KINGSTON, R.I. – It is the end of an era for Rhode Island athletics, as legendary men's track & field head coach John Copeland has announced he will retire after 39 years at URI.

In true Copeland fashion, he quietly let the decision be known to a select few as his team put the finishing touches on the 2021 Atlantic 10 Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship. It was the 25th A-10 title for the Rams under Copeland's watch. Since the conference began conducting indoor meets in 1993 and outdoor meets in 1997, Rhode Island has won 51 percent (25 of 49) of all possible A-10 track and field titles. His teams also have won 16 New England titles.

Copeland's run at URI began in 1982, when he came to URI following nine years at the University of New Hampshire.

"It has been a great experience because I think I had an opportunity to impact kids' lives," Copeland said. "That's the biggest thing. I reflect on my coaches in high school and college, and they had such a huge influence on my life. I'll forever be indebted to those coaches."

Copeland's impact at Rhode Island has been massive.

In terms of competitors, the numbers are staggering. Seven All-Americans. More than 300 individual Atlantic 10 champions. More than 70 Academic All-Conference selections. More than 30 Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Performers in either track or field disciplines. Twenty-two A-10 Coach of the Year honors. His teams have broken 52 of a possible 57 program records in modern track & field event records.

But it is the personal impacts that are truly impossible to measure. The young alcoholic who has not had a drink in more than 40 years, thanks to the care and direction he received from Copeland; the yearly Father's Day card he gets from the former athlete who didn't have a father figure before Copeland; the annual Christmas card from a mother, who sent three sons to run in Kingston.

"Don't get me wrong. I love having 25 Atlantic 10 titles in 20 years, but that is not the most important thing," Copeland said. "Getting those random telephone calls or emails from all the guys who have come through over the years, that means the world to me.

"The alum who will drive two hours to see kids he doesn't even know compete, that tells me a lot of very important stuff about how big an impact was made on those kids. That says so much about what they really think."

Several years ago, during an athletics staff training seminar at URI, Copeland was asked by the presenter what motivated him every day. It was not the type of question he ever gave thought to.

"What came out of my mouth kind of shocked me," Copeland said. "I said, 'I just want to make my parents proud of me.' My parents have been dead for many years, and I found myself looking back on that moment and thinking, 'Where the hell did that come from?' It must be the truth. I think about that more and more as I get older."

Copeland's success through the years can, in many ways, be boiled down to some simple philosophies: Consistency, personal accountability, hard work are all areas that require effort, but also all things that can be attained by any individual.  

"The consistency of the message has to do with my upbringing," Copeland said. "You have to be a quality person. We all have shortcomings, but I also have things I am never going to relent on. That is something the kids have picked up on. If the bus is leaving at 8 o'clock, they need to be on it at 7:59 a.m. That work ethic pays them dividends when they get a job and they show up on time. That's how life works in the real world, and the goal has always been to prepare kids for the real world."

More than that, Copeland also has always been willing to coach kids up, provided they are willing to work. Whether it is the naturally talented Olympic hopeful, or the fourth-on-the-depth-chart grinder who might someday score one team point at the league meet, Copeland had a way of coaching kids to their potential. Many of the program's A-10 and New England championships have been won due to the contributions of non-scholarship walk-ons.

Some of that willingness to see each individual's potential stems from his own career. When he arrived as a non-recruited, non-scholarship athlete at the University of Connecticut, Copeland was told he was not talented enough to be on the track & field team. So he had to make adjustments as suggested by his coaches, and he put in the work.

By the time he finished his career at UConn, he was senior captain, a six-time Yankee Conference champion, three-time New England champion, an NCAA qualifier and a IC4AAAA runner up.

"Pretty good career for somebody who was not good enough to be on the team," Copeland said. "And the thing is, they were right. I was not good enough to be on the team. Through what they did and what I did, we were able to accomplish something."

Without track & field, Copeland does not believe he would have lasted more than one semester at UConn. He needed a focus, and in turn he became a student as well as an athlete.

"Track offered me something I could look forward to each day and have fun doing it," Copeland said. "It gave me something to focus on, and that has always been what I've tried to give the kids I've worked with. The titles don't mean anything compared to the experience the kids have and what they learn about themselves. Accomplishments speak louder than plans."

Copeland has seen the world of athletics transform during his career.

"If I look back on my own career, it was during the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. That was a tumultuous time. When I got to New Hampshire, Title IX was starting to brew. There were few women's teams."

As a young coach at UNH, he worked with the women's club team when they asked for help, despite warnings from administration not to do so. He saw athletes trying to get better, and he was willing to help when it wasn't always acceptable. That club later morphed into a varsity team that has since produced NCAA champions.

"Track has been very satisfying for me, and I feel like I have made positive impacts on people's lives," Copeland said. "I still want to have an impact. Retirement is kind of a blank sheet right now, but I hope I can start to fill the canvas with some nice stuff."

As he thinks about the future, Copeland suggests possibly working with the elderly population or Veterans. He himself is a Bronze Star recipient from his time in the Army during the Vietnam War.

"I'd like to be able to contribute to society. I'm not going to win a Nobel Prize or anything like that, but I have something to offer," Copeland said. "The thing I like about the college population is that they are still in their formative years, and you can still make huge, huge gains in what an individual is going to be able to do with their life.

"I believe in the things I learned as a kid. It's important for our athletes to learn it now. The sooner they learn it, the better off they will be. That has been a consistent message through the years. My greatest contribution has been to keep positive values alive for the student-athletes."