Track & Field Report: Pat Henry recaps his 18th season at Texas A&M

Texas A&M's 2022-23 sports season officially wrapped up after Pat Henry and the Aggies competed at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The legendary coach looks back on A&M's showing at the meet and the overall track year.

Key notes from Pat Henry interview

• I’m always in a good mood. People don’t always think that. I'm pleased with how the women competed, even on the men’s side. This group continued to get better and they did this weekend. The NCAA Outdoors is elite. People think well they got fifth but there were 137 or 138 schools there. You're never pleased as a coach if you don't win but in reality, it doesn't always happen. This team met their potential and that’s what I needed them to do. 
   
• We had a good year. We weren't able to compete at home this year. You can't create that enthusiasm on the road. This group found their niche. It was tough on them this year. It is a big loss not to compete in front of the 12th Man.
   
• Look at the 100-meter. There were seven men that ran under 10 seconds. A couple of years ago there was nobody. The sport continues to advance. 
   
• Athletes are getting better. Technology is getting better. The shoes are getting better. Some shoes are banned now because they are too much of an advantage. 
   
• This is my 50th year of coaching. I had some athletes 40 years ago that I wish I had in the environment we have now. We have learned more about what makes the body work better and more efficient. It is the little things that add up. We had one left out of the 100m final by one 1000th of a second. Years ago we did not time that way, and she might have made the final. 
   
• For young people, it is not a good thing to specialize young. The better athlete you are the better you are going to be at the sport you choose. I hope our men and women are playing other sports to make them better athletes so they can compete year-round. I think competition is probably as important as another sport. You can’t compete year-round in one sport.
   
• I have had three or four that want to get going right now. We need to rest our brain as much as the physical part. I want them to do nothing for a few days. We’ll get back to doing drills and flexibility work and go to the weight room. The last few weeks we weren’t in the weight room except for a few people, Mario Sategna and some of the staff will take them into the weight room. The jumpers will do some explosive work. You are firing your system to do a ballistic event.
   
• I think we had five or six top-10 or 12 efforts ever for A&M athletes. We were trying to get the best out of ourselves and the majority did. Lamara Distin got beat in the high jump, and she hasn’t been beaten in three years. If you aren’t on, someone will be on and someone will beat you. She has more time. Sometimes getting beat helps in the long run.
   
• It is a reality today in sports to lose people. The portal and moving of athletes I think is a poor thing. We’ll lose one or two and gain one or two from it. 
   
• That partnership between me and the football coaches, we have known each other for a long time. He is able to trust me and the way I train and compete. That connection between the two sports is a positive. If you are going to the league they want to know how fast you run. Like Devon Achane, just getting a foot better at the 100m is huge on the football field.