At the University, it’s quite common for a scholar to produce work meriting translation in other languages.

Even for the men’s track and field coach.

First-year Wolverine coach Fred LaPlante's hurdling techniques have been used across the globe in places like Germany and Russia.

“His technical eye is incredible,” former Michigan head coach and current associate head coach Ron Warhurst said. “I can watch a guy and say he looks pretty good, and he’ll be like, ‘His toe was down.’ It’s like he’s got a slow-motion camera in his head.”

Warhurst said LaPlante’s frame-by-frame vision for sprints and hurdles is a unique talent that separates him from other coaches.

When LaPlante shares his expert knowledge of short-distance events, he speaks from wisdom accumulated outside of his mid-distance running career.

A 1972 graduate of Eastern Michigan, one of LaPlante's Eagle teammates was the national high school hurdles record holder. His teammate's talent sparked him to write a biochemical analysis paper on the act of hurdling.

After graduating, LaPlante began dating female hurdler Debby Lansky, who later became his first wife. LaPlante said he felt very self-conscious about his lack of knowledge in her event, so he hit the books again.

“I delved into this, and within five years of that, I was the women’s national coach,” LaPlante said. “I read a lot. I watched tapes, and I went around interviewing coaches. I wanted to get top people in the world.”

Before his stint as the women’s national hurdles coach, he was the women’s track and field coach at San Diego State from 1979 to 1983. LaPlante also used his research to help Lansky reach the Olympics.

But LaPlante mentions none of this to recruits. He doubts that many of his players even know about this part of his coaching career. He said all that matters is what you’ve done very recently.

And the Toledo native's lessons don't end there.

Redshirt sophomore hurdler Nick McCampbell likes LaPlante's style because he has no specific prototype of what he wants to see — he just wants results.

"Ever since I started hurdling, I've had issues with my lead arm going wide," McCampbell said. "He taught me to really emphasize bringing the arm straight back instead of other motions and I've been using that since last year.

"He took a very pragmatic motion and just took the arm back. Not technically sound, but it happens to work for me so we continued to work with it."

LaPlante's recent accomplishments include coaching 2007 individual national champion Jeff Porter in hurdles. A Midwest hurdling champion is a rarity, since champions are typically from the South and the West Coast.

His overall record speaks for itself — so he doesn't have to. After coaching 17 Olympians and 25 national champions, few can match his 32-season track record.

“You never get cocky," LaPlante said. "You never feel like you know it all. There’s always things to learn. I feel like there could be a 20-year-old coach that could still teach me something.”