Beverly Kearney, affectionately known as Bev, is one of those rare stars.
Her passion and gift for coaching and mentoring has inspired some of the finest
athletes to achieve their greatest successes. This includes fourteen Olympians
winning nine Olympic medals, four of which were gold. Recognized as one of the
winnest coaches in the history of track and field Bev was inducted into the
prestigious International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Her record of
seven national championships is the highest among African-American coaches in
collegic sports, and second among women coaches. Bev has been the Head Coach of
the University of Texas Women's Track and Field for fourteen years. She also
served as Head Coach at University of Florida and University of Toledo and
Assistant Coach at University of Tennessee. The women she has coached
throughout her 26-year career stand out as America's best Athletes with over a
95% graduation rate and a total of 230 All-American's calling her their coach.
Bev's many titles do little justice for Bev's ability to motivate, empower and
realize matchless goals repeatedly and consistently.
High expectations and uncompromising faith in her athletes could result in
her being viewed as a tough coach. But Beverly believes in love first, both
tough love and self- love. Her mantra is "believe it, speak it, do it". She
believes intensely that one must commit to, and become fully invested in, one's
own dreams and the realization of one's personal, spiritual and physical
goals.
In 2006, the Buoniconti Foundation honored Bev as a Great Sports Legend. She
joins other alumni legends like Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali. Bev has shared
her winning principles nationally and internationally as a speaker on all of
the major television networks including HBO and ESPN. She has been featured
repeatedly in magazines and journals including People, USA Today and Women's
Health. Bev has also been an honored guest at The White House. Her incredible
life story has been optioned for a movie and has a book deal pending.
Beyond her work as a UT Head Coach, Beverly founded Pursuit of Dreams, a
non-profit organization providing intervention resources, motivation, and
guidance. This has allowed Beverly to draw on her philosophy and use her skills
to expand beyond the athletic arena. The organization recently launched a
successful motivational mentoring program called "Conversations with
Greatness". The program utilizes trailblazers in athletics, business, and the
entertainment community to help people, especially those in transition, achieve
nothing less than greatness.
Bev herself is no stranger to transition and crisis. In her senior year of
high school, she lost her mother and was homeless by the age of 17. However,
she never let circumstances deter her as she forged on through
Beverly believes passionately that everybody can be successful. She lives this
model every day through wins and losses, triumphing gracefully through
obstacles of all kinds. To call Bev a survivor would be a gross understatement
in describing the woman who triumphed over a near fatal automobile accident in
2002. The accident left her in a wheelchair with repeated diagnoses that she
would never walk again. Beverly persisted with the spirit of a lioness in
pursuit. She continued to coach from a wheelchair, ultimately adding two more
national championships to her record.
Beverly is a living example that greatness is still possible despite extreme
obstacles. Through the sheer power of faith, she has come to realize that a
positive spirit can outweigh and outlive the most impossible physical
circumstances.
Beverly's achievements are a luminous star presently admired with awe and
wonder, yet she is indisputably a living legend with the fine points of her
legacy still evolving.
