McDonnell signs new book at Hog Heaven

FAYETTEVILLE - Legendary Arkansas men's track and field coach John McDonnell signed copies of his autobiography John McDonnell: the Most Successful Coach in NCAA History at a book signing event at Hog Heaven inside Bud Walton Arena on Saturday morning.

McDonnell greeted fans and autographed his book before being introduced to a thundering ovation later in the day at the Arkansas-Texas A&M men’s basketball game. McDonnell is the most successful coach in intercollegiate athletics history and now his remarkable story is detailed in a book published by the University of Arkansas Press. The book tells the story of McDonnell’s life and legacy, from his childhood growing up on a farm in 1940s County Mayo, Ireland, to his own running career, to the beginnings of his life as a coach, to all the great athletes he mentored along the way.

McDonnell coached at the University of Arkansas for 36 years, during which time he amassed a staggering résumé of accomplishments, including 40 national championships (11 cross country, 19 indoor track, and 10 outdoor track), the most by any coach in any sport in NCAA history. His teams at Arkansas won the triple crown (a national championship in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track in a single school year) a record five times.

The Razorbacks also won 83 conference championships (37 in the former Southwest Conference and 46 in the Southeastern Conference), including 34 consecutive conference championships in cross country from 1974 to 2008. McDonnell coached 185 All-Americans, 54 individual national champions, and 23 Olympians. And from 1984 to 1995, his Razorback teams won 12 consecutive NCAA Indoor Track Championships, the longest streak of national titles by any school in any sport in NCAA history.

The McDonnell autobiography is available at Hog Heaven in Bud Walton Arena and other book retailers. More information is available by contacting the UA Press at (800) 626-0090 or online at uapress.com.