Quick Chat: Caryl Smith Gilbert

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Caryl Smith Gilbert already had a great job, as the Director of Men's and Women's Track and Field at Southern California. Georgia's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics, Josh Brooks, convinced her that she could have a better one in Athens.

One day after leading the Women of Troy to their second national title in the past three NCAA Outdoor Championships, Smith Gilbert on Sunday was named the new head of the Bulldogs' men's and women's programs. It was Brooks' vision, Smith Gilbert said during a Quick Chat on Monday, that sold her on the idea of coming to Georgia and building to even greater heights the program that has been established here under former coach Petros Kyprianou.

Smith Gilbert, a native of Denver, Colo., was a three-time All-American sprinter at UCLA. She began her coaching career, a bit unenthusiastically, she said, back at her alma mater in Denver, George Washington High School, before moving up the collegiate ranks, including stops as an assistant at Penn State, Alabama and Tennessee.

During our Chat, Smith Gilbert talked about coming to Georgia, her career as a sprinter, her unexpected start in coaching, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:

Frierson: You obviously had a great job at USC, so what brought you to Georgia?

Smith Gilbert: I think a big reason is Josh. He told me a lot about it and talked to me about the possibilities of the success I could have there, and what his vision was for the program and my family. I think that was the biggest motivating factor other than I would love to be in the SEC.

I was at Tennessee and Alabama, so I like the energy of the SEC, and I always wanted to be a head coach — I was an assistant at those places. The talent that I can see that is migrating toward the University of Georgia is unbelievable, and it seems to be picking up momentum yearly.

And I like the ("G") logo [laughs]. My name is Gilbert [laughs].

Frierson: How would you describe yourself as a track athlete back when you were competing?

Smith Gilbert: I guess I was pretty intense, and they tell me I still am. A hard worker all the time — I work all the time and I do every workout to the end, I've never missed practice. I was never a person that was lazy.

By the time college came around, my confidence wasn't where it needed to be. That had to do with what I believed in and the workouts. Bob Kersee was my coach and I love him to death, we just didn't connect very well on workouts and things like that. But we connected very well as people, and I thank him for everything all the way up to today.

I would say I was very highly competitive, intense, and a hard worker.

Frierson: I saw where you got your degree at UCLA in Film and Television Production. Did you think that was where your life was going to go after college? How did coaching enter your life?

Smith Gilbert: I thought I was going to win an Olympic gold medal and then be in movies. I wanted to be a director, so I did that at UCLA — I made films and graduated with a bachelor's in Film and Television Production — but then I went home.

My club coach, Tony Wells, I was helping him out with the Colorado Flyers. ... One day he said, at your high school, because I had three state records, or four, they want you to come be the head coach, and I was 24 years old. I remember saying, "I don't like kids, I'm not going to be a coach. I'm just here temporarily; I'm going back to L.A. to be in movies." And he says, "Yeah, OK. Until that happens, I want you to be the head coach, and if you don't go then you can't come help me anymore."

I really looked up to him so I went. The (athletic director at George Washington) told me that they had a team of about 15 kids and it was going to be really hard to get people to come out. Just do what you can. I'm 24 years old and I'm the head coach. I didn't know how to do anything and I probably should have been put away because I didn't have them sign a release to ride the bus or anything, I'm just out coaching.

The more I'm there and the meaner I am because I didn't really want to be there, the more they would bring their friends. And by the end of it all, I had 65 kids out there. And we ended up winning three or four state championships in a four year period, and I had so many kids that I could run four kids in the 4x100, four different kids in the 4x200, and score top four in the 100.

I realized because I had such a terrible experience in my career, in my opinion, that was what I thought, it wasn't that bad looking back, I realized, man, this makes me happy. Helping people is what I'm good at, and I think I like it.

From there, I started trying to pursue college jobs, and I couldn't get any. They kept telling me that you can't have a college job if you're not in college. That's kind of like, if you don't give me one then I can't get one. Teri Jordan at Penn State ended up giving me a chance. She brought me in there and it just kind of went from there

Frierson: Because you started at the high school level, with a small team and without many resources, how much has that helped you in your career?

Smith Gilbert: I think me failing in college, because I was No. 2 in the world as a junior in high school and I was No. 1 in the country as a senior, I think me failing in college and me having to work my way up over time, that's the reason I'm successful now.

It's not the accomplishments, the accomplishments don't make me successful, the failures make me successful. It's the small things. I had to learn from high school how to do it with nothing, at a Denver City public school. I had to start at Penn State — when I was at Penn State I had to teach jogging and strength training at 8 a.m. every day, and I might have made $17-21,000. Then I got to Alabama and that was hard because Alabama in the late '90s and early 2000s, they weren't winning so no one wanted to send their kids to Alabama. I had to recruit in the SEC and figure out a way to do it.

Then I went to Tennessee and I learned how to win championships, And when I went to UCF, it was a head coaching position with only women, at a mid-major. I think the school record was 12.2 in the women's 100, and we got it down to 10.87 by the time I left. ... It taught me the work ethic of recruiting, so if I keep all of these things that I learned with no resources, and do it with resources, don't throw it away just because you have more. Keep it and you can be successful.

Frierson: Getting away from track, what is something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?

Smith Gilbert: Mexican food. I like any kind of enchiladas with green sauce, chicken, guacamole, chips, margaritas [laughs].

Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there anything creative you do or wish you could do?

Smith Gilbert: I like decorating my house. I like interior design-type things, picking out things that match other things in the house. I love to have a nice-looking house.

Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience what it's like, what would it be?

Smith Gilbert: I would want to be great at maybe making everybody around me better, for the whole day. Making everyone around me better — making them happy.

(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

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