Aspen Dillard | Writer

What’s one thing that a Cross Country Coach, Track Coach, or just any coach desires? A State ring! The Holy Trinity Boys and Girls Cross Country team has done it before. Not once. Not twice. But 15 times! They couldn’t have done it without their coach, Mr. Doug Butler.  

A Little Insight on Butler

Butler never thought he would ever be a coach. He always loved all sports, like Baseball, Football, and Basketball while growing up. Before Butler coached at Holy Trinity, he coached a handful of individuals around Brevard County. In 1999 he started coaching at Holy Trinity and has been coaching there for the past 15 years.

“When I started coaching at the age of 37, I was very eager to give back to the sport of running, what I had gotten out of it.” 

Butler began his amateur running career in 1983, when he was in the Air Force and stationed in Germany. He initially did it just to stay in shape. But since then he's logged over 70,000 miles, competing in hundreds of races as well. Butler attendded Brevard Community College. He recieved his Bachelor's degree from Barry University and his master's from Capella University. Butler's fastest 5K was 14:52, which is very impressive. In the half-marathon, he ran 1:06.57. He knew that if he could be a decent runner, that anybody could. They would just have to have the right coach. Butler not only is a coach to some, but a role model as well. 

“Coach Butler was sort of a father figure for me while my father was in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I think that our success was a direct product of our close relationship,” states Kyle Cooke, a former runner and Holy Trinity's first boy State Champion. “I think that for my teammates and myself, our relationship with Coach Butler is one of trust and respect.” Butler’s athletes feel that he has taught them that no matter how far off their goals seem, they should never, ever, give up.

Style And Philosophy

Butler says that he has a very autocratic coaching style. His Cross Country team consists of over 60 kids, and his track team consists of 110. Holy Trinity only has about 550 kids in the school to draw from. He feels that his coaching style should be nothing less than the best in order to have athletes who are nothing but the best.

“It has to be my way or the highway as they say.” Butler has zero tolerance for anybody that drinks, uses drugs or tobacco, or any kind of supplements. He does NOT give any second chances.

“We get to do a lot of great things on our team so you need to earn it by following the rules.” Butler expects every kid to show up on time, everyday, and give their best effort. “If you give me your all everyday, I will make you the best runner you can be at the end of the year.”

Pivotal Moments in his career

When Butler won his first championship, he wasn’t very shocked because he was expected to win in 2002. It was the third year of the school existence and the third year of the cross country program. Butler knew that his kids could do it, but he was surprised at the time range that it took them to accomplish it.

Butler is known as one of the most successful coaches in the history of Florida running, as well as one of the best

currently, but if you were to ask him how he measured his success, he would tell you, “I don’t consider state titles as a measure of success. I think success is doing the best you could possibly do and make the most impact you could make.” And there is no better way to say it than that. 

Success in His Runners

Butler has had some AMAZING runners, one of them being Kayla Hale, the three time Foot Locker finalist. Butler has put over 20 athletes over the years into college for running at places like UNF, FSU, UF, USF, Mercer, Davidson, George Mason, Duke, and Stanford. Butler has coached somewhere around 250 runners!

“Winning is always fun so I think they had the fun part covered. The great memories they have in all the trips we have taken are all worth more than those state titles,” states Butler in an interview.

Coach Butler is an amazing coach. You can definitely say that Coach Butler has built quite a dynasty in the 1A classification.