In the history of the Columbia Athletics program, no individual touched the lives of more student-athletes than former associate athletics director and head athletic trainer Jim Gossett.
Over a Columbia career that spanned nearly four decades, Gossett - and his legions of assistant trainers provided incredible care to almost five thousand student-athletes in Columbia’s 31 varsity sports programs.
A graduate of Indiana State University and the University of Arizona, Gossett arrived at Columbia in 1979 as an assistant trainer and started working with the wrestling and men’s soccer programs, which achieved incredible success in the early 1980s.
Promoted to head athletic trainer in 1985, Gossett became a fixture on Ivy League sidelines and benches for several sports and was present for many of the most significant victories in Columbia sports history.
But it was his work behind the scenes that made him such an important figure. At Columbia, he hired and mentored seventy associate trainers, many of whom have become head athletic trainers in college and professional sports.
His partnerships with Columbia’s healthcare professionals, such as long-time team physician Dr. Bill Levine, and the campus health system ensured that Columbia student-athletes received top-of-the-line care for injuries sustained in competition and routine day-to-day wellness concerns.
During his tenure, he oversaw the expansion of training staff, the integration of Columbia sports medicine with partners at Columbia Doctors and New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the enlargement and growth of training facilities at the Dodge Fitness Center and Baker Athletics Complex.
Gossett also worked as a volunteer trainer with the United States Olympic Committee from 1978-1984. He was named an “eye-in-the-sky” concussion protocol observer by the NFL in 2012, a position he continues to perform at New York Giants home games through the 2023 season.
