For athletes, a coaching change means a lot more than a different person giving them direction. It means changes in everything from practice, to the way they think about their sport.
Redshirt senior Kyle Long realized this when Brian Blutreich became his new throwing coach back in July 2016.
Yet, despite all these changes, Long is having a season to remember, throwing for new personal records in two out of his three events.
Long said the confidence Blutriech has in him, as well as keeping a level head, has been the key to his success this season.
“In hammer, me and coach were talking at the very beginning of the year, we were talking maybe throw 64 meters,” Long said. “See if we can get on the national board, see if I can make it to nationals.”
Long has now thrown for 65 meters five times in the hammer – three of those were in the 38 Sun Angel Classic. These results changed the attitude that Long and Blutreich had toward the beginning of the season.
:rotating_light::rotating_light::rotating_light:(@KyleLong83) SENDS IT !!! Setting a new PR in the hammer - 65.63m (215-3.75") #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/2Cq1w5rXdc
— SunDevilTFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) April 22, 2017
“We’re both just thinking alright, this is what we thought I could do and here I am doing it already,” Long said. “We’re just kind of seeing moving forward, it’s just wide open right now.”
Blutreich was confident in Long’s ability since their fall training sessions – he remembered telling Long what he thought he could achieve.
“… I looked at him and said ‘hey man, I think you’re capable of 65 meters in the weight and 65 meters in the hammer,'” Blutreich said. “He kind of looked at me like ‘whoa’ but it turned out to be true.”
Another key to Long’s success this season has been consistency.
“He is there every day, he warms up correctly,” Blutreich said. “He applies what he is learning, he is just really doing all the steps and being consistent every day.”
Long’s teammate and self-proclaimed best friend, redshirt senior Thomas Anderson, thinks that Long’s training ethic has played a role in his success this year.
“I think it is just his training,” Anderson said. “... His training ethic is unquestionable, he’s really done a really great job.”
Anderson found out Long stepped up into a leadership role on the team during fall workouts.
“I heard a lot of amazing things," Anderson said. He was more of a leader than I think I could have ever been. He took on the responsibility that both of us were given.”
Blutreich agreed with Anderson that during the fall, Long became a clear leader on the team.
“He’s definitely embraced it, he’s being a leader by example,” Blutreich said. “I think he is seeing that this is his last opportunity and to have success and to try to leave a legacy for the program.”
Even though Long will not throw for the Sun Devils after this season, it might not be his last season with the Sun Devils.
“I love coaching, I love track and field, I love helping my teammates get better, I love helping kids get better,” Long said. “I’ve always helped kids get better under me in high school, and even here in college.”
Long said Blutreich may need a volunteer assistant coach, and he and Blutreich need to talk about his future.
“I’ll definitely help out if I can for a while if they’ll have me,” Long said. “Like I said, the legacy now with Blutreich is just getting started. We’ll see, one day maybe I’ll be back.”
Blutreich said that he doesn’t know exactly what Long wants to do after college, but expressed confidence in his ability to be a coach.
“I think he would be a pretty good coach if he wanted to be,” Blutreich said. “He has a good feel with how to communicate with people and understanding movement and technique.”
However, Long is still in his throwing career and has high expectations for what he can achieve in the rest of the season.
“I want to place top three in Pac 12 in discus and hammer, get my job done, do what I can for the team,” Long said. “Then make it to regionals, keep a level head and then get to nationals and represent ASU.”
Long has never been to NCAA Nationals, but Blutreich has confidence that Long has the ability to make it there.
“So, our goal is to try and break the top 12 and qualify for nationals because he hasn’t been able to do that before,” Blutreich said. “So, if he can qualify for nationals, that would be absolutely up there in things for him.”
Blutreich said that he also wants Long to place in the top three at the Pac-12 Championship for his events.
Overall, Blutreich said he is happy with the performance, in and out of the circle, that Long has put forth this year.
“I couldn’t have asked anything more from him this year,” Blutreich said.
Reach the reporter at jzaklis@gmail.com and follow @JoshZaklis on Twitter.
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