It has been a whirlwind year for FSU assistant track coach Ricky Argro. One year after returning to his alma mater to serve as sprints coach, Argro has been focused on helping the Seminoles get back into national title contention while also working with some of his proteges from his days as a high school and youth track coach in Orlando.
One of those runners, former FSU football signee Marvin Bracy, earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team last weekend with a third-place finish in the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Argro also has close relationships with current FSU football players Kermit Whitfield, Jacques Patrick and others, and he was active in the recruitment of 2016 running back signee Amir Rasul.
In this interview with Warchant.com, the 33-year-old Argro talks about Bracy’s accomplishment, his desire to work with more FSU football players, the talents of incoming freshman football players Amir Rasul, Levonta Taylor and Carlos Becker, and more.
Note: Some questions and answers have been edited for clarity and/or brevity.
Q: You were a captain of FSU’s first national championship track team, but this was your first year of collegiate coaching. How did it go for you?
A: The first season went really well. There was definitely a learning curve for me and the athletes – them getting to know me and my style of coaching, and me getting to know them. Obviously, I have high expectations for myself, so I would have liked the end result to be a lot better. But judging from my head coach’s responses and everyone else around me, it seemed to go pretty well.
Q: Looking to the future after what you saw this season, what are you encouraged about going forward? Are there any individual runners that you’re really excited about?
A: My entire group can make a significant impact next year. I’m also excited about being able to work with some of the other athletes in the field events. Our field events coach, Coach Dennis Nobles, talked about me getting involved with some of the long jumpers and some of his athletes – working on improving their speed – so I’m excited about the possibility of working with them. But my entire group, Edward Clarke, Darryl Haraway, Raheem Robinson, Jamal Pitts, I think all of those guys can take the next step toward being ACC champions, toward being top-four, top-five nationally. That’s the next goal for us.
Q: Through the years, FSU has had a lot of football players who like running track …
A: And I love football players running track, too. (laughing)
Q: Who are some of the guys on the football team now that you’ve either worked with or you could possibly work with in the future?
A: Obviously, I’ve had a relationship with Jacques Patrick from back in Orlando. I worked with him a little bit back in Orlando. He’s always eager to get better and to work on his speed. I’ve talked to Levonta Taylor. And obviously, me and Amir [Rasul] have a very good relationship. So I’m definitely looking forward to building that relationship with him. But for the most part, I’m really just looking forward to building a great relationship with Coach [Jimbo] Fisher and his staff.
And making sure that he understands that I understand that football is No. 1, that football is paramount to Florida State as a whole. Being a former football player myself, I understand the balance of speed training and the demands of football. So whenever all of the football obligations are taken care of, if he feels good enough to allow me to work with any of his athletes, I’m all for it. Hopefully, we can have a great relationship for the foreseeable future.
Q: You mentioned talking to Levonta Taylor, who obviously is a huge recruit in that 2016 class in football. Have you worked with him yet?
A: No, but I’m looking forward to it. (laughing)
Q: What were those conversations like when you spoke with him?
A: Oh man. To be such a young guy, his attitude toward work is something that is refreshing. We live in an age with social media, and a lot of these kids put more effort into using their thumbs – typing their social media posts – than they do putting the effort into perfecting their craft. That kid is an ultimate perfectionist when it comes to his craft. He does not shy away from hard work. He wants it. He welcomes it.
Q: Levonta Taylor and Carlos Becker are guys who might be able to help you out on the track team, and Amir Rasul has said he definitely plans on running track at FSU. Can you talk about him and his ability to do two sports at FSU?
A: From the time I started getting involved in track and field coaching, I’ve heard about this kid. He was in middle school then. He’s held many national records, I want to say from maybe the age of 9 on up. So when you look at what he’s been able to do his entire life in track, he’s one of the best around. But we’ll have to see how it all works out. It was always easy coaching Kermit [Whitfield] and Marvin [Bracy] – being their size, they never really needed to be very big at wide receiver. Whereas at running back, you’re taking a pounding. Being able to manage the weight that he’s going to need to take that pounding at running back, while also building his speed in track, would be an adjustment. But he has all the tools in the world to be successful at both.
Q: Carlos Becker, who also is part of that football signing class, won the Florida state long jump championship with a mark of 25 feet. How rare is that for a high school athlete?
A: It’s definitely rare for an athlete in high school to jump that far. Then when you take into account that he hasn’t really been taught to do it … I can share with you a little story because I’m close with one of his [high school] track coaches., and this is before he had that 25-foot long jump. He said they were trying to work on Carlos’ long jump approach, and he couldn’t really get the steps down. So finally he said, “You know what? I’m just gonna run.” So the kid ran full speed down the runway, and he jumps like 23-10, which is an admirable jump for a high school kid. But he did it jumping maybe a foot and a half behind the board, and he jumped off the wrong foot.
So when I hear that, I understand immediately, “OK, this kid’s special.” So if we could possibly get him out there working with our jump coach – and obviously I’m biased, but I think Coach Nobles is the best field events coach in the country, if not the world – and possibly me on the speed side. He has the potential to be a national champion in that event.
Q: Marvin Bracy, who you coached and mentored for years, landed a spot on the Olympic team last weekend. What was that like for you, watching that?
A: Indescribable, really. … I normally don’t get nervous when Marvin’s running. But he kind of made me nervous. Normally, Marvin and I will talk two or three times a week. But over these last couple of weeks, I would say he’s called me every day, which made me nervous because I figured he must be really nervous. So I was so happy to see him fulfill his dream – a dream that we both talked about a long time ago, when he was a kid. It definitely was a great experience.
Q: Have you seen any change in him that allowed him to reach this point?
A: His attention to detail, in terms of understanding his race. When I have conversations with Marvin now, we talk about acceleration patterns and race modeling, maximum velocity and things like that. It almost sounds like I’m talking to another coach. So his understanding of track and field, and his event specifically, has grown a lot. He’s also grown a lot in terms of accepting all that it takes to be great – his eating habits, getting adequate amounts of rest when it’s needed and things like that.
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