COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's an end of an era as legendary track & field and cross country coach Curtis Frye announced he will be retiring from the University of South Carolina after 27 years. His retirement is effective June 30.
Athletic Director Ray Tanner in a statement said Frye has become synonymous with Gamecock Track & Field for nearly 30 years. Curtis led his squad to the first NCAA team championship in school history and consistently mentored highly successful student-athletes who excelled both on and off the track. We wish Curtis and his wife, Wilma, all the best as they transition to the next stage of their lives.”
Cover his nearly three-decade career, Frye has coached or overseen 28 Olympians who have garnered 14 Olympic medals, 60 NCAA Champions, 126 SEC Champions, more than 500 NCAA All-Americans and 21 Academic All-Americans. He coached 14 SEC Athletes of the Year and five National Athletes of the Year. Frye’s athletes have earned four USTFCCCA National Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in addition to five SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. One of the most well-respected coaches in the country, Frye brought South Carolina its first team NCAA Championship in any sport when his women’s squad captured the 2002 NCAA Outdoor title.
Frye has gathered numerous awards over the years:
- United States Track Coaches Association named him National Coach of the Year three times -- in 1999 and 2002 for women's outdoor and the 1999 men's indoor coach -- and was the first person to win the USTCA award for both indoor and outdoor in the same year.
- Nike Coach of the Year in 2001
- USOC Track & Field Coach of the Year in 1997
- SEC Coach of the Year in 1999, 2002, and 2005
- US Olympic Committee awarded Frye the Order of the Ikkos Medallion in 2008
- Enshrined in the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December 2013
Coach Frye joined the Gamecock staff on July 29, 1996, after serving as assistant head coach at University of North Carolina. At UNC, Frye was part of 13 ACC championship teams.
He also coached at Florida, NC State, and East Carolina.
According to USC, national search for Frye's replacement will begin immediately.