Jerry Quiller, a beloved former track and cross country coach at the University of Colorado, died Thursday after a long battle with multiple myeloma. Quiller was 69.
“There have only been a couple of guys I have known in my life that loved track and field as much as he did,” said John Lunn, who was coached by Quiller in the 1960s and remained close to him for the rest of his life. “He just genuinely cared about every athlete that participated in track and field.”
Quiller was a CU assistant coach from 1970-74. After head coaching stints at Wayne State, Colorado State and Idaho State, the man affectionally known as “Coach Q” returned to CU as head coach from 1985-95. CU’s current head coach, Mark Wetmore, was an assistant to Quiller.
When Quiller was nearing the end of his fight with multiple myeloma, many of the athletes he coached went out of their way to help him.
“I’ve been lucky to know many people considered to be successful … athletic champions, Olympians, wealthy people, well-known or influential people, but I’m not sure I ever knew anyone more successful than Jerry Quiller,” Wetmore said in a statement released by CU. “Everywhere I have traveled, people have asked me, ‘What do you hear from Q?’ ‘Can you get me Q’s phone number?’ We had a CU track and field reunion a year ago, with hundreds of graduates, going back 40 years. Q was surrounded all night.”
Quiller helped lay the groundwork for Wetmore to build one of the best cross country programs in the country.
But Quiller will be remembered more for being a kind, gentle man with a wonderful sense of humor.
“The enthusiasm he showed toward all of his athletes was real, absolutely real,” Lunn said. “He loved them like they were his kids.”
