Roberts Named Track And Field Assistant Coach

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Scott Roberts, who served as the Lindenwood University track and field head coach the past six seasons, joins the Tigers program as an assistant coach, University of Memphis head coach Kevin Robinson announced Tuesday.

Roberts will coach the long sprints and hurdles for the 2018-19 season. Roberts coaches in his first meet as a Tigers' assistant Jan. 18-19 at the Vanderbilt Invitational.

"I'm excited that Scott is joining our staff," said Robinson. "Scott brings a lot of experience, a lot of success both in performance and recruiting. He's been at multiple programs that have performed at a very high level, and he was instrumental in the success of those programs.

"His knowledge, his ability to recruit, his ability to relate to student-athletes are going to be huge benefits for this program. I feel our athletes will respond well to him. It's my hope that he'll be the catalyst we need to take the next step in terms of our program development."

In his time at Lindenwood, Roberts coached the first 22 NCAA All-Americans and first 10 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) champions in the program's history. Roberts also coached Lions' athletes that earned 69 All-MIAA honors and 47 U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Central Region awards.

Last March, Roberts guided the Lions to a 17^th-place team finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. The performance was the program's best since moving to the NCAA level – NCAA Division II from NAIA – in the summer of 2013. At that same meet, Roberts coached the program's first individual national champion, as Ariel Jackson won the women's 200 meters crown. Roberts also had four athletes compete in last May's NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

At Lindenwood, Roberts' athletes excelled in the classroom. In Roberts' six-year tenure, Lindenwood earned 22 MIAA Academic Excellence awards, 16 MIAA Scholar-Athlete honors and 238 MIAA Academic Honor Roll accolades.

"I'm excited to be at Memphis, and I've admired the program the past few years," Roberts said. "Memphis has performed well in the American Athletic Conference, and I'm excited to be able to coach in this league.

"This is a great opportunity. There are a lot of athletes in the Mid-South. I want to excel in the sprints and hurdles events, and I want the Tigers to win conference titles. I came here because I believe there's an opportunity to do that. With my experience and recruiting contacts, I feel we can do some good things here. It's great to be at Memphis, and we have all the pieces in place to succeed."

Prior to Lindenwood, Roberts had served as a track and field assistant coach for 17 seasons with stops at UTEP (2011-12), Alabama (2007-11), Iowa State (1996-2007) and Drake (1995-96).

At UTEP, Roberts served as the Miners' sprints, hurdles and jumps coach. He coached Endurance Abinuwa to All-American honors in the indoor 400 meters and assisted Janice Jackson in qualifying in the 100-meter hurdles for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships. Roberts' UTEP sprinters and hurdlers had nine regional qualifiers and two conference runner-up finishes and also set one school record. He helped direct the men's team to a runner-up finish at the 2012 Conference USA Outdoor Championships.

From 2007-11, Roberts was the sprints, hurdles and jumps coach at Alabama. In his four seasons in Tuscaloosa, Roberts coached 22 All-American performers, including Trish Bartholomew who ran in the 400 meters at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships. He also helped his athletes win four Southeastern Conference (SEC) crowns, nine All-SEC honors and two SEC Freshman Athlete of the Year accolades. Roberts' athletes set six school records and placed 23 marks on the school's top-10 performance lists.

While at Alabama, Roberts also worked as a speed training consultant for the Crimson Tide football program and helped prepare Rolando McClain and Javier Arenas for the 2010 NFL Draft. McClain was the eighth pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, and Arenas followed as a second-round selection (50^th overall).

Prior to Alabama, Roberts was the sprints, hurdles and combined-events coach at Iowa State from 1996-2007. During his 11 seasons in Ames, Iowa, his athletes earned 21 All-American honors, won three Big 12 Conference titles and set 52 school records. Roberts coached another Olympian at Iowa State, as he helped Aurelia Trywianska advance to the 2004 and 2008 Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles. Trywianska finished fifth in the event at the 2003 World Championships.

Roberts coached one season (1995-96) at Drake as the sprints, hurdles and field events coach. His athletes won two Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) crowns and set three school records. Five athletes that he recruited set school records at Drake. His first track and field coaching job was at NCAA Division II Truman State in 1993.

In 1994-95, he worked at Ohio State as the strength and conditioning coach for the Buckeyes football program. Among the players he assisted with their speed and strength development were Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, future NFL All-Pro receivers Joey Galloway and Terry Glenn and 1994 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick Dan Wilkinson.

Roberts, who is originally from Muscatine, Iowa, attended Midland Lutheran College. He qualified for three NAIA Track and Field Championships and earned All-American honors after a sixth-place finish as a member of the distance medley relay team in 1990. He set eight school records at Midland Lutheran, including the indoor and outdoor 400 meters.

Roberts graduated from Midland Lutheran in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in education and social science/coaching. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and is a USATF Coaching Education Levels I and II Lead Instructor. Roberts is the author of two books – Progressions for Coaching the Sprints and Relays and Progressions from Coaching the Hurdles.

University of Memphis Athletics

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