For Immediate Release, Knoxville, Tennessee - 12/03/07
Troy (State) University warmly welcomed alumni and former head track coach Charles Oliver back to its main campus in south Alabama.
He was honored for his accomplishments in athletics,business and education during the Troy Vs Florida Atlantic University football game
Charles Oliver, or Coach O , was a national champion as an athlete and has championship rings – as an athlete, a coach and an administrator.
Coach Oliver was a national champion athlete at Troy State University, winning the NAIA 400-meter championship, and was an alternate on two United States Olympic teams in the 400 meter and the 4x400 meter relay. He still holds the Troy 400-meter record at 45.71 seconds, and, demonstrating his loyalty to his alma mater, he now sponsors two meets at Troy, the Coach O Cross Country Invitational and the Coach O Track & Field Invitational.
Oliver was a coach for the 1991 University of Tennessee National Champion track and field team, and an administrator with the 1998 UT National Champion football team.
Coach O is also a successful businessman with his companys, Bags by Coach O , which, manufactors quality athletic bags, and Coach O Registration, which has developed an on-line meet entry program that is used widely around the country. Some of the profits from the entry program are donated to youth athletics to support grass roots track and field programs for kids.
In addition to philanthropy, Oliver is an innovator as well. He heads up the Tennessee Track & Field Officials Association and is extremely proud of the fact that 82% of the Officials Association members are USATF certified. He is also the driving force behind the tenntrack.com website.
Believing in education as he does, he set up practicum and intern programs for sports management students at the University of Tennessee.
Charles Oliver,is a member of Theta Phi Chapter of Kappa Alpha PSI Fraternity. He was one of 20 brothers of the charter line that brought the first black fraternity to campus.
During half time of the football game he was recognized as one of the charter members of the Troy Letter Winners Club. The purpose of the club is to support the current and past athletes of Troy University.
Coach O has been married to his wife Jessie for 30 years and has two sons, Charles and Alexander, who were both star athletes in their own right.