But the accolades didn't come overnight.
"I sometimes feel that coaching, being a former athlete is a disadvantage. The advantage in my case is that I was average in high school and worked extremely hard in college. So I know what it takes to get better and surprise people," he said.
O'Sullivan said in high school he was running about 4:25 in the mile. Not too bad, but not what you would have expected from a future Olympian.
He was accepted to Villanova based on his grades with no scholarship and had to work his freshman year.
"I didn't get good until the next year," he said. "I could've quit. I just kept working hard and it paid off. That's what it's about. Talent is a very small part."
And with that deep of a story and background, it shouldn't be hard for his team to think the same way.
The Wildcats' men's and women's teams will compete in more than a dozen individual events and relays.
And even with the team not being the 'Nova of old, O'Sullivan is happy with what he has. He can redshirt athletes, to give them a chance to develop. So he looks at his programas a learning process as well as a change in times.
"It is a rebuilding generation, not of years. We aren't the same as we were in the '70s and '80s because schools are much tougher academically now. So it is not as easy to get those athletes," he said. "I pride myself in taking athletes under 4 minutes [in the mile] from 4:17 and times like that. And I judge that as a team progression, not just one or two exceptional kids.
"You just have to visualize yourself being competitive. Us, not being the anticipated team will help us because there is nothing on our backs to worry about. We can just go out there and run our race."
Baton passes
