Don’t expect Stanley Redwine to get caught up in the opening ceremonies, worldwide attention and other hoopla surrounding the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

“Maybe I need to learn French, but I don’t know,” joked Redwine, the University of Kansas head track and field coach who was chosen head coach of the U.S. men’s track and field team for the Olympics.

“I think from my perspective, those things are not important. What’s important to me is to help the athletes achieve their goal. We’re there to serve the athletes from the United States.”

Redwine said he felt “more honored than I am surprised” when the USA Track & Field organization chose him, probably because he had served as assistant coach during the 2020 Tokyo games, which were actually held in 2021 due to the pandemic.

“It’s something my peers felt like I deserve, so from that perspective, I thank God for it.”

Redwine has enjoyed a long and decorated career as an athlete and coach. A Dallas native, Redwine competed at the University of Arkansas under its legendary coach John McConnell. Running the 400-, 600- and 800-meter races, Redwine was a four-time All-American and the Razorbacks’ Outstanding Track Athlete from 1980–83.

He became an assistant at Arkansas, helping them to nine consecutive NCAA championships and a combined 22 titles in both track and field and cross-country. Meanwhile, he competed professionally, winning medals at the Goodwill Games (1986 and 1994) and Pan American Games (1983 and 1987) and qualifying for five straight U.S. Olympic Trails from 1980 to 1996.

Redwine became the University of Tulsa’s head coach in 1994 and was lured to KU after six years. Twenty-four years later, he is the longest-tenured coach in school history. He and his wife, Jacqueline, have three children: Crysta, Stanley Jr. and Alexa.

Redwine, who earned a degree in business management in Fayetteville, said he knew coaching was in his future while still a college student.

“My mentor at the time — Coach McConnell at the University of Arkansas — I really appreciated the things he did for me as a coach. It’s a way of giving back for what was done for me.”

Redwine, a five-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, has shown the same kind of skill in developing athletes. He’s coached 20 individual champions, 240 All-Americans and 12 Olympians while at KU. Redwine, who also coaches the school’s women’s team, led it to a national outdoor title in 2013, the first women’s title team in KU history.

This year’s U.S. team was to be chosen during the Olympic Trials, held last month in Eugene, Oregon. Track and field is different from many sports in that, at the elite level, most athletes train with personal coaches. But Redwine, who will have a staff of five in Paris, said there’s still a role for team coaches.

“Track and field is a team event. But it’s individuals that make up the team. Every individual will be motivated differently, but as a team you say, ‘Hey, this is a goal.’ ”

Tim Weaver, former Kansas Relays meet director and a good friend of Redwine, will be the team’s event manager. One Jayhawk, middle distance runner Michael Joseph, will represent his home country of St. Lucia in Paris, and a couple of former KU athletes were hoping to qualify for the U.S. team during last month’s trials.

The U.S. team has collected the most track and field events in each of the modern Olympic Games. Redwine is aware of the expectations. 

“No one should take anything for granted, but we want to do our best.”