Legendary track and field coach Pat Henry's office is filled with an immense collection of trophies, awards and honors that you would expect from the NCAA's active leader in any sport for national team titles. Among it all, a picture of the Blinn College men's track and field team from Henry's first collegiate coaching job still hangs on the wall.

Henry coached Blinn to its first two national championships in history when the men's indoor and outdoor track and field teams claimed titles in 1987. Since then, Henry has earned 36 national titles in the Southeastern Conference with the Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University men's and women's track programs, the most of any coach in NCAA track and field history.

As the head coach of the Texas A&M track and field programs, Henry still thinks back to the days that he spent 50 miles down the road where he got his first collegiate coaching gig in Brenham.

"Track and field was as competitive as any sport in junior college at that time, and if you could be successful in the state of Texas, you were going to be really good nationally," Henry said. "There weren't any national championship teams at Blinn prior to the two that we won, and we were extremely proud of what we had accomplished. Beating Odessa College is one memory that I will always have because they were so dominant in the sport."

After winning five state championships in 10 years as the head coach at Hobbs High School (New Mexico), Henry made the jump to the collegiate level, taking over the men's indoor and outdoor track and field programs at Blinn in 1983.

Odessa was the team to beat as the Wranglers' track and field programs had won 12 national titles in six straight years until Henry's Buccaneers put an end to the dynasty in 1987.

"The challenge was not only to beat Odessa, but also to beat a lot of schools when I first took over because nobody had really heard of Blinn in the track world at the time and that was the fun part of recruiting," Henry said. "Once my recruits visited, they liked the atmosphere at Blinn. Everything they taught there was very good, and if you made it at Blinn, you had the opportunity to make it to the next level."

Prior to Henry's arrival, Blinn had just one All-American in track and field. From Henry's 1983 to 1995, the Buccaneers had produced over 250 All-Americans in the sport.

"Coach Henry was great at recruiting and transformed the track and field program at Blinn into the best in the nation at the junior college level," said Leroy Dreyer, former athletic director. "His coaching career at Blinn was his stepping stone to becoming the head coach in the SEC where he has had the highest level of success. Every program he has coached has always competed at an elite level."

Henry's recruiting efforts immediately began paying off as Blinn soon became a program that was recognized across the nation and the Buccaneers became known for their fast times at popular meets such as the Texas Relays.

"The recruiting process is what I found particular joy in because a lot of the guys were missed by Division I schools, and Blinn became a jumping off spot for our athletes," Henry said. "We did a lot of really great things and anyone who knew anything about track, knew about Blinn College. A lot of our guys went on to four-year colleges because that was the goal here."

During Henry's last two seasons at Blinn, former Texas A&M All-American javelin thrower Juan De La Garza coached under him. The pair has been together ever since at LSU and Texas A&M. In 1986, they led the Buccaneers to a second-place finish in the national championship meet. 

"We ran second to Odessa that year, so we knew we had a shot," Henry said. "The goal was to come back the next year and win the championship. That team wanted to win and beating Odessa for the national titles is something I will always remember."

The season was the beginning of Blinn becoming a national powerhouse as those two titles became the first of 18 straight that the Buccaneers won from 1987-1995. Fifteen former Buccaneers still hold championship meet records from that time span.

Henry earned both indoor and outdoor National Junior College Coach of the Year honors in 1986 and 1987, and after capping off four seasons at the junior college level with a pair of national titles was offered the head coaching job at LSU.

"I knew it was a jump, but we had a great team and talent at Blinn," Henry said. "What I gained at Blinn is knowing that if I recruited the right people, we worked hard, and if I took that plan to the next level, that I could be successful at the next level as well."

Henry's success did continue in the Southeastern Conference as he won a national championship, three SEC titles and two conference Coach of the Year awards in his first year. After spending 17 seasons with LSU, he achieved 27 national titles, 19 SEC titles, 15 SEC Coach of the Year awards, and five National Coach of the Year honors.

His success continued when he moved on to Texas A&M in 2004 and became the first coach to lead a school to three consecutive men's and women's NCAA Outdoor Championships when the Aggies won titles in 2009-2011. In 2017, the Texas A&M men claimed the first-ever Indoor team championship in the school's history. Henry has led Texas A&M to nine national championships and three SEC championships. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

After Henry's departure, Blinn's track and field programs continued to succeed at the national level.

Eleven former Blinn runners competed in the 1992 Olympics, including gold medalist Darnell Hall. In addition, Blinn was voted the "Most Outstanding Team" of both the 1993 & 1994 Texas Relays and is the only junior college to ever land on a list that includes The University of Texas, Texas Christian University, Baylor University, Texas A&M, and LSU.

In 1991, Henry was inducted into the NJCAA Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His successor, Steve Silvey, was inducted in 2005.

"There were a lot of good people at Blinn that helped me, and I have stayed in contact with a lot of the kids who ran for me there," Henry said. "Track and field is a tough sport and to be good at it you have to be extremely dedicated. You have to have a lot of great individuals to make a great team and we had that at Blinn."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.