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This Interview was completed for educational purposes for the RMU Sport Coaching Course.
Biography
Heinonen joined the Oregon coaching staff in 1975. He served as an assistant while attending graduate school and then became the women’s head cross country and track and field coach the following year. He was promoted to full-time status in 1977.
Named PAC-10 Coach of the Year eight times.
Heinonen is the only NCAA women’s coach to win multiple national titles in outdoor track and field (1985) and cross country (1983, 1987)
How long have you been coaching overall?
47 years, 28 as a paid position with Oregon University as Head Female track coach.
What is your proudest moment or accomplishment as a coach?
Coach Heinonen stated that he recently was told that he coached “an NCAA champion and a collegiate record holder at 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, and 10,000m.” He states
“I had no idea I had even done that over the years, I was proud when I realized, hey that's right”
He also stated that having an athlete who he specifically coached while they qualified for the olympic team in 1992 was great. Lastly, “Winning the championship NCAA with all oregon natives was important in 1985”
What is your biggest regret of your coaching career?
“The biggest regret is not doing a better job with…coached only women for 28 years and those were in the early years of people figuring out eating disorders and I probably made about every mistake you could make about eating disorders along the way as people including me learned the dangers were and what to do and what not to do.”
“…I started in the late 1970s and I became aware of it and there was not a lot of information.”
Were there any moments in your career where you doubted yourself or questioned your ability to be a successful coach? How did you get through these times?
When I started coaching we had a lot of success. We were doing great up until those last 10 years of my time at Oregon. Had difficulty with recruiting, as collegiate athletics became more serious.
There was more money available in coaching sports and men coaches were jumping into it with different qualifications, more cut throat attitudes. As well as the change into a combination coaching staff for men and women.
Made being a coach more challenging as most assumed women were to be treated like men from a coaching standpoint. Lance Harter is one of the last Head coaches of a women’s separate program at Arkansas.
Tom began to state that he believes it's the difference between Apples and oranges of men and women athletes or even apples and grapes. The approach should be different and men approach training differently than women.
Who is a coach that you admire and respect? How have they shaped your coaching style and philosophy?
Tom came from a time period where he was the man to admire and respect, while he did not state that he had a hard time picking a coach he admired because of how different his approach was in his time period. He then states this.
I admire the work of Jack Daniels, he created the Daniels running formula. He is a researcher—able to make things easy to understand..really get the physiology of distance running. Gives people a method to train. He is Straight forward, if an athlete asks can I take off what would happen he would explain well one day off is this much time lost in your training approach and it takes one more extra day to get back
Tom’s Coaching Philosophy:
As a women's distance coach, you better tell them to do something that is carefully thought out, because they will do as you say. A lot of the women he coached try to appease the coach and will do what it takes to complete the training asked of them. He stated that in the 80s a sport psychologist told him that boys are raised to achieve and girls are raised to please. He stated while this is changing and women have more confidence in their opportunities, he still sees it in his coaching. He stated that boys will take what the coach says and decide if they think it will help them achieve and avoid doing what they don’t want to or think is helpful, where a lot of female athletes are eager to do what they are told and become successful in that manner. He stated the plethora of walk-on male athletes at bigger schools like Oregon who have the mindset that they can achieve greatness even if they have no scholarship, whereas female athletes will find a college where they get a realistic amount of money and are at the level of success. He stated how many of the guys he has come to the club think they can make it to OU’s collegiate team now.
Do you think this is a result of men always having the opportunity to succeed in athletics, whereas women are more new and have to be more realistic in their approach?
Tom mentioned how people like Sedona Prince are changing the game by adding controversy and not settling with the opportunities women are given (march madness 2021). Tom states that women’s collegiate sports have changed so much and he is excited to see women become more visible in athletics.
Do you associate success more with winning and the team's record or with team morale, team member growth and building positive relationships?
Tom: I see in distance running that if one person runs fast they all run fast, it's like a snowball effect. The athletes think oh well if we are training the same and they are hitting this time then I can also do that and they push each other.
I think you can learn more from losing then winning, winning is a reinforcement that the training is working, but not an opportunity to improve and learn
Stated that a basketball coach he knew from canada said “When you don't get what you want, you get experience”
Noticed that male athletes externalize losing, and internalized winning
I lost because my shoes were untied and I won because I trained hard and am skilled
Women athletes externalize winning, and internalized losing
They thank coaches, luck, or team culture as a result of winning
Losing can be really detrimental to the mindset, they lost and it's all their fault
What do you feel is the most challenging part about coaching?
“As a coach of female athletes, keeping my mouth shut and being careful with words”
I learned more so in last 10 years to never talk about athlete’s appearance and if you tell one athlete something about another, they will hear a version of that message you may not have meant
essentially be careful with your words
Do you think it's important to have emotional intelligence and understanding of sport psych?
I had access to one sport psychology in 1970 and there was not much to the class, I remember our professor told us the KISS principle: “Keep it Simple Stupid”, that was later changed to keep it sweet & simple.
Even that change shows how much we have changed with how we use our words. I think it's important for coaches to know beyond the Xs and Os. I still am learning words and psychology today.
What is the most rewarding thing about coaching?
“Seeing athletes perform well and race fast”
I loved watching people grow up and improve, see them learn leadership and job skills… become adults
I think a lot of my athletes at Oregon came in as pretty developed adults, but watching them polish into great people was amazing.
I find it funny because now that I’m with boys and girls at the running club I am shocked at how immature some of these freshman boys coming in are. I have to help the boys learn manners, like telling boys “hey you can’t just spit there” and they listen, because you know I'm older and experienced. I think they take a bit more work, but do grow up.
As well as watching the stage of women's sports change
What is the best way to deal with an athlete’s poor performance?
Try to find the positive in the performance
Don't say a lot, let them cool off. With the nature of track sometimes you don't have a chance to reach an athlete right after the race because something else is going on so just taking time and then talking when emotions are lower.
I really want athletes to brush it off don’t take the bad performances too seriously, and begin to focus on future
Do you believe you and other coaches are responsible for your athletes’ lives outside of sports?
Stated he never dealt with serious personal life issues, maybe a few bounced checks
I was never super involved in the personal lives of the women
I had simple “Rules of Training”,
You are a public person and your actions are expected to create good will for the university of Oregon at all times.
If I did come upon na situation where something more serious I would intervene if it would do some good probably suggest the right resources, if eating disorders or a psychologist
How can you as a coach help athletes handle mental blocks?
I like to say positive self talk
Different strategy, so they don't get in a situation again maybe at the end of the race where they struggled
Tell them that “I’m seeing them be successful, I want them to see it too”
Important to believe in your training, it knows what it's doing
Put them in a situation where they can succeed, a more modest goal
“I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think you could do it”
Is there anything else you would like to share about a career in coaching?
How important is team culture in an individual sport like track and field
Power in the training group, can be lonely all alone training
Athletes who have similar performance times stick closer
Every Tuesday at 730 i go meet a group of adult men runners at high school, having fun while running. Add to that by making the workouts more competitive.
Give power to the group. Who is gonna pop off, whisper to one athlete and make them think something is about to happen and they start getting more competitive
Training is easier when fun
Smiling a lot more when I was in the coaching club, fun for me because the pressure of success was taken away. All these people enjoy running and are here for that reason
If it's not fun they are not gonna come to the club, I exude joy and happiness it spreads
I talk to every person by name, feel a sense of belonging
These athletes usually come from classes of 200 some students and may not have heard their name since they left their dorm that morning