Sam Adams, passed away yesterday. Sam was a long time Track and Field coach at UCSB. I first met Sam when I
walked out to the track in early July of 1968 and told him that Red Estes had recommended that I see him because if I wanted to be a good track coach I should train for the decathlon AND THE DECATHLON WAS HIS THING, IN FACT THE DECATHLON WAS SAM. To his credit he did not think I was nuts, in fact he encouraged me and then coached me during the time I competed in the decathlon. I was barely competitive, but Sam coached me the same way he coached the international class athletes. Who else would drag and water the track in the middle of the summer so a 5800 point decathlete could do a workout. He valued every athlete. He was positive, a man of few words, but when he spoke it was with wisdom. I appreciate Sam a lot more now than I did then. I really do not think I understood when I was younger how much he contributed to my development as a coach. Seldom have I ever seen a person do so much for so many athletes, with little or no recognition and compensation. He was a tireless promoter of the decathlon, in fact I would attribute our success in the event over the past 40 years to his efforts to develop the event both by coaching athletes and developing coaches. Sam you will be missed.
