UNM legend Rusty Mitchell passes at 80

Feb. 27—In a 2010 phone interview, actor Kent McCord ("Adam 12") told this story about his Southern California boyhood friend Rusty Mitchell.

During a baseball game, McCord recalled, Mitchell — about 10 at the time — charged a slow-moving ground ball while playing third base.

Young Rusty fielded the ball, executed a perfect front flip and threw out the runner at first.

And whatever talent Mitchell might have had for baseball, it was the exacting, demanding sport of gymnastics that he ultimately flipped for.

Mitchell, a 1964 U.S. Olympian and the University of New Mexico's men's gymnastics coach from 1966-99, died last week after suffering a series of strokes in his later years. He was 80.

"We're getting a lot of comments," said Mitchell's longtime friend Kevin Georges in a phone interview, "from people that either were coached by him or knew him or were friends of his. One said that Rusty was a great man whose life made a difference in the world.

"There's all kinds of adjectives you (could use). He was first-class and dependable. He was a perfectionist. A legend."

Born in Phoenix, Mitchell moved with his family to Southern California at a young age. After a spectacular gymnastics career at Baldwin Park High School, he became a 10-time All-American while competing at Southern Illinois University for coach Bill Meade.

In Tokyo in 1964, he was credited with executing the first double-back somersault in Olympic history.

Brought to UNM at the age of 24 by athletic director Pete McDavid, Mitchell built arguably the most successful athletic program in the school's history: 11 Western Athletic Conference titles, 53 All-Americans, 16 individual NCAA champions, a fourth-place NCAA team finish in 1993.

In 1999, UNM dropped men's gymnastics (women's gymnastics having been dropped in 1992), along with wrestling and men's swimming. Budgetary and Title IX concerns, as well as the need to conform with membership in the newly established Mountain West Conference, were cited.

In a phone interview 11 years later, Mitchell said the loss of his program still hurt. But, still a tenured UNM physical education professor, he continued to teach.

"I've enjoyed it," he said.

"People would take his class at UNM, my daughter was one of them, and would take it two or three times, even though they weren't getting credits for it,"Georges said. "Just because they enjoyed his class so much."

Mitchell also taught privately and remained active in the community.

"He was involved with Character Counts," Georges said. "He would go to schools and do exhibitions, and talk to kids and stress how important character is."

In 2016, Mitchell suffered a series of strokes that deprived him of the ability to speak. He'd been otherwise healthy until last week, Georges said, though frustrated.

"He loved telling stories," Georges said, "and it was just hard to see him like this for seven years."

On Wednesday, he suffered another stroke and was unable to recover.

"He gave it a good fight," Georges said.

In 2010, Georges had organized a reunion of Mitchell's former athletes in tribute to their coach.

Matt Arnot, an Albuquerque gymnast who competed for UNM in the 1980s and later served as an assistant coach, said this on that occasion:

"(Mitchell) is the John Wooden of men's gymnastics. Same class, professionalism and work ethic."

Mitchell's impact, Georges said, went far beyond the pommel horse, high bar, still rings, parallel bars, vaulting horse and floor-exercise mat.

"A lot of the athletes that were here at UNM, they treated him like a second dad," Georges said.

"He taught them a lot about life."