Legendary wrestling coach Bobby Douglas, who led the ASU wrestling program from 1974 to 1992, died on Feb. 23 at the age of 83.
Sun Devil Athletics released a statement after his death, calling him "a monumental figure in the world of Wrestling and Sun Devil Athletics." Numerous other members of the wrestling community released posts about Douglas's impact, including Olympic gold medalist and UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
"Bobby Douglas is the greatest wrestling coach of all time, that simple," ASU wrestling head coach Zeke Jones, who wrestled under Douglas from 1987-90, said. "(He) won a national championship at Arizona State, was head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, wrestled in two Olympic Games, the highest wrestling IQ of any man I've ever known."
Douglas came to Tempe as a storied wrestler himself, becoming the first Black U.S. wrestler to compete at the Olympics in 1964, finishing in fourth place at featherweight. His legendary 11-1 victory over Dan Gable at the 1968 Olympics Trials also helped shape the future wrestling Hall of Famer's career.
Over his 18 seasons with ASU, Douglas compiled a 229-95-6 record en route to becoming the winningest head coach in Sun Devil wrestling history. During his time at ASU, Douglas won eight Pac-12 coach of the year awards, coached 59 total All-Americans and helped win three individual NCAA championships.
One of those wrestlers was Dan Severn, who would later be inducted into the National Wrestling and UFC Hall of Fames. Severn competed under Douglas from 1977-81 and was a two-time All-American during his ASU career.
Severn said Douglas pushed his athletes in practice, motivating each wrestler in a different manner and employing a hands-on method during training sessions.
"There was times when I would actually be in the ASU practice room, and I would roll with him, and I could not believe the amount of leverage he had," Severn said.
Douglas's training style was unique, making his wrestlers run wind sprints and stadium stairs when he felt dissatisfied with their results, Severn said, and incorporating yoga and visualization in practices.
His time at ASU culminated with the Sun Devils' first and only wrestling national championship in 1988, taking down Iowa in the three-day tournament.
After winning the trophy, the team carved their names into the bottom of the hardware, a move that Jones recalled vividly for Douglas’s reaction.
"Chip Park was the first one to do it, and when Chip carved his name, I'm like, 'Man, Coach Douglas is going to kill us. What are you doing, Chip? He's going to kill you!'" Jones said. "By the end of the night, Bobby Douglas carved his name in the bottom of the trophy."
After leaving ASU, Douglas took over the reins at Iowa State for 14 years, being named the NWCA National Coach of the Year in 2000 and adding 198 more victories to his resume. His 427 wins made him one of just four collegiate wrestling coaches to hit the 400 mark, and he mentored Cael Sanderson, widely considered among the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time.
Douglas was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 1987 and then was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame in 1999.
Douglas's accomplishments and pedigree are amongst the greatest in the collegiate sport's history, but it's his influence on his wrestlers and the programs he coached as a whole that truly speak volumes.
"We're talking about him today," Jones said. "We won the national championship 40 years ago. That's how big of an impact (he had). Decades later, they still speak of Bobby Douglas and Sun Devil wrestling."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Henry Smardo, Katrina Michalak and Ellis Preston.
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Pratham Valluri is a sports reporter at The State Press. He is a junior majoring in sports journalism with business and data analytics minors. He’s in his 5th semester with The State Press working previously as an opinion writer.
