After 60 years as a Duke coach and professor, Al Buehler is retiring.
Buehler will teach his last class, a freshman seminar entitled History and Issues of American Sport, Wednesday from his office in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Hired as the head cross country coach in 1955, Buehler took the helm of the Blue Devil track and field program in 1964 and coached the U.S. track and field teams at the 1972, 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
During his 45 years as a coach, Buehler built relationships across racial and gender lines and has relayed many of his experiences to his students.
“You ask these kids in here, all I do is tell stories,” he said.
Buehler's own running career began when he was in junior high, but before that he often raced his father.
“I never beat him in my entire life,” Buehler said.
In high school, Buehler’s physical education teacher, a World War II veteran, returned to the United States and started a cross country team. Jim Kehoe, a former track coach at the University of Maryland, saw Buehler at a competition and invited him to run for the Terrapins. Buehler graduated from Maryland in 1952.
“I’m constantly looking at these plaques and these awards and these letters from Buehler's coaches,” said freshman volleyball player Anna Kropf, who is taking Buehler's class.
During his time as the head coach of track and field from 1964 to 2000, Buehler coached Ellison Goodall, Trinity ‘78—the first woman to run track at Duke—and worked with North Carolina Central University head coach LeRoy Walker, inviting his team to practice on Duke’s track. Buehler's cross country teams won six Atlantic Coast Conference championships.
A member of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame, Buehler said he will miss teaching, calling his 60 years as a faculty member the greatest accomplishment of his diverse Duke career. In addition to his duties as track and field coach, Buehler served as chair of the physical education department during his tenure at the University and taught classes ranging from boxing to badminton. His wide range of experiences give him no shortage of anecdotes during his lectures.
“I think the number one thing that I’ve appreciated is his personal stories and memories that he’s shared," said freshman Verity Abel, a student in Buehler's class. "That’s something I wouldn’t be able to get from anyone else.”
For their final grade, students in his course will be given an oral exam about the key players in the quest for racial equity in sports.
As part of the course, students watched “Starting at the Finish Line: The Coach Buehler Story”, a film and book by Amy Unell, Trinity ’03, who took Buehler’s course as a freshman. The documentary will be available on Netflix in the coming months.
“I think his energy and uniqueness of the class, being in the community of his office—it’s almost like you’re in his living room,” said Unell, Artstigator in the Office of Vice Provost for the Arts.
Now in his 80s, Buehler was on hand April 11 for the dedication of Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium, the Blue Devils' new home after the track circling the football field in Wallace Wade Stadium was ripped out in December.
Unell said she would like to see the major historical moments of track honored in a photograph series somewhere in the new track stadium so that more people could appreciate the interweaving of the sport with the history of women’s rights, civil rights and international relations.
Although Unell was not a student-athlete, many of Buehler’s students were. His list of former students includes former Duke basketball players Shane Battier and Grant Hill.
Kropf said the class was of particular interest for her because, as an athlete, she is part of sports culture at Duke.
“It’s inspired me to be a better student-athlete,” she said.
Freshman swimmer Catie Miller was referred to the course by another student on the swim team. She said she was glad to have taken it and pointed out its unique location. History and Issues of American Sport is the only class taught in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“No one knows that this is even a classroom,” freshman Setonji Agosa said. “It’s a very personal experience.”
Agosa said she was glad that Buehler was still teaching this year as the men's basketball team won Duke's fifth national championship.
“When we won, the first thing that came to my mind was that he gets to experience this,” she said.
Although his presence on campus will be missed, Buehler has touched the lives of many throughout his career.
“His story is the story of so many moments and people,” Unell said.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Amy Unell is the assistant director of the Duke in Silicon Valley program. Her position has been correctly updated. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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