Kevin Robinson - Head Coach - Staff Directory - University of Memphis Athletics

Staff Directory

Kevin Robinson

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
901-678-4295

Kevin Robinson took the helm of the Memphis track and field/cross country programs in 2007 after he served as an assistant coach for the Tigers.

With a keen eye over the throwers, Robinson helped propel throwers Gabriel Koletsi (javelin) and Sascha Salesius Schmidt (shot put) qualify for their first NCAA Championships in 2025. Koletsi also broke the school record in the javelin with a 73.09-meter launch, one of seven records to be broken during the 2024-25 athletic year. 16 Tigers -- the most since 2021 -- qualified for NCAA Regionals including five throwers (Julia Konigshofer, Adela Mullerova and Maddie Roberts - javelin, Jazmyn James and Jamal Mitchell - discus) in addition to Koletsi and Schmidt. Schmidt brought home his second and third consecutive shot put conference titles during indoor and outdoor season, and Oageng Mdlela won the men's triple jump title in outdoor season. Relay teams excelled indoors and outdoors, especially the group of Kameron Scille, Ivory Davis, Dejona Simpson and Gabrielle Cross, who broke the indoor and outdoor 4x400-meter records on the women's side. Twice during outdoor season, the men's quartet of Bryson Wilson, Prior Ochonogor, Kouto Anyika and Courtland Noble shattered the 4x400-meter record, finishing second at the American Conference Outdoor Championships to eventual national champion South Florida. Ochonogor also broke the 400-meter hurdles individual school record at the Championships with the first sub-50 dash in program history. During indoor season, Jadaja Baxter tied Cera Chavez' record 200-meter time of 23.97, and Vincent Chenier broke the 3000-meter time of 8:04.14 on the men's distance side.

The 2022-23 season was a record-breaking year for the Tigers. All in all, six school records fell under Robinson’s watch during the season (Indoor: Vincent Chenier (3,000m), Payton Gleason (5,000m), Cole Riddle (pole vault), Madison Fleming (60mH); Outdoor: Amber Simpson (hammer throw), Samantha Lenton (discus)). Riddle not only took down the school record time after time all season, but he broke the American Athletic Conference all-dates indoor pole vault record (5.64m / 18’6”). Monica Aldrighetti was the AAC Women’s Indoor Pole Vault champion, and Riddle qualified for the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in the vault where he earned Honorable Mention All-America honors. During the outdoor season, Robinson coached five conference champions at the AAC meet. Samantha Lenton won gold in the hammer throw and discus, in which she threw a meet-record 54.47 meters. Oliver Tomann won the men’s hammer throw, Vitaliy Favorov won the men’s javelin and Zachary Wyatt won the men’s steeplechase to help the men to a fourth-place team finish. At the annual Memphis Invitational, Amber Simpson launched a meet, facility and school record to win the hammer throw (68.13m). Robinson guided 14 Tigers to the 2023 NCAA East Regional round and a pair advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships (Simpson; hammer throw, Lenton; discus). Simpson earned Honorable Mention All-America status and Lenton claimed First Team All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the women’s discus, breaking the school record on her final two throws (58.95m).

Robinson coached three Tigers to conference-championship performances at the 2022 American Indoor Championships: Cole Riddle (pole vault), Iason Machairas (shot put) and DeeNia McMiller (weight throw), McMiller set a meet record and school record in the process and earned 2022 AAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Outstanding Field Performance of the championships. She went on to qualify for the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and earned First Team All-America honors after a fifth-place finish in the weight throw with a 23.03-meter throw. The outdoor season was full of more success. Robinson coached five more conference champions at the 2022 American Outdoor Championships. McMiller won two golds (hammer throw, shot put), Mona Jaidi won the women’s javelin with a meet-record throw, Iason Machairas won gold in the shot put to become a three-time AAC champ and Cole Riddle won the first pole vault conference championship for Memphis since 2014. Eleven Tigers qualified for the 2022 NCAA East Regional and three went on to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Robby Watson and McMiller each earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in the hammer throw, and Riddle finished 14^th in the pole vault to secure Second Team All-America honors.

DeeNia McMiller qualified for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw after setting a school record during the shortened indoor season. The Tigers won 13 medals at the 2021 AAC Outdoor Championships and qualified 16 athletes to the 2021 NCAA East Regional under Robinson. Mona Jaidi was named 2021 AAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Outstanding Field Performance of the championships after winning the conference javelin title. Jaidi went on to throw at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships where she earned Honorable Mention All-America status.

The 2019-20 season was a season unlike any other due to the global COVID pandemic. Robinson coached a pair of AAC Indoor Champions (Iason Machairas; shot put, Jordan Wesner; long jump) and three conference silver medalists at the 2020 American Indoor Championship meet. DeeNia McMiller was twice named AAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week during the season. She qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw under Robinson’s guidance before the championships were ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic (as well as the outdoor track & field season).

Robinson guided the Tigers to an incredible “anything-but-unlucky” 13th campaign in 2018-19. Robinson and his staff coached 20 Tigers to the NCAA postseason (indoor/outdoor combined) and had 10 earn All-America honors. Memphis had its first representatives at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 2014, and Davon DeMoss and Jordan Wesner both brought home All-America distinction. DeMoss was the program’s first sprinter since the early 1980s to compete at the NCAA Indoors, and Wesner was the program’s first high jumper to earn a spot at the national indoor meet.

In the outdoor season, Robinson’s Tigers were just as impressive, sending 19 to the NCAA East Preliminaries. Of those 19, nine advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where eight brought home All-America accolades.

At the American Athletic Conference Championships (indoor/outdoor combined), the Tigers won four titles and took home 35 all-conference medals. The men’s squad placed third at the indoor meet for its third-straight, top-three finish, and the women’s team was fourth at the outdoor meet for its best performance since 1996. Adar Sheere earned The American’s Freshman Male Athlete of the Year honor at the league’s outdoor meet.

The success didn’t stop there for the 2018-19 Tigers, as seven competed on the international stage in five different meets around the world. In addition, 14 school records (indoor/outdoor combined) were set in 2018-19.

The 2018-19 campaign proved to be an outstanding follow-up to the record-setting 2017-18 season under Robinson. The 2017-18 year was topped off in June 2018 when Robinson’s pupil, Luke Vaughn, won the NCAA title in the men’s discus, the first NCAA crown in program history. The title also was Memphis’ first in any sport since 2005 (Beth Tidmore, rifle).The Tigers men’s squad posted its best finish at the NCAA Championships in program history, coming in 20^thplace.

The NCAA Championships, though, was the icing on the cake. Prior to the season’s final meet, Memphis sent a school-record 23 qualifiers to the NCAA East Preliminaries, and from those, a school-record nine advanced to the NCAA Championships and five earned All-America honors.

The Tigers had a combined 39 performers earn All-American Athletic Conference honors (men and women; indoor and outdoor), including seven individual crowns. The men’s squad posted runner-up finishes in both the indoor and outdoor championships meets.

But, the accomplishments of the past two seasons are nothing new for the Memphis program under Robinson’s guidance. In fact, it’s become the norm, and year after year, the numbers continue to back up Robinson’s “track” record of success.

Robinson, who was the given the reins as the first track and field coach to lead both men’s and women’s programs in Memphis athletics history, made a quick splash that first season in directing the men’s squad to the 2007 Conference USA Championships outdoor crown. The Tigers head coach, though, isn’t “one-hit” wonder, and his numbers in recent seasons prove it.

Since Memphis’ move to the American Athletic Conference in the summer of 2013, Robinson’s program hasn’t missed a beat in turning out All-Americans, NCAA postseason qualifiers, all-conference performers, conference champions and all-academic honorees. Some of Robinson’s latest numbers are (2013-19; indoor and outdoor combined):

1	NCAA champion
41	NCAA All-Americans
70	American Athletic Conference individual titles
79	U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honorees
172	NCAA Preliminaries qualifiers
274	All-American Conference performers

Also, in his time in the The American, Robinson’s squads have had steady performances at the league championships. The men’s team has four top-three finishes in six conference outdoor meets (2^ndin 2014, 2018; 3^rdin 2016, 2017, 2025), and the women’s squad posted its best performance at the league outdoor championships since 1996 with a fourth-place finish in 2019. At the 2016 outdoor meet, the women’s team scored the most points (86) since that 1996 third-place finish (102).

And, that’s just since joining The American in 2013-14.

Robinson’s numbers over his 18-year tenure are just as impressive:

452	All-Conference performers (C-USA/The American)
316	Conference All-Academic honorees (C-USA/The American)
259	NCAA Preliminaries/Regional qualifiers
145	Conference individual champions (C-USA/The American)
102	U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honorees
59	NCAA All-Americans
36	Indoor school records set (34 events; men/women combined)
39	Outdoor school records set (42 events; men/women combined)

Other highlights from Robinson’s tenure include:

2007 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship (men)
2007 Conference USA Coach of the Year (men’s outdoor)
Six conference Athletes of the Year (indoor/outdoor combined)
Eight conference Freshmen/Newcomers of the Year (indoor/outdoor combined); the most recent Adar Sheere at 2019 American Athletic Conference outdoor meet
Six conference Performance of the Meet recipients (indoor/outdoor combined); the most recent Luke Vaughn at 2018 American Athletic Conference outdoor meet
Three conference High Point Scorers (indoor/outdoor combined)

In addition to success in competition, Robinson’s program has done the job in the classroom. Since 2011-12, all – men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s track and field, women’s track and field – have earned USTFCCA All-Academic Team honors.

Robinson’s squads also have hit their Academic Progress Rate (APR) marks. The men’s cross country program earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and women’s cross country and women’s track and field both posted their highest APR in history under Robinson.

Also, in 2015-16, the women’s cross country and women’s track and field programs swept the American Athletic Conference Team Academic Excellence Awards. In 2017-18, the women’s cross country and men’s track and field teams received the same accolade. The honors are awarded to the programs with the highest collective grade-point averages in each of the league’s 21 sports.

Assistant Coach (Memphis/Southern Illinois)
Before moving into the head coach chair, Robinson began sowing the seeds of success as an assistant at Memphis (2002-06) and Southern Illinois (1998-2002). At Memphis, Robinson guided Gaute Myklebust (2004; discus) and Gail Lee (2006; shot put) to All-America status. Myklebust was the Tigers men’s first All-American since 1981, and Lee was only the women’s second All-American in history at that time and the first since 1979.

At Southern Illinois, Robinson’s student-athletes set three conference records and posted six school marks. Robinson also produced nine NCAA regional qualifiers, two All-Americans and an Olympic Trials competitor.

Student-Athlete (Memphis)
A 1998 University of Memphis graduate, Robinson finished his collegiate track and field career as one of the program’s most-decorated competitors, exhibiting prowess in the shot put and weight and hammer throws. Robinson owns six combined Conference USA weight and hammer throws titles and a Great Midwest Conference (GMC) shot put crown. Robinson also is part of an elite C-USA group of only eight male athletes that won three or more conference outdoor titles in the same event (hammer throw, 1996-98).

Robinson qualified for the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships in seven combined events. In 1998, he finished 13th in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That same year, Robinson was named the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year and an NSCA All-American. In 2000, Robinson qualified for the Olympic Trials in the shot put and weightlifting.

When Robinson graduated in 1998, he held school records in the indoor and outdoor shot put, 35-pound weight throw and hammer throw. The only record he still holds today is the indoor shot put, a testament to both his coaching acumen and athletic skills.

In 2006, Robinson was elected to the University of Memphis Athletics/M Club Hall of Fame. Robinson’s induction ceremony was held in the fall of 2006 as he began his head coaching career.

Personal
A native of Perryville, Mo., Robinson earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science from Memphis in 1998. After graduation, he began his coaching career as an assistant at Southern Illinois.

In 2003, Robinson gained certification in CPR, AED and as an AFAA professional personal trainer. He has since become an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Robinson and his wife, Dawn, have three children: Sebastian, Tristan and Matthias. Dawn is in her third year as the program’s Director of Operations. They reside in Hernando, Miss.