A family man, a runner, and a coach. These three attributes only begin to encapsulate the remarkable story of Mick Byrne, the head coach for the Wisconsin men's cross country team.

Hailing from Ireland that was struggling to find an identity in the 1960's, Byrne was one of seven siblings living under the same roof. He shared a bedroom with four other brothers and understood what it meant to live on your last dollar. Living in such close quarters to his family members, he developed a remarkable bond with his family that remains strong today. This continuity with his brothers and sisters foreshadowed his future of coaching different personalities and his strong relationships with his teammates.

In a country where sports like soccer and hurling (similar to field hockey) were prevalent, Byrne grew up in a very active lifestyle and was constantly taking part in activities. His competitive nature led him to soon find his niche'running.

'I always felt like I was running,' Byrne said. 'Maybe it was because Ireland had an outdoors feel to it, but I was always outside with my friends running and playing sports.'

With a track practically located in his backyard, Byrne found himself constantly training himself to run long distances because he had seen the success of kids his age. The annual Community Games, a series of athletic events in Ireland similar to the Badger State Games, gave the young boy something to aspire to when spending all of his free time running around the track. The Community Games became a stepping stone to Byrne's competitive running as he battled some of the best runners in his area.

'At this point in my life, all I wanted to do was run,' he said. 'I would eat, sleep, and drink the track and I got a lot of pleasure out of the experience.'

Eventually, his dedication to the sport led him to compete all across the country and even internationally. With the help of his coach and father-figure Lars Byrne (no relation to Mick himself), who would take kids in from local neighborhoods and train them, Mick continued to make a name for himself. His success internationally and at the high school level led him to be recruited by many schools in America to run on the collegiate level. With his country in economic turmoil, a change in atmosphere was Byrne's calling card to experience the next chapter of his life. This transition would not be the last time that Byrne traveled west in search of his personal aspirations.

At the age of 18, Mick traveled to America for the first time with a few of his Irish teammates on an athletic scholarship to Providence College in Rhode Island. At a time when Irish runners were mostly recruited by bigger track schools such as Villanova and Arkansas, Byrne made the decision to set a new precedent for foreign runners. In his first year at Providence, he felt out of place because of the transition from the urban life in Dublin to a more rural college campus.

'It was really hard at first to be in America,' Byrne said. 'Being in my late teens and experiencing a new life style while being 3,000 miles away was difficult. To only see my family a couples times a year was something I was not used to because I had grown up so close with them.'

Mick went on to be a stand-out runner for the Friars in his four years on the track and cross country teams. After he finished school, Mick traveled back to Ireland to continue running and begin a working career. He tried out for the Olympic trials in the marathon race in Ireland, but unfortunately fell short in his efforts to run for his country. At this point in his life, he continued to compete while also working for a Dutch company, Philip Electronics.

'After being in America for four years, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life there,' he said. 'I loved the culture and I felt like I was more American than Irish. I was caught with one foot in Ireland and one in the states, but the lifestyle of working 60 hours a week in Ireland was not for me.'

His transition back to America landed him at Iona College as the head coach for the Gaels, a job that he would hold for 24 years. Despite the small student body, Byrne was able to build the cross country program into one of the strongest distance running collegiate schools. In his 24 seasons, Iona captured an astonishing 17 conference championships and 12 trips to the NCAA Championships. During Byrne's last season with the Gaels, the team finished the season as the No. 2 team in the country, an impressive acknowledgement considering the size of the school.

'It was an experience I will never forget,' he said. 'Being at a small school, it created a close-knit family that kept me there for such a long time. '

During the last five-to-seven years of his tenure at Iona, Mick found himself in a tough spot as head coach. Because Iona was small and nationally unrecognized in comparison to state schools with large athletic departments, Byrne struggled to make his school stand out when recruiting high school runners. With teenagers that thrive for the 'total package' of academics, athletics and a social scene, Byrne realized that he was ready for something new.

'I came to the point in my life where I didn't want to live with regrets' he said. 'It was really hard to leave a program that I had spent nearly a quarter of a century with because I was so close with the staff and was raising a family in town. However, I didn't want to grow older knowing that I never gave thought to the idea of change.'

With a resume that shined when applying for new jobs, Byrne was soon offered a home in Madison at the University of Wisconsin. He described Wisconsin as having the 'total package' and was excited about all that the university had to offer. With top-notch facilities and recognized as one of the top 40 academic schools in the country, Byrne knew that Madison was the ideal place to start his transformation.

'Any program is as good as the kids that make it up,' Byrne said. 'Cross country is all about recruiting, and working at Wisconsin makes it a lot easier to get the runners that I think will improve the team. People in America and the state of Wisconsin understand the tradition that UW has and they want to be a part of it. '

Leaving his wife and sons in New Rochelle, N.Y., Byrne realized that he had to make sacrifices in order to start a new chapter in his life story. Having to fill the large shoes of former coach Jerry Schumacher, Byrne admitted he was nervous about the change. At his press conference before the Big Ten Championships, he joked about being anxious and having an unsteady hand while accidentally cutting himself shaving before talking about the race. Even though he was wearing different colors with a new mascot, his goals are still the same'to win the national championship.

In his first season as coach, he has taken a step in the right direction by winning Wisconsin's 10th-consecutive Big Ten Championship and seventh-straight NCAA Great Lakes Regional title. After winning the Big Ten title, Byrne described the first time that he truly was impacted by his new role at Wisconsin.

After forgetting the keys to the cross country course, Byrne and the team waited in the parking lot for the gate to open. While standing around, a bus full of elementary students approached the team and stopped. The bus driver opened the door, introduced himself and wished the team the best of luck forward for the rest of the season. To anyone this would seem like a nice gesture from a stranger, but to Mick Byrne, this incident was a revelation. He finally understood how important his job was and how much the Big Ten Conference and Wisconsin athletics meant to Badger fans.

'To see a community so invested in its University opened my eyes to the role that I play for this school' Byrne said about the interaction with the bus driver. 'For a complete stranger to congratulate me after winning the Big Ten Championship is something I have never seen before, and it got me excited to move forward with the program.'

With a past full of decisions and opportunity, Mick Byrne has given the University of Wisconsin a new personality that is unmatched. He is dedicated to the school, the fans and most importantly, to the athletes that make him wake up every morning. With his family soon making a drastic change by moving to Madison, Byrne will be settling down as a Badger and will look to bring something new to Wisconsin athletics every day. It's safe to say that his decision to live life with no regrets has paid off for him so far at his new school, and the future looks bright under the wings of all that encompasses Mick Byrne.