The Wolfpacker

JANUARY 2016 ■ 53 BY MATT CARTER D on Easterling's journey to NC State began with a touch of irony. He found quick success as a swimming coach, tak- ing a job at the University of Texas-Arlington in 1966 and three years later leading the college to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Dur- ing his brief tenure there, he also coached a pair of Olympians. Easterling was at the NCAA Champion- ships when he got his first glimpse of NC- SU's then-swimming coach Willis Casey, a well-known disciplinarian. "I hoped I didn't meet that guy," Easter- ling remembered thinking. For some perspective on Casey's per- sonality, one that Easterling best described as "a motivator by fear," even legendary men's basketball coach Jim Valvano found himself retreating in Casey's presence. Legend has it that Valvano, early in his tenure, had a desire to increase the size of NC State's pocket-sized media guide to a full-size magazine like the other ACC schools were producing. So Valvano walked into Casey's office and carefully laid out all the media guides on Casey's desk for him to see and respect- fully asked, "What does this show?" "Shows me I hired the wrong coach," Casey retorted. Valvano quickly gathered the media guides and left the office. Casey was hired as State's athletics di- rector in 1969, ending his tenure as the school's swimming and diving coach af- ter he won nine ACC championships from 1953-70. Searching for his own replace- ment, Casey turned to the wonder coach at Texas-Arlington. Easterling quickly discovered he had a lot to learn about the nature of NC State's rivalry with North Carolina. "I had no idea that was such a thing," Easterling said. "I got off the plane to inter- view for the job at State, and I was wearing a Carolina blue shirt. I didn't know that was a bad thing to do. "They took me to a JC Penny there and got me a white shirt and red tie." Easterling proved more than a capable replacement for Casey. The men's program won the ACC title in his first 12 years at the helm and 14 of the first 15. The one hiccup was a second-place finish in 1983. The 1980 championship may have been the one that stuck out to Easterling the most. "We were going for 10 in a row, and we always hung the banner up in September that we won the year before," Easterling noted. "We won in 1979, so I hung up the banner up. "Unbeknownst to anyone, I hung up the banner for 1980 several months in advance and covered it up with the Olympic flag since it was an Olympic year. Nobody knew it was up there except me. "We got down to the last night of the ACC Championships, it was at our place, and we were behind 14 or 15 points." Easterling had pressed Casey if he was going to be there for the final day, and the athletic director made his coach assure him the Pack was going to win. On the final night, the standings hinged on the last race results. Before it started, Easterling made a bold move. "I went up there on a ladder and pulled the Olympic flag down," Easterling said, revealing the premature 1980 banner that he had already hung. "We won the race, and I jumped in the water with my clothes and stopwatch on. "It was the stupidest motivational thing I have ever done in my life, but it worked." Easterling also jumpstarted the women's program in 1975-76, winning the league's first two championships. Nationally, his first six squads finished no worse than 13th at the AIAW national meet before he briefly turned over the program to Bob Wiencken in 1981. Easterling resigned from NC State dur- ing the 1994-95 season. During his tenure, the Pack won 15 men's ACC titles and two on the women's side. The men finished as high as sixth at the NCAA Championships in 1976. He coached 40 swimmers and divers to All-America status (24 men and 16 women). Seven would make Olympic teams, with four earning medals. "The people made everything good," Easterling said. "I was fortunate enough, towards the end, to be able to do a lot of traveling with the Wolfpack Club and fun- draising around the state. "We'd travel all over the place, raising scholarship money. Valvano was a heck of a speaker. The people that you meet that make up NC State University are pretty special people." Easterling moved back to Texas upon retirement, but he still had the desire to coach. He took over the swimming pro- gram at a high school until 2003 when he moved to Charlottesville, Va., where his friend Mark Bernardino was the swimming and diving head coach at Virginia. Easterling would help on a volunteer ba- sis, spending afternoons with the team and doing a lot of video work until Bernardino retired in 2013. "Now, I have all this time on my hand," Easterling lives on a farm in Charlottesville, Va , where he coaches the masters swimming team at a local fitness center. PHOTO BY KELSEY GRANT BORN TO COACH Legendary Former Swimming Coach Don Easterling Continues To Teach WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Easterling was twice named the ACC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year (1984 and 1992). PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS Don Easterling Age: 83 Living: Charlottesville, Va. Occupation: Retired but still teaches swimming part-time Did you know? During his 25-year tenure as a swimming coach at NC State, Easterling won 17 ACC titles while coaching 40 All-Americans and seven Olympians. ? WHERE ARE THEY NOW

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