Legendary IU track and field coach Sam Bell has died at the age of 88.
Bell had great success coaching the Hoosiers for 29 years, from 1970 to 1998. Under his tenure, IU won 23 men's Big Ten titles and four women's conference titles in cross country and track and field. His teams placed in the top-ten at the NCAA Championships 18 times in his 29 years at IU.
Current coach Ron Helmer remembered Bell as a demanding, yet caring coach who just wanted the best for his athletes.
“When I got to IU, I saw a large number of his former athletes had a great level of care for Coach Bell and great memories of the years they spent with him,” Helmer said. “They realized that in doing the things he did for them and making the demands that he did, he was expressing a great level of care for them and concern for their families, welfares and futures.”
Two-time Olympian Bob Kennedy ran under Bell at IU and remembered him fondly.
"Through most people's eyes, Coach Bell was a phenomenal track and field coach, but it was more than that," Kennedy said in a release. "He used coaching as a vehicle to teach young men and women how to be a better human being. He was a gigantically positive influence on so many people's lives."
Bell cared about his athletes so much that he kept notes on each one and gave it to them after every meet. Helmer said there’s a whole bookshelf of these notes.
“More often than not he called them out,” Helmer said. “He challenged them. Those guys didn’t like it, but a lot of them took it to heart. Those are some of the things the alumni talk about."
Olympian Terry Brahm remembered those times when Bell would help him instruct him, especially after races.
"The beauty of IU is it is filled with great professors, wonderful people and great teachers," Brahm said in a release. "Sam Bell was the best. He had a rare combination of high expectations and compassion for each student-athlete. The compassion often gets forgotten with Coach. He held such high expectations for each athlete, but was most concerned with the effort we put forward."
Bell and Helmer’s relationship wasn’t always friendly as Bell always had his own idea about how to run the program, even after he was retired.
“He came in several times to tell me what I was doing wrong,” Helmer said. “Yet I view those interactions as nothing more than the kinds of interactions he had with his athletes. He obviously cared about the program and needed to communicate important things to me. We both had the same mission – we both wanted the best for IU track and field.”
Bell continued coming to as many home meets as possible when he was healthy, showing a concern for how the program was doing.
Helmer said Bell wasn’t just there as a former coach but as a fan of IU and the kids.
Bell was inducted into the U.S Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000. He was inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
