EUGENE -- The nerve center for the audacious plan to transform American track and field is a small, cheaply furnished office in a nondescript building just off Coburg Road.

It's the home base for Dave Taylor, a retired corporate vice president at Nike who has given up two years of his life to mold the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in track and field into an event that extends beyond the actual meet.

"Dave is our COO," says organizing committee co-chair Vin Lananna, the University of Oregon associate athletic director and track coach.