The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

Part 2 of our fireside chat with Randy Huntington goes deeper than technique and medals. This is a conversation about legacy, empathy, curiosity, and what it really means to coach—especially when the next phase of life begins.

Randy reflects on his time in China, the isolation and growth that came with it, and how those experiences reshaped how he thinks about athletes, coaches, and the profession itself. We talk about the danger of losing the big rocks while chasing details, why simplicity is often the highest form of mastery, and why great coaches learn to say less, not more.

This episode is also about transition—moving from coaching athletes to coaching coaches, from chasing outcomes to shaping people. Randy shares powerful stories about independence in athletes, emotional control in competition, and why fundamentals are still missing at the highest levels of the sport.

Along the way, we dive into:

* The loneliness and cultural stimulation of coaching abroad 🌏

* Why curiosity across sports (dance, volleyball, medicine) matters 🧠

* The “big rocks” philosophy—and why basics still win 🪨

* Coaching cues, communication, and becoming a chameleon 🎯

* Retirement not as an ending, but a redirection 🔄

* Honoring the giants of the sport—and preserving their stories 📖

This isn’t an episode about how to jump farther or run faster.

It’s an episode about why coaching matters, how influence lasts far beyond PRs, and why the next generation of coaches needs voices like Randy’s—now more than ever.

“The big rocks are still the big rocks. The only thing that’s changed is we can measure them better.”

— Randy Huntington

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