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Last year, when Mike Powell heard that UCLA’s jumps coach Robert Johnson had left Westwood to take a job with Oregon, he immediately got on the phone and placed a call to UCLA men’s track and field coach Art Venegas. Little did he know that Venegas had already been making calls in an attempt to get Powell back to Westwood.

The match seemed perfect. Powell, the world record holder in the long jump, had a long list of successes as a Bruin track and field athlete back in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

So far, both parties have flourished, as Powell’s perspective and coaching methods have made him one of the most sought-after coaches in the sport.

In his first year at UCLA, Powell has already transformed the jumps program, taking a relatively unheralded group of athletes and sending six of them to the upcoming NCAA Championships.

“I couldn’t be happier with seeing what he has done with this group,” Venegas said. “Mike Powell has been the one guy I have wanted in my program. I’ve coveted him so much.”

Two Olympic medals and a world record would be considered sufficient credentials for anyone wanting to be a coach. But Powell – who set the long jump world record at 29 feet, 4 1/2 inches at the 1991 International Association of Athletics Federations World Outdoor Championships in Tokyo – has brought more than just his ample experience to the program. He credits his coaching philosophy to his extensive background in sports psychology.

In fact, Powell was pursuing his graduate degree in sports psychology at Cal State Fullerton before he was ever lured into coaching.

“Being the world record holder doesn’t make me a good coach,” Powell said. “I am an eternal optimist, so to me, everyone can be better. Whoever I work with, if they buy into what I’m saying and they work hard, they are going to get better.”

Judging by this season’s results, Powell’s jumpers have bought into his method. Since Powell’s coaching career began in 2000, he has developed several internationally lauded athletes, including Olympic stars such as India’s Anju George, the 2004 bronze medalist in the long jump.

With the many successes he has under his belt, it’s no surprise that Powell quickly became a hot commodity on the coaching market.

“The rest of the country is going to have trouble with him in a few years,” Venegas said. “He is going to attract great athletes, and he knows what to do with them.”

This year, Powell has already had an immediate and positive impact on the team.

In contrast to this year’s six, last year’s UCLA team sent only one athlete to the NCAA Championships, though that sole Bruin was Candace Baucham, the triple jump national champion.

“(Powell) has been there before, so he knows exactly what he is doing,” said sophomore Joel Tuosto, who sprinted in as a dark-horse athlete to win the long jump title last Saturday at the Western Regional Championships.

“He has so much experience. You never have a question he can’t answer,” Tuosto added.

As impressive as this turnaround has been, Powell is still not completely satisfied and believes his jumpers have not even begun to understand all the knowledge he is capable of imparting to them.

“The exciting thing is that they don’t even know what they are doing yet,” Powell said.

“They get really frustrated because I teach them a lot of stuff. In the beginning, I told them they aren’t going to get all of this stuff this year. It’s going to take about two or three years to get,” he said.

Powell’s ultimate goal is to build a jumping dynasty in Westwood, one to go along with UCLA’s traditionally exceptional performance in the hurdles, sprints and throws.

“Thinking about the future is really exciting.” Powell said. “My goal is to make this program rival that of LSU and Arkansas, where, at minimum, when recruits are looking at schools, they have to at least take a look at UCLA.”

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