One of the world’s leading authorities on multi-events competition is celebrating his 62nd season in the track and field program at Mount St. Mary’s. Deegan officially retired in 2006, but still remains with the program as a volunteer with full coaching capacities. Upon his retirement he was officially recognized by the United States Track and Field Association for his monumental contributions to track and field.
In half a century at the Mount, coach Deegan has coached all of the Mount’s 16 Olympic competitors. The Mount’s Olympic competition is crowned by Kenyan Peter Rono’s 1500m gold medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea. Coach Deegan’s list of credentials also includes coaching 10 decathletes to all-America status.
Under his tutelage, at least one Mountaineer earned All-America honors for 23 consecutive years from 1972 to 1994. In 1995, Deegan was selected to head the United States National Team in a dual decathlon meet against Germany in the Dusseldorf suburbs. Coach Deegan can also boast an outstanding Penn Relays record which includes ten decathlon champions.
Most recently, Deegan has has coached two different Penn Relays decathlon champions, a two-time IC4A heptathlon winner and record holder, and a total of 20 Northeast Conference champions
A member of the Mount St. Mary's University Sports Hall of Fame, the Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame and the West Chester Hall of Fame, Deegan also guided the Mount soccer team to 216 victories in 38 seasons. Originally from Philadelphia, Deegan played soccer and ran track at West Chester University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in Mathematics and History in 1956. He went straight to the Mount head coaching positions in soccer, track and cross country while teaching accounting and mathematics at the now-defunct St. Joseph’s College in Emmitsburg. He received his master’s in Education from Western Maryland College in 1960.
Deegan lives in Waynesboro, Pa. He is married to the former Marge Wetzel. They have five children and seven grandchildren.
