Many exceptional athletes leave U. Illinois and move on to a life of professional competition. Some move on to normal careers having nothing to do with sports. Others become coaches of the sport they competed in for so many years.

“You invest so much in yourself, in your program, in your school that it’s sometimes really hard to leave behind,” said Stephanie Wagemann, current assistant women’s golf coach, who was on the team from 2004-2008. “But luckily not everyone has to leave that behind.”

Like Wagemann, there are many athletes from Illinois who moved on to become coaches at their Alma Mater. Tonja Buford-Bailey, the head women’s track coach; Katie O’Connell, assistant women’s softball coach; Mike Small, head men’s golf coach; and Justin Spring, men’s gymnastics associate head coach are just a few, said Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown. He said that countless former athletes are coaches at other universities and high schools.

“Champaign is just a great town and a great place to live your life,” said Spring, who has already bought his second house in Champaign. Spring had a fast-paced career as a gymnast at Illinois, landing on the bronze-medal winning team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He originally started coaching as a way to continue his own training, but when he became associate head coach, he knew it was time to retire.

“I will miss the thrill of competing, but it is a different type of feeling living through your athletes,” Spring said. “I never got very emotional when I won everything, but when Paul (Ruggeri) and Tyler (Mizoguchi) made the national team, I started tearing up because I knew this was their lifelong dream and I helped them fulfill it.”

Coaches also say the transition is hard because of the lack of control over the outcome.

“You just have to sit there and watch, you can’t do anything about it,” O’Connell said. “You can yell and point as much as you want but there is nothing you can do to change the situation.”

O’Connell enjoys being a coach at Illinois because she feels it gives her an added advantage coaching at her Alma Mater.

“I am familiar with the program and with (head coach Terri Sullivan),” O’Connell said. “It gives me an edge knowing what’s going on and how to handle specific situations.”

“It also helps that I haven’t had much time away from being a player because I am able to communicate things with the players in a way that they would understand.”

For Wagemann and Spring, they began coaching so quickly after college that they ended up coaching people with whom they used to be teammates.

“At first, it was a little hard to establish myself,” Spring said. “But eventually, I made it clear, ‘Yes, I used to be your friend, yes I still want to be your friend, but it’s different now.’”

Wagemann said that being a coach is different, but it is the closest many athletes could get to staying connected to their sport and their school.

“By being a coach, you never have to stop being around the game,” Wagemann said. “And that’s what makes it the most exciting.”