KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee head coach and director of track & field Duane Ross announced the hiring of Devin West as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach in the fall of 2024.
West comes to Knoxville with more than 15 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level. He most recently served as an assistant coach at UCLA during the 2023-24 campaign after two seasons coaching sprints and hurdles with the University of Georgia men’s and women’s track programs.
West was named an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles at Georgia in July 2021 by Director of Track and Field Caryl Smith Gilbert, giving West a second stint with the Bulldogs. While in The Peach State, West helped coach Elija Godwin to national championships at the 2023 NCAA Indoor meet; Godwin also earned a gold and bronze medal at the 2022 World Athletics Track and Field Championships, as well as his first SEC individual championship in the 400m at the 2023 indoor conference meet with West’s guidance.
West, a native of Berkeley, Calif., also spent 2015-17 at Georgia as the recruiting coordinator and sprints assistant and arrived back in Athens during the 2021 summer after overseeing the sprints and hurdles program at Air Force for the 2020-21 academic year. Starting his collegiate athletic career on both the football and track teams at St. Mary’s College and then graduating from in-state Kennesaw State University, West has both recruited and coached some of the country’s best during stints at several Power 5 programs. He has signed and instructed a variety of Olympians, All-Americans, NCAA champions, conference champions and school record holders during his stops at Texas, Florida State, Arizona State, Miami, Texas Tech and others.
West guided Michelle Roca to an Academy record of 1:00.01 in the 400-meter hurdles. In fact, Air Force completed 2021 with 11 improvements to the school’s all-time record books in the sprints, hurdles and relays. West returned to the Academy coaching staff in August 2020 to begin his second stint as an assistant coach for the Falcons. West, who previously served as an assistant coach on the Falcons’ 2010-11 staff, brought a wealth of experience back to the Air Force sprints and hurdles program, following coaching stints at several Power 5 programs.
Air Force thrived under West during his first stop in 2010-11. The men’s 4x400m indoor relay of Manny Smith, Anthony Delgado, Cory Engel and Chris Severino bought home the program’s first-ever Mountain West title in that event, while Bryce Bergman accounted for the Academy’s first conference championship in the 400m hurdles. Under his guidance, the Falcons also claimed four all-Mountain West accolades and made seven improvements to the Academy’s all-time standings, including 400m hurdle times by Emily Cotharn and Rachel Thomas that were previously the two fastest marks in program history.
Throughout his 16-year career, West has assisted with the coaching of six Olympians, 54 All-Americans, three NCAA champions, 41 conference champions and more than 70 school record-holders.
After leaving the Academy in 2011, West gained experience at several of the nation’s major Power 5 programs, where he developed a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the sport. He signed five No. 1-ranked U.S. High School student-athletes and three No. 1-ranked World Junior student-athletes, while also accounting for four Top-10 recruiting classes (Georgia, Texas Tech, Miami and Florida State).
During his stint at Texas, West assisted head coach Edrick Floreal in coaching the men’s and women’s sprints and hurdles program – a group that included two program record holders (Jonathon Jones in the 400m, Micaiah Harris in the 200m) and 10 All-Americans. He also saw both the men and women place within the top 10 of the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships and the women’s team sweep the indoor and outdoor titles at the Big 12 Championships that year. In addition, West also assisted Floreal in coaching the 2019 USA Track and Field 100m champion, Teahna Daniels.
Prior to his time in Austin, West served as an associate head coach at Arizona State University in 2018. During his stop with the Sun Devils, he helped Alethia Marrero run the second-fastest 800m time in ASU history, finish second at the PAC-12 Championships and earn second-team All-America honors. With West on the staff, Arizona State’s women finished the year ranked No. 12 in the USTFCCCA Top 25 and had a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
As previously mentioned, West spent two years as the recruiting coordinator and sprints coach for the Bulldogs (2015-17), where he was part of some of the most successful seasons for the women in school history. The Bulldogs finished a program-best second at the both the indoor and outdoor championships in 2017, after finishing third at both meets during his first season. He also assisted in the coaching of breakout sophomore Kendal Williams, who earned first-team All-America honors in the 60m, and oversaw a men’s sprint squad that tallied more than one-third of Georgia’s point total at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
West also spent time on the coaching staffs at Texas Tech University (2014-15), the University of Miami (2013-14) and Florida State University (2011-13).
During his one season with the Red Raiders, he helped the men finish second at the Big 12 Championships and ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while the women finished third at the conference meet and earned a top-20 finish at the national meet. While at Miami, West coached the men’s 4x100m relay to its first regional appearance in four years and helped Artie Burns (currently with the Chicago Bears) win the ACC title and claim second-team All-America honors in the 60m hurdles. In his time with the Seminoles, he assisted the men’s 4x100m relay team to All-America honors and helped Dentarius Locke and James Harris claim berths to the NCAA Championships.
West got his collegiate coaching start at Kennesaw State in 2007, and was a catalyst for the Owls’ dominant run that included four Atlantic Sun Conference titles.
His accomplishments in the college ranks make up just some of the successes of his coaching career. West made a name for himself on the high school and international levels as well, coaching nine Georgia state meet finalists while working as an assistant at Norcross High School. He also sent an athlete to the IAAF World Junior Championships in the 100m hurdles in 2010, while coaching a 100m athlete to the USTF Junior Championships in 2009.
After competing for a pair of teams at St. Mary’s College, he transferred to Morehouse College in Atlanta. West received his degree in interdisciplinary studies from Kennesaw State, while coaching the Owls in 2010. He is also certified as a Level I coach with USA Track and Field.
He married Carley Faith Dart in August 2020.
