Jeff Pigg Named Head Track Coach at Illinois State
8/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
July 12, 2000
Normal, Ill. - Jeff Pigg has been named Illinois State's head cross country/track and field coach. Director of athletics Perk Weisenburger made the announcement.
Pigg formerly served as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Missouri.
The 1987 graduate of Florida began his coaching career at the high school level and now 14 years later is the recipient of his first head coaching job at the Division I level.
Needless to say the Rogersville, Mo., native is excited about the opportunity and the status of the program.
"I am thrilled to be coming to Illinois State. It really has the whole package ... a great community, a great university and a supportive and successful athletics department," Pigg said. "During my visit, I was really impressed with the quality of life in Bloomington-Normal. When I am recruiting, I need to be able to look a parent in the eye and tell them that this is a great place for their child. I really think it's an ideal place to go to school. I wouldn't have taken the job and I wouldn't have moved my family if I didn't believe that myself."
Weisenburger is also thrilled to have Pigg on campus.
"We are very excited to have a coach of Jeff Pigg's caliber join our coaching staff ranks here at Illinois State University and to lead the fortunes of our cross-country and track and field programs," Weisenburger said. "Jeff is very highly regarded and respected in his field and we feel very fortunate to have him as our new head coach for 6 very important sports. He has played a key role in building a very strong program at Missouri and we look forward to Jeff bringing that same successful attitude, work ethic and creativity to the position here at Illinois State.
"Jeff has outstanding qualities and values as both a head coach and as a person and it is those qualities that will help form the kinds of relationships with his student-athletes that we strongly encourage here at ISU. He is an outstanding recruiter, has impeccable integrity, is a very knowledgeable and proven coach and meet strategist as well as a devoted family man. He is strong in the area of academic accountability for his athletes and very importantly, his teams win. We are extremely happy he is now a Redbird."
Coughlan, who was an active member of the search committee, is comfortable handing the reins over to Pigg.
"I'm elated that Jeff Pigg is being named the new cross country and track and field coach at Illinois State," Coughlan said. "I've known Jeff as both an athlete and coach for the last 16 years. He is energetic, enthusiastic, exceptionally knowledgeable, a great recruiter and a hard worker."
Pigg shares in the same admiration toward Coughlan.
"Coach Coughlan is a legendary figure, not only at Illinois State, but across the country," Pigg said. "The state of the program is great. Sometimes you will see a long-time coach leave a program and the cupboard is almost bare. That's certainly not the case with Coach Coughlan. You can see how hard he has worked in recent years to maintain a high level of competitiveness."
Pigg spent the last 11 years at Missouri guiding the women's cross country team to the NCAA Championships in 1995-99 and the men's team in 1998 and 1999. Pigg was also named the NCAA Region V Cross Country Coach of the Year three years straight, from 1995-97.
Also at Missouri, Pigg coached two national champions, 24 all-Americans and three Region V cross country champions.
Prior to Missouri, Pigg returned to his alma mater and worked three years at Florida as the assistant coach. Pigg made his break into the profession in 1987-88, as the head coach at Gainesville High School.
As an athlete, Pigg earned All-Big Eight honors five times in his two years competing for Missouri. In 1985, he set a conference record in the 1,000-yard run and was an NCAA All-American in the event.
In 1986, he left Missouri to finish his collegiate career at Florida where he earned two all-America awards. In 1987, he ranked 10th nationally in the 1,500 meters, while finishing fourth at the Olympic Festival before competing at the World University Games in Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
Pigg inherits a squad that returns two NCAA all-Americans and 31 All-Valley selections. Coughlan believes that Pigg is a perfect fit for the athletes, the program and the institution.
"The athletes on the team will be overjoyed and will respond well to him," Coughlan added. "Illinois State, as a community, is getting somebody who will bring integrity, honesty and high values to this position."
