Leroy Burrell is arguably one of the most successful athlete and coach combos in sports history. Despite being one of the greatest sprinters of all time, Burrell grew up wanting to play another sport. After his high school baseball coach knew that Burrell’s poor eyesight would hinder his baseball abilities, he saw potential in his speed and encouraged him to run track. During his final three years, he ran the men’s 100-meter, 200-meter, long jump, and triple jump. He was named Eastern Track Athlete of the Year High School Track & Field All American (1985) and completed the PA Class 3A State T&F Championships winning 1st in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and triple jump. Originally recruited as a long jumper to the University of Houston (1985-1990) Burrell broke Houston’s freshman record at 26’-9” in his first year (1986). After tearing his ACL in 1986, he came back in 1988 to become an NCAA All-American. At the SWC Championship, he finished 2nd in the 100m, 3rd in the long jump, and at the NCAA Championships, he finished 5th in the 100m and 7th in the long jump. In 1989, he won 1st in the long jump at 26’-5.50” at the NCAA Indoor Championship and set a meet record with a personal best of 27’-5.50” at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. At the USA Outdoor Championship, he placed 1st in the 100m with 9.94 seconds and helped Carl Lewis, Danny Evertt, and Floyd Heard set a world record in the 4x200m relay. In 1990, Burrell won: 1st in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championship, 1st in the 100m & 200m at the SWC Outdoor Championship, and 1st in 100m at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. That same year, he received the Jumbo Elliott Award, an award that is only given to the nation’s top collegiate track and field athlete. From 1990-91 he won 19 of his 22 races in the 100m. In 1991, Burrell competed in the USA Championships where he set his first individual world record in the 100m with a time of 9.90 seconds and beat that record at the World Championships with 9.88 seconds. In the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Burrell along with Mike Marsh, Dennis Mitchell, and Carl Lewis won gold and set the world record in the 4×100 relay with 37.40 seconds. He also placed 5th in the 100m. At the 1991 USA Championships, he earned the title of “World’s Fastest Man ” with a world record time of 9.90 seconds in the 100 meters. He qualified to run for Team USA in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia but was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
Fast forward to today, Burrell is going into his 24th season of being the head coach of track and field at the University of Houston. He has coached over 150 NCAA All-Americans and earned a combined 41 team conference titles. He is a 23-time C- USA Coach of the Year recipient and a 12-time winner of the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
Burrell was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor in 2000, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014, the USATF National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2019. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
