EDINBORO, Pa. -- Bruce Baumgartner could have had it all

He easily could have turned his athletic success -- he is America's only wrestler with medals in four Olympics -- into fame, fortune and a fat ego.

Instead, he works out of the ample but windowless paneled athletic director's office in a pocket of McComb Fieldhouse at rural Edinboro University.

They all wanted him. The pro wrestling outfits, ultimate fighting. The contracts they dangled were enough to make most salivate, or at least go window-shopping at the luxury-car dealership.

"I wasn't tempted," Baumgartner said. "You have to enjoy what you're doing. I enjoy this, even though it's a lot of work and there's a lot of stress involved with all the sports and fund raising and all the things that go into it."

As Baumgartner boasts about Edinboro's athletes maintaining higher graduation rates and grade point averages than the school's general population and adds that the Fighting Scots do a fair amount of winning, one might notice a signed picture on the wall that includes Baumgartner and Grammy-winning singer Garth Brooks.

The two met at Oklahoma State, where Baumgartner was a graduate assistant -- in industrial arts, not wrestling, although he trained with the team for the 1984 Olympics.

Why isn't he hobnobbing with celebrities more often instead of worrying about elbow pads and recruiting budgets?

At least, why isn't he coaching at a big-name school?

"I knew I didn't want to be a coach forever," said Baumgartner, who came to Edinboro as an assistant coach in 1984, right after picking up the super heavyweight gold medal at his first Olympics. He took over as head coach in 1991 and moved into this office in '97.

"I witnessed enough coaches, whether they're high school, college, to see that they get to a certain age and they sort of become cranky old men. It becomes a job and not a passion."

If you had asked him around the time of his first Olympics, Baumgartner, 47, likely would have told you that, by now, he would be building things with students as an industrial arts teacher. Instead, he runs from meeting to meeting on construction of a multiuse sports dome to be built next to McComb.

As Baumgartner notes that he likes to work with his hands and sometimes tinkers around the home he shares with his wife of 25 years, Linda, and their three children, another framed photo might catch your eye. This one has Baumgartner as the prominent figure with other champion wrestlers, including Kurt Angle.

Why is Baumgartner spending his summers running wrestling camps and attending clinics instead of taking the family on lavish vacations?

He could if he had followed a path similar to that of Angle, a Mt. Lebanon High School graduate who won the 1996 Olympic heavyweight gold medal, the same year Baumgartner, in his fourth trip to the Games, picked up a bronze to go with his two gold and a silver and carried the American flag during the opening ceremony.

Angle's emotional victory celebration in Atlanta carved a place in America's heart, and, for years, he has been a top pro wrestler making oodles of money.

Baumgartner cashes in on his success with five to 10 public-speaking engagements a year. It likely will be nearer to the higher end in this Olympic year, but he still will be several tax brackets below Angle.

He sounds a little envious of the financial opportunities Olympic athletes have today -- big payoffs for medals, appearance fees, lucrative endorsement contracts. He remembers when he started getting a $500 monthly stipend from the United States Olympic Committee in the 1990s, money that got eaten up fast with a couple of trips a month to Pittsburgh and an occasional trip to Colorado and the national training center.

He doesn't begrudge Angle -- "He's still the Kurt Angle I know. He's a good guy," said Baumgartner, who often trained with Angle in the 1990s, but he just can't cozy up to the entertainment version of wrestling.

"It is a form of wrestling, but, mostly, it's a show, and Kurt turned out to be pretty good at it," he said.

"What worries me about that whole profession, sport, whichever you want to call it, is the amount of people who have died over the last 10 years. A couple of them I have known. You don't know. You read about whether there's steroids or not steroids."

And the fame?

"Ah, I had my 15 minutes," Baumgartner said. "I was able to carry the flag. There's only maybe a little more than two handfuls that have won medals in four Olympics for the United States. I'm content with where I am in life."

Less than an hour after walking into Baumgartner's office, it's clear.

He does have it all.