University of North Carolina Athletics
Legendary Track & Field Coach Charles Foster Passes Away
March 31, 2019 | Track & Field
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Charles Foster, a former assistant track and field coach at the University of North Carolina and a Tar Heel alum, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 65.
"Like so many other Tar Heels and track and field fans across the country, I am saddened to hear about the death of Coach Charles Foster," UNC head coach Harlis Meaders said. "Coach Foster was a world class athlete, a world class coach and more importantly he was world class man. For those that knew him personally and even those that have simply enjoyed being in his presence, he will always be simply unforgettable.
"He was the light in the room. His smile, his laugh and self-confidence pulled you toward him. In just moments you wanted to be him or be better for him. I miss him already. My condolences and prayers go out to his wife and children and all who grieve at his passing away. Like many others, I feel as though I am a better person for having had the opportunity to walk in his shadow and be in his presence. His spirit lives on in each of us."
Foster had nearly 30 years of coaching experience on the collegiate and international levels by his retirement in 2015, becoming an icon in the track and field community. Foster tutored two Olympic gold medalists, one silver medalist and a bronze medalist. He also coached 12 other Olympians and more than 50 All-Americas.
After a successful career competing professionally, Foster joined the UNC track and field team in 1986 as an assistant coach for the sprints and hurdles. He worked with numerous Carolina standouts including Olympians Allen Johnson and Sharon Couch.
Johnson won the Tar Heels' sixth NCAA Championship title by winning the indoor 55-meter hurdles. He also won back-to-back ACC titles in the long jump in the 1991 outdoor and 1992 indoor seasons. His collegiate-best long jump marks still stand as school records.
Johnson would go on to compete in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Johnson also won nine World Championship medals — seven gold, one silver and one bronze — over a span of 13 years.
Couch excelled as a sprinter and long jumper with the help of Coach Foster. Couch was a seven-time ACC Champion with five titles in the 55 and 100 hurdles and two in the long jump.
Couch represented Team USA at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games in the long jump and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles. Couch also represented the Unites States in four World Championships, one indoor and three outdoor.
At Carolina, Foster also coached Reggie Harris to five individual ACC titles and Kendra Mackey to nine women's ACC wins. Harris, a four-time ACC champion in the 400, still holds a 27-year old school record in the indoor 400 meters. Mackey ran the closing leg of the best women's outdoor 4x400 in UNC history back in 1990 and still holds top-three rankings in six different sprints and relays.
At the end of his six-year Carolina tenure, Foster helped the Tar Heels capture nine ACC team titles and his student-athletes combined for over 40 individual and relay conference titles. Foster also played an instrumental in the design of UNC's former track and field stadium — the Irwin Belk Track and Fetzer Field.
"I hired Coach Foster away from teaching a dance aerobics exercise class in Durham" former North Carolina track and field head coach Dennis Craddock said. "I knew how great of an athlete he was and he had such an infectious personality that there was no way he would not make a great coach. And it was true. I will forever remember those special times late at night in the office doing paperwork and calling recruits, laughing and having a great time. Coaches like Charles, I never considered my assistant coaches. Charles and I coached together side by side through good and bad, but we always supported and respected each other. I have lost a great buddy."
From 1992-97 Foster was the Manager for Sports Planning on the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. He also worked on the Special Olympics World Summer Games Organizing Committee from 1997-1999.
Foster returned to coaching in 1999 and spent 10 years as the sprints, hurdles and relays coach for the men's track and field team at Clemson, where the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named him the NCAA Assistant Track Coach of the Year in 2008.
Foster closed out his coaching career with at Virginia Tech, where he worked with sprints, hurdles and jumps from 2009 up until his retirement in 2015.
Foster was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team that competed in Montreal. He won the high hurdles at the Olympic Trials that year to earn a spot on the squad. A former world record holder in the high hurdles, Foster received the Distinguished Citizen Award of North Carolina, the highest award presented in the state.
He graduated from North Carolina Central University 1975 and did two years of postgraduate studies in therapeutic recreation and administration at UNC.
Foster is survived by his wife, Sophronia, and his daughter, Sydney.
"Like so many other Tar Heels and track and field fans across the country, I am saddened to hear about the death of Coach Charles Foster," UNC head coach Harlis Meaders said. "Coach Foster was a world class athlete, a world class coach and more importantly he was world class man. For those that knew him personally and even those that have simply enjoyed being in his presence, he will always be simply unforgettable.
"He was the light in the room. His smile, his laugh and self-confidence pulled you toward him. In just moments you wanted to be him or be better for him. I miss him already. My condolences and prayers go out to his wife and children and all who grieve at his passing away. Like many others, I feel as though I am a better person for having had the opportunity to walk in his shadow and be in his presence. His spirit lives on in each of us."
Foster had nearly 30 years of coaching experience on the collegiate and international levels by his retirement in 2015, becoming an icon in the track and field community. Foster tutored two Olympic gold medalists, one silver medalist and a bronze medalist. He also coached 12 other Olympians and more than 50 All-Americas.
After a successful career competing professionally, Foster joined the UNC track and field team in 1986 as an assistant coach for the sprints and hurdles. He worked with numerous Carolina standouts including Olympians Allen Johnson and Sharon Couch.
Johnson won the Tar Heels' sixth NCAA Championship title by winning the indoor 55-meter hurdles. He also won back-to-back ACC titles in the long jump in the 1991 outdoor and 1992 indoor seasons. His collegiate-best long jump marks still stand as school records.
Johnson would go on to compete in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Johnson also won nine World Championship medals — seven gold, one silver and one bronze — over a span of 13 years.
Couch excelled as a sprinter and long jumper with the help of Coach Foster. Couch was a seven-time ACC Champion with five titles in the 55 and 100 hurdles and two in the long jump.
Couch represented Team USA at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games in the long jump and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles. Couch also represented the Unites States in four World Championships, one indoor and three outdoor.
At Carolina, Foster also coached Reggie Harris to five individual ACC titles and Kendra Mackey to nine women's ACC wins. Harris, a four-time ACC champion in the 400, still holds a 27-year old school record in the indoor 400 meters. Mackey ran the closing leg of the best women's outdoor 4x400 in UNC history back in 1990 and still holds top-three rankings in six different sprints and relays.
At the end of his six-year Carolina tenure, Foster helped the Tar Heels capture nine ACC team titles and his student-athletes combined for over 40 individual and relay conference titles. Foster also played an instrumental in the design of UNC's former track and field stadium — the Irwin Belk Track and Fetzer Field.
"I hired Coach Foster away from teaching a dance aerobics exercise class in Durham" former North Carolina track and field head coach Dennis Craddock said. "I knew how great of an athlete he was and he had such an infectious personality that there was no way he would not make a great coach. And it was true. I will forever remember those special times late at night in the office doing paperwork and calling recruits, laughing and having a great time. Coaches like Charles, I never considered my assistant coaches. Charles and I coached together side by side through good and bad, but we always supported and respected each other. I have lost a great buddy."
From 1992-97 Foster was the Manager for Sports Planning on the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. He also worked on the Special Olympics World Summer Games Organizing Committee from 1997-1999.
Foster returned to coaching in 1999 and spent 10 years as the sprints, hurdles and relays coach for the men's track and field team at Clemson, where the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named him the NCAA Assistant Track Coach of the Year in 2008.
Foster closed out his coaching career with at Virginia Tech, where he worked with sprints, hurdles and jumps from 2009 up until his retirement in 2015.
Foster was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team that competed in Montreal. He won the high hurdles at the Olympic Trials that year to earn a spot on the squad. A former world record holder in the high hurdles, Foster received the Distinguished Citizen Award of North Carolina, the highest award presented in the state.
He graduated from North Carolina Central University 1975 and did two years of postgraduate studies in therapeutic recreation and administration at UNC.
Foster is survived by his wife, Sophronia, and his daughter, Sydney.
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