General | March 22, 2023

MORROW, Ga. – Interim Director of Athletics and head cross country coach Mike Mead announced on Wednesday morning his retirement after serving in multiple capacities in the Clayton State University Athletics Department over the past 32 years.  He made this announcement in a letter written to President Georj Lewis earlier last week. 
 
"It has been an honor and privilege representing Clayton State these past 32-plus years," said Mead.  "I have had countless experiences and opportunities I could not imagine when I first arrived on campus in November of 1990. I appreciate the many professional relationships and friendships during the years among my campus, NAIA/NCAA, and USTFCCCA colleagues. I wish all the best to current and future faculty, staff, and students who will continue the legacy of building dreams and growing this University!"
 
Mead came to Clayton State in November of 1990, days before the start of the first men's basketball season on November 12.  When he got to Morrow, Mead was a part of the inaugural season of athletics at Clayton State as the Assistant Director of Public Information and Sports Information Director.  Then in 1995 as Clayton State transitioned from NAIA to NCAA D-II, he founded the men's and women's cross country teams with his top male runner, Matt Fabbri, advancing to the NAIA championship meet during that first season. His 1996 women's cross country team advanced to the NAIA championships as he earned his first of six PBC Coach of the Year honors with the team placing second in the PBC.  Then in 1997, Mead started up the track and field programs. Over his 32 years in Morrow, Mead has had a lot of success in terms of his teams and his athletes. Also in 1997, Mead was elevated to Assistant Athletics Director.  He has served twice as Interim Director of Athletics during most of the 2011-12 and 2022-23 years.
 
Mead also earned multiple accolades during his career as a Laker.  He was the recipient of the 2021 Jimmy Carnes Distinguished Service Award for his years of service to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA).  He served as the President for Division II Cross Country from 2007 to 2009 as well as being on the Board of Directors, twice, for the USTFCCA.  He also served on the NCAA Division II Track & Field Sports Committee (2008-12) and the NCAA Track & Field Rules Committee (2017-21), serving as its chair his last two years.  In 2016, Mead received the Alice Smith Award as Clayton State's Staff Member of the Year. 
 
Mead's cross country teams combined for two Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Championships and 10 trips to the NCAA Championship, while his track & field teams combined for 27 trips to the NCAA Championships. In all, as the cross country coach, Mead coached four All-Americans, one region champion, five conference champions, 68 All-PBC athletes, and 35 All-Region runners.  On the track & field side, Mike has mentored 13 All-Americans and a pair of top-five finishers at the National Championships in Destiny Johnson, who placed fourth in the 2018-19 National Championships in the high jump and Ayrton Azcue, who was the national runner-up in the 800m indoor championships in 2013.  In all, Mead has mentored and coached three Hall of Famers during his tenure at Clayton State. 
 
While Mead produced some decorated student-athletes, his most notable one was Allison Kreutzer who was the runner-up in the 2004 NCAA Cross Country National Championships and placed 11^th the following year.  In all, Kreutzer is a Clayton State Athletics Hall of Famer, four-time all-American, and winner of a pair of PBC individual Championships.  She also holds multiple indoor and outdoor school record including the 1500m, 3K, 5K, and 10K on the outdoor side and in the 5K as well as the 4x800m relay and in the DMR.   
 
Another student-athlete that was greatly impacted by Mead's tutelage was Eric Simmons.  Simmons, who is a Clayton State Hall of Famer, competed on the track & field team from 2003-08 and is the only Laker to qualify for seven NCAA Championships.  Simmons was a part of the 4x400m relay team who gathered All-America accolades after a sixth-place finish, in the 2004 National Championships.  Currently, Simmons still holds the school record for the school record for the outdoor 400m and the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400m relays.  He also holds the school record for the indoor 200m, 400m, and the 4x400m relay.  Simmons came back to coach alongside one of his mentors Mike Mead in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. 
 
"I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Coach Mead for my growth as both an athlete and a person," said Simmons. "As an athlete, Coach Mead created a culture with CSU track and field that inspired us to give our all as he did this for us daily. Coach Mead is a man of his word; if he says he will do it, then he will. The way in which he builds relationships heavily influenced my coaching style. I know that any success I have is largely because of the opportunities he afforded me."
 
"After my senior season in '08, Coach Mead met with me and let me know that CSU would be adding an MAT program the following year. He told me that if I could hold on for a year, he would bring me on as a graduate assistant in '09. I worked another job and volunteer coached at CSU, and in '09, Coach Mead brought me in as GA alongside Coach Clive (Cesar) and Coach (Hugh) Toro. Not only did Coach give me my start in coaching, but he also provided an opportunity to receive my master's degree. This opportunity gave me a push start in my teaching and coaching career, which later led to an assistant principal position, and now a principalship."
 



In 28 seasons, Mead has also seen many excellent academic results as he mentored the school's first College Sports Communicators (CSC) (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-American in Robert Spezzacantena in the 2011-12 season.  Spezzacantena is also one of 10 CSC Academic All-District selections as well which includes All-American Joni Guffey.  In 2002, Guffey was the first Laker to earn all-America honors as she did it in the 1500m run.
 
Another student-athlete that Mead has a huge impact on was Troy Hickom.  Hickom, who currently is an assistant coach on the track & field team, was a track and cross-country athlete at Clayton State from 2013-17.  Under the leadership of Mead, Hickom was a five-time all-academic honoree.  Right after graduation, Troy came back and was the Graduate Assistant under Mead from 2017-19 and later came back as an Assistant Coach in the 2023 season. 
 
"Coach Mead has been a pinnacle in Clayton State Athletics since its inception" said Hickom. "His departure will leave a void that will be difficult to replace. He is arguably one of the hardest workers on campus, wearing multiple hats seemingly every year of his tenure. I can't thank Coach Mead enough for giving me a shot when most coaches in the area refused. Most athletes, if not all, will agree that behind his tall intimidating stature is an extremely charismatic, empathetic, and caring person. Even though he's leaving the halls of the AC, I look forward to our continued friendship, and will undoubtedly continue to pester him regarding workouts, rules, and protocols. Here's to a well-deserved rest and retirement. I wish nothing but the best for the old coach!"
 
Someone who was also touched by the coach Mead was Clive Caesar.  Clive ran for Clayton State in the 1999-2000 season and later coached alongside Mead from 2003-2016 and again in the 2019-20 season.  Caesar was also a two-time USTFCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year. 

"Coach Mead has been very impactful in my life and if it wasn't for him, I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am today," said Caesar. "He took a chance on me as a student athlete back in 1999, two years removed from high school, and he gave me an opportunity to lead men and women starting in 2002 as a coach. He trusted in me, always encouraged me, respected me, gave me all the tools I needed to succeed, and we had a great 16-year run together.

"The program delivered a ton of national qualifiers and quite a few All Americans during our tenure together. In 2002 while I volunteer assisted, he got me a coaching high school job at the Galloway School where I had good success. The next year, coach hired me on part-time and our run began. We had five athletes qualify for nationals and four all-Americans that season. Coach Mead took me to several annual track and field coaches' clinics to help build my skills and acquire more knowledge in the sport and it all paid off. He didn't have to do that, but he really saw something in me. He always encouraged me to be a good leader and I looked up to him like I look up to my own father. I trusted in his decisions, even if I didn't fully agree all of the time when it came to the athletes, and he's never led me or them astray."
In July of 2019, Coach Mead handed the reins of the track & field program to Olympic-medalist Christopher Brown.  In the same year, Mead returned to the administrative ranks as the Assistant Director of Facilities and Alumni Engagement while maintaining his duties of head men's and women's cross country coach.  Coach Brown has done a stellar job in his short time with the Lakers.  He gives a lot of credit to the success of his teams to Mead. 
 
"We are going to miss him," said Coach Brown. "Coach hired me as his first full-time assistant and showed me the ropes and based upon that, I am hoping and praying the legacy he left behind, is in good hands.  We just look to capitalize and continue to build the program into a powerhouse on the track but also in the field events as well while also trying to build the cross country team to a level where we can be extremely competitive."
 
"Learning from Mike was fun, and he made it enjoyable," said Brown.  "He is always cracking jokes while he was doing something.  That made it fun to work with him and he is going to be very much missed especially from he because that was all I knew since I got to Clayton State. Me knowing that I am entering a new season without him, will be a huge missing piece of the puzzle."
 
Not only did Mead touch his former student-athletes but also his current student-athletes.  Seniors' Sasha Knowles, Darryl Jefferson, and James Kilgore credits most of their successes to the leadership of their coach.  Between those three student-athletes, there have been nine PBC Team of Academic Distinction selections, seven PBC Presidential Honor Roll selections, and a school record in the 500m run (Darryl Jefferson). 
 
We are grateful to have had Coach Mead as our coach for the past four years: our whole college career," said Knowles, Kilgore, and Jefferson. "He was extremely involved as a coach–up until his temporary promotion to Athletic Director, and you can probably count on one hand the number of days he has missed practice. One of the good things about coach Mead is that he was always time oriented. He doesn't slack and every week without fail, he will have everything regarding the following week addressed via email that Sunday, whether it be workouts, announcements, or post-meet results. He's funny and expressive without even trying and will always say what's on his mind without hesitation. Now looking onward as seniors, about to graduate, we notice how lucky we were to be under his tutelage. We will miss you, but all your efforts and passion have paid off. Congratulations on your retirement!"
 
Many of his former colleagues and coaches shared some of their favorite memories and sentiments of Coach Mead.
 
Eric Simmons: "I had a string of races that shook my confidence and was on the outside looking in to qualify for Nationals with one week remaining. The only meets available were several states away. Instead of Coach Mead allowing my senior season to end, he called me to his office and told me we would be flying to New York to compete in the Armory. Coach Mead told me that I had earned this through my dedication to the program. We flew to NYC, I ran a qualifying time, and we flew back that evening."
 
Sasha Knowles, Darryl Jefferson, and James Kilgore: "He often ran mileage and stretched with us whenever he had the opportunity and at his age, that says a lot! He's always working up race strategies with us in the office and on the track. His work ethic makes us want to work harder and be successful, so much that if any of us decide to slack, we'll think about what Mead would say for a good portion of the day. You can always hear him across the field on practice days, or when he's calling off our times during races. He's very statistical and diligent with it too."
 
Sasha Knowles: "One memory that has me chuckling every time I think of it is when a couple of us were "cooling down" after a workout, but almost walking really, and he called us out saying, 'My grandmother can jog faster than that and she's not even alive!' We were left so speechless that the only thing we could do was jog faster."

Clive Caesar: "A memory that stands out to me was during my first year running. Coach Mead always kept up with how we were doing academically. He knew my professors and everything. We had a local meet that year, I think at Emory, and I had a test that week. I wasn't ready for the test, so I decided to skip the class. Of course, Coach Mead got wind of what I did and held me out of the meet. Even though he knew I had family that was going to come see me run. Coach stuck by what he believed in. You are a student before you are an athlete. I learned a valuable lesson that day and it stuck with me throughout my coaching career. The books always came first."

Troy Hickom: "We will all miss his witty and silly sense of humor and hearing the echoes of '40' being shouted at incredible decibels at Tara Stadium."
 
Christopher Brown: "My favorite memory was when we shared the experiences about going to the annual coaches' convention and just being able to take it all in and learn by sitting in different meetings.  He was a great guide and mentor, and he still is, today."
 
The Clayton State Department of Athletics and the campus community wish Mike Mead on an excellent retirement, which will begin July 1, and appreciate all the dedication, passion, and service to the campus.  Simmons and former assistant Clive Cesar are planning a retirement gathering in honor of Mead on April 29 to be held in the Athletic Center.  Those interested in attending should contact Simmons and/or Cesar via Facebook before April 1.