It is a new era in Illinois. 

This is one of the things that new Illinois women’s track and field head coach Ron Garner would like Illini fans to remember. Garner returned to Illinois last week, 15 years after he had been an assistant coach here. School is out of session, so there isn’t much pomp and circumstance surrounding his arrival here at the University, but you can’t mistake that for a lack of interest. 

The program has been on an uptick in recent years, returning to past glory. Garner follows two impressive predecessors as the head women’s track coach. He inherits the Big Ten indoor champion squad from the preceding year, a team that includes the reigning Illinois female athlete of the year and female newcomer of the year, but Garner doesn’t believe there is any burden to live up to.

“I don’t think there is any additional pressure,” Garner said. “I think Tonja (Buford-Bailey) is Tonja, Ron Garner is Ron Garner and Gary Winckler is Gary Winckler. Both the previous head coaches had achieved at a high level and fortunately, I was a part of that. I don’t think there is any more pressure than what you put on yourself. The standards are going to be high because Illinois competes at the highest level, but we still have to improve.”

Garner brings approximately three decades of coaching experience to Illinois. His career has seen him make eight coaching stops at six institutions. This wealth of experience is what he will look to employ in the years to come. One of the tasks he will have to accomplish as head coach is recruiting marquee high school prospects to join the Illini, despite the Midwest’s shortcomings in regards to the weather. The climate is a big part of outdoor track and field, but Garner believes he can overcome that hurdle.

“Don’t compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges,” Garner said. “We’ll go out and recruit the best athletes in the country (who are) excellent students. We are not going to compare to other Big Ten schools; we want to be University of Illinois. The balance between the education that you receive here, and our athletic pursuits are different than other places. Our team allocation might change over time, but we’ll go after the best kids in the country. We might lose some; we might lose a lot, but the ones we get will get it done.”

Ron Garner’s first stint at the University was as an assistant coach to then-head coach Gary Winckler, from 1991-1998. To add some perspective, a young Tonja Buford-Bailey was named an All-American 10 times, won 25 Big Ten titles and was a national champion during the early part of that spell. She went on to be an Olympian several times, eventually coaching the Illinois team and creating Olympians of her own. In that large time span, Garner was part of the success of four other athletic programs, including being named the head coach at his alma mater Clemson University. The 15 years in his absence from the University have brought marked changes to Illinois, but there is one key ingredient that has remained constant.

“There have been improvements in facilities here,” Garner said. “I know that track is down the road of the next phase in development. There is a different administration with different objectives and different goals. The university is no different as an institution than it was before. It has tremendous resources, excellent faculty members and a world renowned institution. That part is still the same.”

As far as school success goes, Garner wants to see prosperity for all Illinois athletic programs. He feels that each programs’ success can only bolster a winning culture and ultimately elevate the University of Illinois. For some reason or another, Garner has developed some personal favorites amongst the Illinois programs.

“I want all programs to do well,” Garner said. “My wife played volleyball here, so I want them to do well. Soccer was just getting started the year before I left, and coach Rayfield has had a tremendous amount of success. I have two daughters who play softball, so that is also on my watchlist.”

Garner’s tenure begins immediately with the head coach being thrown straight into the mix of things. Sprinters Ashley Spencer and Morolake Akinosun are preparing for the World Championships and World Junior Championships, respectively. He will have to do what he can to prepare them for success at the competitions they will be attending in August. 

Lanre can be reached at [email protected].