LEGENDARY Jamaican track and field coach Glen Mills says the passing of Stephen “Franno” Francis represents a devastating national loss, describing the late, iconic MVP Track Club co-founder and head coach as one of the finest coaching minds the sports has produced.

Francis, who died on Saturday, July 4, at age 64, is being remembered as one of the central figures in Jamaica’s modern athletics, having guided and influenced several generations of elite athletes.

He played a pivotal role in proving that world-class performances could be produced on Jamaican soil, ultimately helping to shape the island’s most successful era in the sport.

Mills, who like Francis, stands among the most respected athletics coaches in history, said the news came in the early hours, and while not entirely unexpected based on what he was told of Francis’s condition, for him, it was still deeply painful.

“When I first heard of Stephen’s passing – actually I was awoken by a telephone call at about 1:46 am and I was told that he had passed. It was very sad but I wasn’t shocked. I was saddened by the news, but based on what I had been told by close associates, unfortunately, it was never looking good for his survival, and I am really sorry that we have lost a great man and a great coach,” Mills told the Jamaica Observer.

Stephen Francis reacts after receiving the instrument of the Order of Jamaica at the National Honours and Awards ceremony held at King’s House on Monday, October 16, 2017.

Francis’s death has triggered a wave of reflection across the local and international sporting community. Under his guidance, MVP became one of the most successful training groups in world athletics and helped establish Jamaica as a dominant sprinting nation.

Mills said Francis’s influence went far beyond medals and records, arguing that his impact must be seen in the context of national development, sporting identity, and the international respect Jamaica earned through the performances of his athletes.

“Stephen’s contribution to Jamaica, to the world of athletics, is gigantic. His performance, or the record of the performance of his athletes, and what he achieved during his lifetime is phenomenal. I think it places him as one of the very best of all time in the profession and it’s a gap or a vacuum that will take very, very big shoes to fill in the future. Jamaica has gotten a real body blow of gigantic proportions with the loss of a coach with such great acumen and versatility in coaching the events in track and field,” Mills shared.

Francis was widely respected for his sharp intellect, intense commitment to research and scientific application in training and performance, and his ability to develop athletes across multiple disciplines. While best known for his work with sprinters, Mills said Francis’s reach across sprints, quarter-mile events, hurdles, and field events placed him in a special category.

Coach Stephen Francis (right) talks to MVP Track Club sprinter Kishane Thompson during training at Complexe Sportif de L’lle Des Vannes in Paris, France, on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 during the Olympic Games. Photo: Naphtali Junior

“There is no doubt of the level of contribution that Stephen has done over the years… his mastery of being able to do such a job across the spectrum of the events in the sport has always had my admiration, his ability to coach successfully, both sexes and the multiple events, is extremely difficult and puts him in a special category,” Mills said.

Beyond the public record, Mills said his respect for Francis was also shaped by the relationship they shared, particularly in the early stages of Francis’s development as a coach. He said he had watched Francis grow into one of the sport’s outstanding figures and took personal pride in what he was able to achieve.

“I have always admired the performance and his work ethic, and so on, and as one of the persons who was there at the beginning when he started the journey, I am really proud, happy and pleased to see what he was able to achieve. I watched him grow and develop and most people wouldn’t know, but we were very close, especially in the early days and we shared ideas and I think I made some contribution to his progress in sprinting,” said Mills.

“When I see the quality of the work that he was able to produce as the years went by, it really gave me great pride as a person who is involved in the sport and the coaching of sprinters, which is my speciality — I was never motivated to go beyond my pet peeve of speed, which is my fascination; but Stephen took it to another level, in the fact that he was able to do both the sprinting and the other events. He was totally devoted to coaching; it was a major part of his life and existence and he put so much effort and time into it.”

Jamaica’s 100m gold medallist Oblique Seville (left), a member of the Racers Track Club, exchanges pleasantries with legendary MVP coach Stephen Francis in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025, shortly after winning the title at the World Championships. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“He is a person, who did a lot of research, constantly coming up with new ideas. There were times when he used to share a lot of that information and we would discuss it and come up with our own philosophy and ideas and Jamaica has been the richer for it and the world and the supporters really benefited from the scintillating performances that have taken place over the years,” Mills further shared.

The Racers Track Club head coach said Francis’s death should force deep reflection within the wider structure of Jamaican athletics. He argued that the best way to honour Francis is not only through tributes, but through sustained excellence and stronger systems around the sport.

“The best way to honour and perpetuate the legacy of what he has left behind is for coaches to use it and see it as an inspiration to push themselves to do more, learn more, and achieve greater heights than what they have achieved so far, so that Jamaica’s flag will always remain flying high as Stephen has been able to do and to keep it. Their work ,is never to let the standards and achievement of track and field in Jamaica fall below its current standard and that would be a great tribute to him if they aspire to keep Jamaica at the top,” Mills added.

“It’s not just the responsibility of the coaches but also the administration of the sport, which certainly needs to lift its performance to the standard and the quality of what Stephen was able to do in coaching,” Mills said.