The sport of track and field has some of the deepest-rooted historical tradition, science, and philosophy foundations dating back to the Ancient Greek Olympiad. Yet, no research has investigated how tradition, coaching philosophy, and coaching science affect track and field performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the different coaching methodologies, modes, and protocols used by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I track and field coaches to understand better the role of tradition, philosophy, and science of training and coaching athletes. The researcher interviewed five NCAA Division I track and field coaches from the Midwest Region of the United States using semi-structured, opened-end questions. By means of Grounded Theory, the results from the inductive data analysis discovered two major concepts. The coaching background of education and experiences as an athlete or coach drive the way coaches training and coach their athletes, and the entities are difficult to separate from one another when looking at how a coach impacts athlete performance. The three entities merely interact with one another, in turn, leading their track and field cultures towards success. This study is the first study to identify any interactions between tradition, coaching philosophy, and coaching science, but is consistent with existing research that supports each entity. Each track and field culture has their own coaching blueprint that is specialized to meet the demands set by their culture; therefore coaches apply methodologies within coaching philosophy, coaching science and tradition to meet these constraints. Future research should investigate the education and experience backgrounds of coaches to clarify further this blueprint of how coaches use the three entities to lead their track and field cultures towards success.
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