One-on-One with Tim Hartung

In the spring of 2008, Tim Hartung, a two-time NCAA champion for the University of Minnesota in the late 90s, walked away from wrestling, resigning from his position as an assistant coach at Iowa State. A year and a half later, Hartung is back in wrestling ... coaching at the high school level in Eagan, Minnesota.

InterMat recently talked to Hartung about a variety of subjects, including coaching in high school and college, Cael Sanderson, Jake Varner, Mark Perry, Brock Lesnar, Marty Morgan, and much more.

Tim Hartung

After the 2008 season, you left your position as an assistant coach at Iowa State. That move surprised some because it's not often that a Division I college coach walks away from the sport. What went into that decision at the time?

Hartung: It was completely family. I had a little baby on the way. My wife and I had talked about it forever that once we start a family I was going to get out of the college coaching world. You're gone too much ... and way too much time away from family. That was the only decision.

What intrigued you about getting into coaching wrestling at the high school level?

Hartung: It's a catalyst for me. My long-term plan is to get into administration. In order to get an administrator's license, I have to teach three years before I'm eligible to become an administrator. I have to teach for three years and while I'm teaching, it was a good fit for me to also coach wrestling. Obviously, I love the sport. I missed it a little bit. And it's just a way to stay connected.

So you don't see coaching as a long-term thing?

Hartung: You might be able to find a district that would allow you to be an administrator and coach, but most of the time that's not an option. It's not like once you get your administrator's license you're just a shoe-in. It may take me six, seven, eight, nine, ten years before I find an administrative job that I like. But eventually, yeah, I don't plan on coaching forever. Most of the time, once you become an administrator in some capacity, you're real busy and they don't allow you to coach.

I can imagine there are some differences between coaching in high school and coaching in college ...

Hartung: There are, but it's all the same. You try to take a group of kids or young adults, help them get better and accomplish their goals. What you're trying to accomplish is the exact same. You're just working with different people and different levels of ability. So really the approach is the same. I was surprised. The mentality that you try to preach ... the style that you try to preach ... the commitment that you try to preach might be toned down a little bit, but it's really the same. You have the same goals and the same intentions in mind. It's kind of crazy.

Not only were you successful as a competitor at a very high level, but you also were able to coach at three of the nation's top college wrestling programs. How important was that for you to be able to spend time in three different top collegiate wrestling programs?

Tim Hartung

Hartung: Well, I can tell you right now, as a coach, I use a lot of the skills, tactics, techniques, and mentalities that I picked up at all three places. I got to work with great people. It's no different than a business man that bounces around and spends time in three or four different companies. You learn from each place and ultimately it makes you better. That's the thing that I took away from it ... different philosophies, different approaches to try to achieve the same objective. I know it has helped me. Coming out of J [Robinson]'s program, he's real strict and his mentality is awesome. He's been real successful. Jimmy [Zaleskey] had a different twist. He was a little bit more laid back and tried to motivate the guys a little bit more intrinsically. And then Cael [Sanderson] brought a different twist to that too. So I have just kind of been a sponge and taken different pieces from each guy and kind of made it my own, so it's been interesting.

The programs that you have been associated with have only known winning. The high school where you're now coaching, Eagan, isn't a wrestling powerhouse in Minnesota, so it's obviously going to take some building. I know you're focused on getting Eagan to the top, but how patient are you going to be with winning?

Hartung: One of the biggest things I learned from Coach Sanderson at Iowa State ... When he coached, he was real consistent with his message. It never involved winning and losing. It involved your best effort. I use that same exact team motto every day. It's your best effort ... That's all I'm concerned about. Your best effort. Your best performance. Trying to achieve your best results ... Whatever that is. That has kind of been my approach with these guys. We are a real inexperienced team. We don't have a strong, winning tradition. I'm a realist. We have Apple Valley in our district. They are one of the premier programs in the country. My goals for this team are just to get better and for them to give their best effort and learn more of the life lessons on how to fight and how to go after your goals. Winning will come, but obviously it's going to take a while. But there are bigger lessons to learn. That's kind of our approach right now.

You mentioned Apple Valley. Do you like being in the same conference and section as Apple Valley because it shows your wrestlers a higher level, maybe a level that you would like to get to? Or would you just as soon not have to deal with Apple Valley?

Hartung: That's a loaded question. I mean, any team wants to beat the best eventually. But the facts are ... a team that's less experienced and a team that has been taking a beating from a team like Apple Valley forever, it's tough to overcome that obstacle. You look at Iowa-Iowa State. Iowa State has had some teams that most people would argue were better, but they never seem to be able to win that dual. It's a psychological thing. I haven't been here long enough to know what our guys are feeling. We do wrestle them in the middle of January. I would imagine that we get real intimidated. I'm sure that happens. Any coach's goal would be to make the state tournament first of all ... and then try to do the best you can there. That kind of puts you behind the eight ball when you have Apple Valley in your district. Would I rather be in a different district? Potentially. But eventually your goal is always to be the best, so you have to beat them at some point.

In April, Cael Sanderson left his position at Iowa State to become the head coach at Penn State. Obviously, you have developed a relationship with Cael. How surprised were you that Cael left Iowa State?

Cael Sanderson (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)

Hartung: I don't know that anybody saw it coming. But I know that he wants to win. Obviously, he felt that Penn State gave him a better chance to do that. I was a little bit surprised, but I guess that's the coaching world. You see it all the time in all the different sports. I don't even know what type of deal he got or whatnot, but it had to be decent to get him away from Iowa State. It's awesome to see wrestling do that. Other sports do it all the time. Programs come in and try to sweep a great coach away by spiffing up the deal. That's what happened I think with Cael. It's just awesome that wrestling had that opportunity.

You won two NCAA Division I titles, so obviously you know what it takes to win at that level. Cael is the only wrestler to go undefeated in college and win four NCAA Division I titles. Do you think we will ever see another wrestler go undefeated and win four NCAA Division I titles in our lifetime?

Hartung: There is always somebody coming along that will have a chance to do it I'm sure. It's an incredible feat ... as anybody that has wrestled in college knows ... between injuries, being tweaked, getting sick, wrestling through pain ... There are just so many variables. There have been plenty of guys probably with the talent level to do it, but it takes an extremely solid, mentally strong individual to go four years undefeated like he did. It wasn't like he sat out a lot of matches. I'm not sure he sat out any. That's just unbelievable. There are so many things. There was some luck involved I would imagine because he didn't get injured a lot. The way he wrestled probably had something to do with that. No major sicknesses like pneumonia or something. There are just so many things. It's such a hard thing. I think people realize the magnitude of the accomplishment, but it always seems there is a next generation guy coming through in all the sports. LeBron James ... Everyone thought he was going to be better than Jordan. Tiger Woods came along after Jack Nicklaus. There is always somebody coming. But do I think it will happen? The smart man would say no.

You worked closely with Jake Varner while at Iowa State. He won an NCAA title last season and then made his first U.S. World Team. How great do you think he can be?

Hartung: He's just a great kid. He's earned everything he's got. He's the hardest worker that I've been around. He's the hardest guy I've ever wrestled while coaching and wrestling college athletes. The kid is good. He's so solid. He's so strong. He works extremely hard. At the end of every practice, he would grab Cael and go a couple more takedowns ... or he would grab me. Or he would jump rope for another 20 minutes. He really works for what he's got. He gets criticized from time to time for not being as offensive as people would like him to be. But you look back at the history ... guys like Lee Kemp. He wasn't an offensive machine either, but he got it done. That's kind of what he does.

Tim Hartung (Photo/The Guillotine)

In 2002, you won the U.S. Nationals and also made the U.S. World Team that year. But the U.S. did not participate in the 2002 World Championships in Iran due to a threat of violence towards the team. How much does that bother you that you didn't get an opportunity to represent the U.S. when you earned the spot?

Hartung: Well, you always want a chance to compete at that level. I don't think much about that. It bothers me more that I fell a little bit short in 2004. That was my ultimate goal ... to make the Olympic Team. The 2002 thing was out of my control, so it's a little easier to kind of just let it go. But in 2004, I fell short on my own efforts. That's never the way you want your career to end.

In talking to Mark Perry recently, he brought up your name when talking about coaches who have helped him throughout his career. Perry is now the top assistant at Cal Poly and already seems to be making a tremendous impact as a coach. Did you foresee a coaching career in his future when you were working with him at Iowa?

Hartung: Well, he's got unbelievable knowledge of the sport. I think it comes from his family. I know he's talked about when he grew up, he was in the Oklahoma State room every day as a kid. He understands the sport probably as well as anybody. He's a real likeable kid. He has that knack for building relationships and connecting with people. I think that's what potentially could make him a really good coach. The guys that come into a college program will instantly gravitate towards him and kind of attach to him. He's got great credentials, great technique, great knowledge, and great enthusiasm for the sport. He should do really well.

Your former teammate, Brock Lesnar, is now the UFC heavyweight champion. He pulled out of a November UFC event because of an illness. It was recently reported that Lesnar has an intestinal condition that has been ongoing for around a year. Do you still keep in touch with Lesnar? And if so, have you heard how he's doing?

Hartung: I don't talk to him much. I was up training with him a little bit last May, so we kind of reconnected then. But he's busy and I'm busy, so it's tough to stay connected. But I heard through a couple guys that he's recovering well. They keep it pretty quiet. They don't really tell people exactly what's going on. So that's kind of where I'm at.

You developed a relationship with Marty Morgan during your time at the University of Minnesota. Morgan is now working with Lesnar. He has said there are only a couple Division I head coaching jobs that we would consider. Do you think Morgan will ever become a Division I head coach?

Tim Hartung (Photo/The Guillotine)

Hartung: I don't know. I know one of the things he's enjoying now is his family. He has four kids. When he stepped away from coaching one of the things he said was, 'Wow, this is what it's like to have a life?' Coaching is a grind. All coaches will tell you that. You're constantly on the trail ... the recruiting trail or on the competition trail. And if you're not, you're not one of the best programs. The commitment that you need, it's just a hard life. You better enjoy it and you better make it a priority. It's real hard thing to do when you have a family that is trying to pull your commitments from that side. But I'm not sure if he will ever become a Division I head coach. It's a good question. I would say if it's sometime in the real near future ... like the Minnesota job or something, I think he would strongly consider it. But I'm not real sure.

Do you stay connected with the University of Minnesota wrestling program?

Hartung: I haven't that much. I have only been in the room one time since I've been back here, which has been about a year and a half. I really wish I could more. But I'm working on some teaching license stuff and I'm going to school. I have a new job in the Eagan school district. I'm coaching. Your time is limited. I have my family, which is my No. 1 priority. Everybody gets busy. It's tough to stay connected. I would love to more ... I know that. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Hopefully I will when I slow down at some point. I would really like to.

This story also appears in the January 1 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on how to subscribe, click HERE.

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