Colorado State University Athletics
Brian Bedard: Building A Legacy
5/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Some people spend their whole life trying to find their personal perfection. Everyone wants to attend the school that fits them the best, get a job that not only pays the bills but is worth the hours and live a wonderful life. Finding all of that can take people across the world and back, but for Brian Bedard, all he ever wanted he found at Colorado State University and the Fort Collins Community.
Bedard, the throwing coach for the CSU track and field team, began his career at CSU as an athlete and he is now approaching his 18th season as a dedicated Ram.
?I moved right into coaching after my college career,? he said. ?It was awkward coaching athletes I had just been teammates with, but I had been helping some of them out anyway so it wasn?t too bad.? Bedard was recruited by then coach Doug Max as a decathlete but he had other plans.
?My heart wasn?t into being a decathlete,? he said. ?I had a passion for discus, so I decided to walk on and do that. If I wasn?t good enough then that was fine, but that?s what I wanted to do.? Bedard starting throwing in junior high and that?s when he fell in love with the event. But if anyone were around to watch his first meet, they may have been very skeptical.
?I hadn?t had any coaching at all, so in my very first meet I threw it backwards.? Bedard refers to this as one of the most embarrassing things that has ever happened to him. But he accepted the challenge and with the help of his Dad they pursed to make the best out of the situation. ?We got books and studied how to do it right,? he said. ?My Dad chalked out a ring in the back and we both practiced doing turns back there. He was better at it then I was. I won every meet after that in Jr. High.?
The CSU throwing program is a far cry from where it was years ago. Last season alone the throwing core earned the number one ranking on The Throwers Page website, there were four Rams competing at the Olympic Trials, one of which made the Olympic team and another who won the gold medal in the NACAC Championship held in Canada. Bedard credits some of his success to the man that coached him his senior year in college.
?Ray Manzi shared the same appreciation I did, we watched a lot a film and he was very well read,? he said. Bedard was the conference runner up in the discus that season and also placed in the shot. ?We were terrible when I started coaching,? he said. ?We weren?t fully funded and we had a very small travel budget. But right now we?ve got a much better situation.? It was a long tough road. But Bedard was able to win over some of what are now CSU?s greatest athletes, to throw for the Rams. The first person to qualify for nationals under the Bedard era was Rob Upton. He helped pave the way for other CSU greats like Mattias Borrman, Olympian Casey Malone and All-American Shelly Borrman.
?I just believe that we as coaches should try to get the right kids,? he said. ?They have to believe in what we are doing and in themselves. We cannot coach athletes who don?t want to get it done. Fortunately, we?ve had athletes who can get it done and want to.? Bedard has coached 29 conference champions, 22 All-Americans and a national champion, so what more could he want?
?Conference titles on both the men and women?s side,? he said. ?I?m a realist, so when the women?s team thought they were going to win conference this past indoor season, I vividly was reminded of completely getting our butts kicked for 17 years. But now nothing surprises me.? If its after work hours Bedard goes home to be Daddy to his two girls, Kelcey and Baylee, with his wife Jill ?Johnson? Bedard. It?s his family and the love that he has for the community which will keep him in Ft. Collins.
?I?ve had a couple offers (to coach elsewhere) but not in places that I would want to raise my family,? he said. ?I love Colorado, the mountains, my wife and kids like it here, it?s definitely a special place.? It also helps that the CSU program is continuing to thrive and the support allows the throwing program to grow.
?If we?re not moving forward, we?re probably moving back,? he said. ?But we?ve got a staff that cares about their athletes, who can talk about more than track and lend a hand through the struggles. We?ve got a good team atmosphere with great opportunities in the future.? What?s next for the Rams? With Bedard and his loyalty to the program, track and field program has no choice but to continue to thrive. His past 17 years is proof that for those who are willing to work hard then the possibilities are truly limitless.
by Kartice Thomas
Media Relations Intern
