Legendary Princeton University men's track & field coach Fred Samara is retiring after a remarkable 46-year career, the school announced in a press release on Tuesday morning.
Here is the press releases from Princeton University -
The day that fans of Princeton Athletics, and especially Tiger track and field alums over six decades, knew was coming but have dreaded anyway has finally arrived. Fred Samara is retiring after 46 seasons as the William M. Weaver Jr. '34 Head Coach of Men's Track & Field at Princeton University.
As much a part of the foundation of Princeton track and field as the Weaver Stadium running lanes themselves, the 73-year-old Samara has led the Tigers in multiple ways since 1977. Since then, he has coached his team to 51 Heptagonal team and 502 individual championships. He also coached 10 different Princeton Tigers to nine NCAA championships and guided six of his athletes to the Olympics.
In 2017, Samara was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame, a candidacy bolstered by 18 career USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honors.
Samara, an Olympic decathlete himself in 1976, has coached more athletes and won more championships than any other coach in Princeton history. His legacy will be the combination of excelling both as a winning coach and an educator of the highest order.
"Words can't adequately describe the level of excellence that Coach Samara has displayed during his 46 years at Princeton," said Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack '00. "His championship success as a competitor is unrivaled in the history of the Ivy League, and his competitive fire is matched only by his passion for the student-athletes that he has coached. Coach has a unique gift for making track and field a team sport in a way that does not happen at other schools, as evidenced by the nearly five decades of dominance his teams have established in the sport. Coach has been a mentor to countless other coaches in the department, and his impact on the Princeton University community will be felt for generations to come."
A 13-time Ivy League Coach of the Year - eight from his work during the indoor season and five during outdoors - Samara has coached 101 NCAA All-Americans.
The 2021-22 season was perhaps the finest of Samara's tenure. Princeton finished fifth as a team at the NCAA Indoor Championships and took seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, each a program-record finish at NCAAs. After setting a new Outdoor Heps record with 231 team points scored at the Ivy meet, Samara's team had won 22 Heps titles in 2022. Over the course of the two national championship meets that season, Samara coached 15 Tigers to All-American honors, including a pair of NCAA championships in the pole vault.
"As Bob Hope once sang, 'thanks for the memories', and that rings true today," Samara said. "As I reflect upon my 46-year career at Princeton my mind recalls the so many wonderful student-athletes I have coached and the many talented colleagues I have had the pleasure to work with. As an Ivy League lifer, first as an undergraduate at Penn, followed by my tenure at Princeton, I firmly believe in the Ivy League ideal and what it stands for. I am very proud of Princeton Track and Field's record of accomplishment, and I am equally as proud of what our student-athletes go on to accomplish after they leave 'Old Nassau'. Thanks go out to the Friends of Princeton Track and Field and the countless ways they have supported our student-athletes and the coaching staff. Finally, thanks to Sam Howell for hiring me and Larry Ellis for being my mentor as well as Athletic Directors Bob Myslik '61, Gary Walters '67, Mollie Marcoux Samaan '91 and John Mack '00 for supporting me and the program at the highest level."
Samara was the nation's top-ranked high school decathlete in 1969 at Fort Hamilton High in Brooklyn. He competed collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time All-American in sprints, long jump, pole vault and the decathlon before graduating in 1973 and earning a place in the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. He won the U.S. AAU decathlon and finished fifth at the World Championships in 1973, ranking No. 9 in the world in the decathlon in 1974 and No. 6 in 1975 while serving as captain of Team USA which set a world record at the US vs. USSR meet..
In 1976, Samara competed in Montreal on the U.S. Olympic team.
Samara would also represent the United States as a coach at multiple international events during his coaching career, including stints as an assistant at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as well as the 1987 World Championships, and serving as head coach at the 1995 Pan-American Games.
Samara also helped to develop the historic USA/Visa Decathlon Program with renowned Coach Harry Marra. The Visa Program was tremendously successful, producing numerous Olympic and World Championship gold medals, as well as individual world and team records.
"Fred Samara changed the culture of the Princeton Track and Field program from a focus on individual success to a positive team ethos that also bred amazing individual performances, transforming the team from an also-ran to a perennial Heps favorite," said Craig Masback '77, Princeton Track and Field alum and former CEO of USA Track and Field. "Filling the large shoes of Larry Ellis, he brought the team to national prominence and global respect, with his emphasis on integrity, quiet dignity, and excellence. All of us who love Princeton Track and Field owe him a huge debt of gratitude."
Samara's coaching career began at Princeton under another legendary coach, Larry Ellis. His first day at Princeton was also the first day for Peter Farrell, who would coach alongside Samara for 39 years as the head coach of the women's program.
Over the last 35 years, Samara is the only coach in Ivy League to win the Heps "Triple Crown" by winning cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field in the same calendar year. While no other Ivy men's coach has ever done it over that span, Samara remarkably did it 10 times.
A national search for his successor will begin immediately.