Mark Williams, gymnastics coach at OU, was selected as a Winter 2014 Coach of the Year by CaptainU.
Top coaches in each sport and division were chosen for their teams’ inspiring and successful performances on and off the field. Williams was chosen for his team’s number 1 ranking in the country for their season and for achieving a team average of 445.050.
Williams spoke with CaptainU about this season and more:
CaptainU: How did you get into coaching your sport?
MW: When I originally started doing gymnastics in high school, there was a club program that I helped coach after the varsity team’s workouts. I found that I enjoyed teaching and coaching early on and decided to earn a degree in secondary education when going to college. It became a natural progression for me to teach at a high school and coach their gymnastics team upon graduation. Coaching eventually became my primary focus and I’ve been coach at the University of Oklahoma for 26 years now.
CaptainU: What do you like most about being a coach?
MW: I enjoy the build up toward big competitions and the process of bringing together a team for the NCAA Championships. I also enjoy the relationships that are developed with my athletes, many of whom become life-long friends.
CaptainU: What are you most proud of from this past season?
MW: I’m proud of the seniors on this team who have led this group to the No. 1 national ranking from the start of the regular season through the post-season. It has been pretty amazing to maintain that ranking every week throughout the entire regular season.