As a Maryland freshman, Brandi George brought lots of baggage to College Park. Her parents had just died six months apart, and George, a star gymnast, struggled to cope with the loss.
Her college coach vowed to see her through it. When George arrived on campus, Bob "Duke" Nelligan presented her with a hand-hewn basswood memory box in which to store family keepsakes. On the lid, he had carved the Chinese symbol for courage.
Moved to tears, George let her emotions spill out in just the kind of catharsis she needed.
"It takes a lot for me to open up and talk about my parents, but Duke is good about that," said George, now a junior and the Terps' top performer. "I needed a family away from home, and he has been that."
After 31 years, 490 victories and thousands of handsprings and straddle splits, Nelligan is retiring from Maryland. He has served six athletic directors and outlasted five football coaches.
At 59, Nelligan ranks sixth all time in coaching tenure at College Park, where he took over in 1979. That year, Gary Williams was sweating through suits at American and Ralph Friedgen was drawing X's and O's at The Citadel.
But Nelligan's legacy will be measured by more than longevity, those who know him said. He is a coach with a heart, the one you can call at 3 a.m. if your car breaks down or if a spat with a boyfriend makes you just want to talk.
It's a role he doesn't take lightly.
"I've had parents drop off their kids, then look me in the eye and say, 'Are you going to take care of my only daughter?' " Nelligan said. "Freshmen are very skilled in terms of their sport but not in life lessons. These women trust you implicitly to spot for them, both in the gym and out."
He's a surrogate dad who takes his charges sledding on the campus golf course, has them over for egg hunts at Easter and packs them sack lunches to ensure they eat right.
Last year, when a half-dozen gymnasts from Southern climes showed up without winter coats, Nelligan took them all shopping around town for hours.
"There's no other gymnastics coach like Duke in the U.S.," said Abbey Adams, a sophomore from Texas. "Last month, when my grandmother passed away, I walked into the gym and he gave me a hug and said that he cared about me and that if I needed anything, to just let him know.
"Duke has opened my eyes to a lot of things," Adams said. "He has taught me how to care about others."
