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The Stride Report has confirmed that Tennessee's head cross country coach, Sean Carlson, has been hired as Colorado's next Director of Track & Field and Cross Country. The Volunteer men and women were informed of the move earlier today. The hiring comes a little over a month after it was reported that long-time CU coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs were not having their contracts renewed by the university.
Carlson's Tenure at Tennessee
Carlson's decision to join the Colorado men and women admittedly comes as a bit of a surprise. Just two years ago, the now-former Tennessee coach joined the Volunteers in a move that shook the NCAA track and field and cross country world.
During his time at Tennessee, Carlson revitalized a women's distance program that had largely been a non-factor in the distance events, nationally. After entering the 2023 cross country season unranked in The Stride Report's top-25 preseason teams list, the Lady Vols stunned the nation with a near-unbelievable 6th place finish at the NCAA XC Championships.
The rise of Ashley Jones as the team's newest low-stick on the grass has been complemented by the better-than-expected output seen from current sophomores such as Jillian Candelino, Caroline Lyerly and Jessie Secor. Returing veterans Rachel Sutliff and Kayla Gholar proved to be critical lineup members as well.
With all but one runner returning from last year's national meet lineup, and a small handful of transfers also entering the program, the ladies of Rocky Top were potentially in store for a historic fall campaign (and they maybe still are).
The Tennessee men have also seen a rise to national competitiveness since Carlson came to Knoxville, although not to the same level as the women's team.
The introduction of star-caliber transfers such as Dylan Jacob and Yaseen Abdalla in the summer of 2022, paired with the return of Volunteer veteran Karl Thiessen, allowed the Tennessee men to reach the NCAA XC Championships for the first time since 2002. They placed 20th that year at the national meet.
The following year, the Volunteer men remained as a nationally competitive program, but they also struggled to replace the lost firepower of Dylan Jacobs. The men in orange would go on to finish a truthfully underwhelming 26th place at the national meet.
Under the direction of Carlson, Dylan Jacobs would become one of the top NCAA distance runners of the post-COVID era, running times of 7:36 (3k) and 13:11 (5k). Jacobs also won the 2023 NCAA indoor 3k title, giving him his second national title after winning the 2022 10k national title during his time at Notre Dame.
Rise to National Acclaim at Notre Dame
Prior to joining Tennessee, Carlson first rose to national prominence for his coaching efforts at Notre Dame where he was the head men's distance coach.
When Carlson began coaching Notre Dame's men's cross country team in 2016, the Fighting Irish earned an unexciting 14th place at the Great Lakes XC Regional Championships.
The next year, they placed 9th at the same meet.
Fast forward to 2018 and Notre Dame had won the ACC XC Championships, earned a top-two automatic national qualifying spot at their regional meet and placed 14th at the NCAA XC Championships.
In 2019, the Irish placed 9th at the NCAA XC Championships. And finally, at the 2021 NCAA Winter XC Championships, the South Bend men secured a runner-up team finish with six individual All-Americans.
In addition to Dylan Jacobs, Carlson was also responsible for developing Yared Nuguse as a collegian, someone who is debatably the best distance runner in America right now. And on the recruiting trail, Carlson set a new standard for excellence, twice securing our TSR #1 freshman distance class ranking with the Fighting Irish men (as well as TSR #2 ranking after he left for Tennessee).
What Happens Now?
Carlson's unexpected jump to Colorado will almost certainly set off a chain reaction of significant coaching moves within the NCAA. With a high-paying SEC head coaching role now open for the taking (Carlson was technically the "Director of Cross Country" while Duane Ross is the "Director of Track & Field"), the nationwide speculation as to who would land with the Buffaloes will now shift to Rocky Top.
It's also likely that a handful of athletes follow Carlson from Tennessee to Colorado. Of course, figuring out who those athletes are and how many of them do transfer are the biggest uncertainties that have stemmed from the recent news.
But if there is any cross country program in the NCAA that needs an injection of scoring, it is almost certainly the Buffalo men and women. Last year, both teams struggled mightily throughout the fall months. The Colorado women finished 19th at the 2023 NCAA XC Championships while the men faded to 25th place.
Now, as we prepare for the 2024 season, the Colorado men have an incoming class that is nearly non-existent (among distance runners) while the Colorado women have lost their top-four runners from a lineup that was already struggling to find scoring.
Coach Sean Carlson has developed a reputation for taking unexciting cross country programs and turning them into national powers. However, it may be his upcoming move to Boulder that poses his most challenging project yet.