he's so nit-picky about my technique, I think that's why I'm so successful. We drill so much with my lead-leg, trail-leg, making sure everything is where it needs to be. With Coach Flo, he's never satisfied, so neither am I. I'm always trying to find ways to listen to him and make sure I'm putting in everything that I need to do so that I do stay successful. But overall, me and Coach Flo have the same personality."
Another pair of volunteer assistant coaches, Texas Ex Teahna Daniels and Jenna Prandini, make up half of the six entries for Team USA in the women's 100m and 200m, with Prandini competing in both events and Daniels making her Olympic debut in the 100m. Both will also take part in the women's 4x100m squad.
"Coach Flo has done amazing things for many athletes, including myself, so keeping my confidence and faith in him, and God and myself, as well, those are the three things for me right now," Daniels said following the U.S. Olympic Trials. "To be on the U.S. Olympic team is special because it is one of the hardest teams to make in the world. We have some of the stiffest competition, so to be considered one of the best in the world is great."
Rounding out the Floréal cohort in Tokyo will be Stacey Ann Williams, who qualified for the Jamaican 4x400m team. An All-American in the 400m and 4x400m as a freshman, Williams finished fourth in the 400m at the Jamaican Trials to earn a relay spot. She posted a personal-best time of 50.14 (fifth-fastest in UT history) in the final, and after clocking a 50.84 in the prelims, which was the third-fastest time heading into the final, Williams had registered two of her top-three career times in the 400m.
Upon his introduction as head coach for the Texas Track & Field squads, Floréal noted that among his primary tasks was to help student-athletes establish goals and benchmarks and to do what he could to help them attain the objectives they have created with one another.
"My job is to provide great coaching, great development and to help kids believe they can reach personal heights they never dreamed of, so we can build on all of the great success that Texas Track and Field has had for many years," Floréal said.
It is a sentiment that has carried over from the collegiate ranks to the pros and on to the Olympic Games.
Players Mentioned
