John Spini Position: Head Coach Experience: 30h Year Alma Mater: Arizona State '76

1980 was a pivotal year for the United States. In February 1980, the underdog United States hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in the semifinals of XIII Winter Olympics in the Miracle on Ice. In May of 1980, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Pac-Man are both released. In July of 1980, AC/DC's best-selling album Back In Black is released. In early November of 1980, Ronald Reagan, a former actor and Governor of California, is elected as President of the United States. It was in December of 1980 that John Lennon was fatally shot in New York City. There was another event that happened in 1980. John Spini began his career as head gymnastics coach at Arizona State University.

Flash-forward thirty years and while many things have changed, some remain the same. The Miracle on Ice continues to be regarded as the greatest moments in sports history. There are still Star Wars fans everywhere. Pac-Man is still played by people of all ages, although now it is often on a cell phone. Gymnasts will perform routines to a mix of songs from the Back In Black album and shirts with AC/DC's logo remain popular. Reagan still ranks highly in the approval rankings among former presidents and the Beatles continue to be one of the most beloved bands in history. Thirty years later, John Spini has cemented himself as one of the most influential and successful coaches in NCAA Gymnastics history.

Going into his 30th season as head coach of the ASU gymnastics program, Spini has sent his Sun Devil teams to 20 NCAA Championships and has had at least one Sun Devil represent ASU at the NCAA Championships 24 out of 28 seasons. He has coached 26 All-Americans for a total of 80 All-American accolades. Six women have won individual NCAA titles under Spini. Additionally, nine of Spini's Sun Devil squads have finished in the top five at the NCAA Championships, including four teams (1983, 1985, 1986, 1997) who were runner-up. The Sun Devils have qualified for an NCAA regional each of the seasons Spini has been the ASU gymnastics skipper.

A four-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Spini's athletes have achieved a total of 27 perfect 10.0 in his career. He has had win streaks of 15 (22 opponents), 16 (28 opponents) and 25 (39 opponents) in his career. As ASU's head coach, he carries a 327-147-2 record. With 30 years at the helm of ASU's gymnastics program, he inches closer to former tennis coach Anne Pittman's ASU record of 31 seasons as a head ASU coach.

As impressive as the ASU women's gymnastics team has been athletically, the argument can be made that Spini's athletes have reached greater heights academically. Since the Pacific-10 Conference began handing out All-Academic team awards in 1992, ASU has received 58 academic honors with 22 of those being first-team accolades.

A prominent coach on the national scale, Spini has been a U.S. national team coach at the World University Games and a member of the NCAA Gymnastics Committee. Prior to entering the collegiate ranks, he spent six years coaching the Arizona Twisters Gymnastics Club in Mesa, Ariz., where he led a team including future Sun Devil greats Jeri Cameron and Pam Godward to a National Championship Class I title in 1976.

A Phoenix, Ariz., native, Spini received his bachelor's degree in physical education from ASU in 1976. Before attending ASU, he was a student at Odessa (Texas) Junior College, where he served as an assistant coach for the NJCAA Champion men's gymnastics team. Spini and his wife Lisa have one daughter, Shilo.