University of Georgia Athletics
Yoculan Set The UGA Standard
October 19, 2015 | Gymnastics
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
For those of us that weren't at practice and weren't in the locker room during her stellar 26-year run as Georgia's gymnastics coach, the Suzanne Yoculan we saw Friday night at Stegeman Coliseum was a different one than we've come to expect.
The woman who from 1984-2009 built Georgia gymnastics into a dynasty, one that made crowds of 10,000 at Stegeman Coliseum routine, and who has enough national championship rings for all eight fingers and two thumbs, that Suzanne, at least publicly, was often — in the best possible ways — a fiery and feisty Bulldog. She was high-energy, high-enthusiasm and seemingly always going 200 mph.
On Friday night, a crowd of more than 200, including many former GymDogs, was at Stegeman not for a meet, but to honor and celebrate Yoculan's career with the unveiling of a championship display titled: JOURNEY TO THE PERFECT 10.
The large display, located in the concourse facing Carlton Street, features a bronze statue of Yoculan with the GymDogs' 10 NCAA titles. On the back are the names of the 121 student-athletes she coached, as well as staff members during her extraordinary career.
After remarks from J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity, UGA President Jere W. Morehead and former GymDog Heather Stepp McCormick, it was finally Yoculan's turn to speak. And her words were often tender and moving.
At one point she spoke directly to her former gymnasts and it was like listening in on a private, intimate conversation between family members.
"When I look at you, I see 121 sisters. Sisters who are bound together by our experiences at the University of Georgia," Yoculan said, speaking softly. "And this bronze statue represents what you all accomplished in all of those years."
Asked afterward if that was a side of Yoculan she'd seen before, Courtney Kupets, perhaps the greatest GymDog of them all, said a sentimental Yoculan was nothing new.
"I think that's what most people don't see on the outside, but as part of her team we would see that," said Kupets, who has a silver and a bronze medal from the 2004 Olympics to go along with four NCAA team titles (2006-09) and nine individual titles.
"A lot of other gymnasts were like, 'Oh my gosh, she's so mean.' We were like, 'No, she's not!' I think that was just her persona. It was part of who she was and how she handled the competition floor. She had that confidence factor that maybe looked like, don't go near her. But that wasn't who she was."
Yoculan's achievements at Georgia, as Morehead told the large gathering, make her the "best of the best" among Bulldog coaches. She set the standard for greatness, set it again and raised it a few more times.
Georgia men's and women's swimming and diving head coach Jack Bauerle knows Yoculan well, and has a trophy case almost as full as the gymnastics program's. Bauerle, in his 37th season as coach, has led the women's squad to six NCAA team titles, making him the second most successful Georgia coach, behind only Yoculan.
With their boundless energy, with their drive and determination, and with their abilities as master motivators and promoters of their programs and sports, Yoculan and Bauerle are in many ways very similar.
"We do have a lot of things in common, which is why we're buddies," Bauerle said earlier in the week. "I think the biggest thing with Suzanne, she just took it from a normal program and made it spectacular. And she made it important to people. All the coaches admire her for that.
"They were great all the time. And I believe that's the hardest thing in sports. They weren't just good all the time, they were great all the time."
Here's a mouthful of a stat to support Bauerle's point: Georgia finished in the top three in the country in 21 of her final 22 seasons.
During her speech, Yoculan recounted the words of her father she often heard when she was young: "If you think something, then make a plan and go do it." At Georgia that became: "See it, say it, do it."
For 26 years under Yoculan, as the bronze display clearly demonstrates, the GymDogs did it. And did it better than anyone else. She did it, and she did it better than anyone else.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.