When coach Bubba Thornton announced his retirement as Texas Men’s Track and Field coach after 18 seasons, the University of Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds did not have to look far to choose the right person to replace him. On Thursday, Mario Sategna was promoted to head coach of the newly-formed men’s and women’s Track and Field program.
Coach Sategna just finished coaching at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but was eager to get started as the new head coach at Texas.
“It’s been known for a long time that the University of Texas is always where I’ve wanted to be,” coach Sategna said.
Sategna has spent the last 10 seasons as the associate head coach of the [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] men’s program and has coached numerous National Champions and Olympians. Athletes like Ryan Crouser, Marquise Goodwin, Trey Hardee, Johannes Hock, Donovan Kilmartin, Andra Manson, and Maston Wallace have all won NCAA titles under Sategna’s coaching and supervision.
Recently he helped Texas Football star Marquise Goodwin win the long jump at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and finish 10th at the London Olympics.
Coach Sategna knows that replacing Bubba Thornton will be a challenge, but is confident that he is the right man to lead the Texas Track and Field program to new heights.
“We’re in a great spot right now with the men’s and women’s teams,” Sategna said. “My job would be even harder than it is right now if I was coming in trying to rebuild a program. We’re there right now. We’re looking to reload upon that and take this thing to the next level. And that’s to bring home some National Championships.”
Sategna wasted no time in making his first hire as head coach. On Wednesday afternoon former Illinois women’s head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey was named associate head coach of the Texas Track and Field program. Buford-Bailey has spent 10 seasons at the University of Illinois.
Buford-Bailey also spent the last three seasons coaching the men’s sprinters.
She coached 13 All-Americans on the women’s team this season at Illinois. Coach Sategna also announced that Buford-Bailey will oversee the sprint hurdles and relays for both the men’s and women’s program at Texas.
“I can’t say enough about Tonja,” Sategna said. “She’s a proven winner at the highest level. She’s a former Olympic medalist back in 1996 in the hurdles.”
Mario Sategna wants to make sure that he doesn’t change too much in the already successful Texas program, but to build upon the foundation.
“We don’t ever want to get away from the things that have made us great,” Sategna said. “We just need to add to those so that we can not just be vying for conference titles or being in the Top 10 or Top 5, but we have to make sure we’re pushing the limit to try to win a National title.”
Texas swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles in 2013 for the third time in school history. Mario Sategna was a big part of that title after coaching Johannes Hock to wins in the heptathlon indoors and the decathlon outdoors. Hayden Baillio captured the shot put title at the Big 12 Indoor Championships and Ryan Crouser won the shot put at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships with a school-record toss (formerly held by ex-Longhorn football player Brian Robison) of 69- 1/2.
Sategna has been on staff for seven Big 12 Championships and his athletes have earned 65 All-American honors.
Do you think Mario Sategna will have success as Texas’ new head Track and Field coach?
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