SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Shippensburg University Track and Field head coach Dave Osanitsch looks like he has all the answers. Just don't ask him when he's going to have some time off.
"I have a very, very understanding wife," said Osanitsch with a laugh. "This job is non-stop, but when I go home, I try to stop. I always tried to keep my life and my job in two different worlds. I don't think for many years, my children even knew what I did for a career."
Next year will be number 20 as head coach of the Raiders. In that time, Ship hasn't just been good, they seem to be tiers above a dynasty. The Raiders have collected 51 conference championships, indoor and outdoor. If you combine the rest of the conference, those team have just 21.
"It's a little overwhelming sometimes when I think about how many championships I have been a part of and how many we've been fortunate enough to win. So yeah, 51 is a pretty big number," said Osanitsch.
He's not just a Ship coach, he's also a former student-athlete and graduate.
"There was no internet yet, so my nickname on the team was 'Conference Talk' because literally, I was the guy that after each weekend of an event, I would scour the newspapers and get information to take back to our coaching staff on how other teams in the conference are doing," recalled Osanitsch.
Osanitch hoped track and field would stay in his life, in some way, but he had another passion.
"I worked for the state of as a probation parole officer," said Osanitsch. "I loved my job, loved it. I really thought that was my career. I was going to stay in law enforcement in some aspect—and then fate happened."
But Steve Spence, who's still with the program, decided to recruit Osanitsch to Shippensburg, once again, this time as a coach, which eventually led to the head coaching job. Between the indoor and outdoor seasons, the track and field student-athletes start in October and don't finish until May.
"I always say to people that track and field is not a sprint. It's a marathon," Osanitsch said. "It's definitely a challenge to keep them up all the time and keep the energy level up because I think we probably clear well over 100 practices, not including competitions, throughout the year."
(You can see the full interview with Coach Osanitsch in the video above.)
And while "Pride, Team, and Tradition" echo throughout the program, seeing past student-athletes celebrate milestones in life is what really hits home for Osanitsch.
"Some people ask me 'What's left to do?' and I think there's a lot left to do. I think one of the biggest goals we have here is we want to make sure that our student-athletes have the very best experience," claimed Osanitsch. "So when they leave and go into the job market they can have the memories of when they were on the track and field team and be like, 'Wow, those are some really great times,' and that's more important than any trophies or medals."