University of Memphis Athletics
Robinson Adds Gibbs and Fortenberry to Coaching Staff
Sep 01, 2021 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Head track & field coach Kevin Robinson is excited to announce the promotion of Emron Gibbs and the hiring of Nic Fortenberry for the upcoming season.
Gibbs, a native of St. Andrews, Grenada, has spent the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Tigers and just recently got promoted to full-time.
"Emron has been with us as a volunteer coach for the last couple of seasons and he has done a tremendous job in that capacity, so it is an honor to be able to provide him with a full-time role," said head coach Kevin Robinson. "Emron has a great vision and will help to elevate our program to the next level."
Prior to coming to Memphis, Gibbs spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Southern Mississippi, where he helped coach multiple throwing events while helping to create training programs for the throwers. He also had a hand in organizing travel and recruiting for the Golden Eagles.
Gibbs had a successful collegiate career with Southern Mississippi where he was named First Team C-USA at the Outdoor Championships in 2017 and was a First Team All-American in 2016.
In 2017, he placed 20th at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships and was named Honorable Mention for his throw of 219'0". During that same year, he was the C-USA Conference Champion for his javelin throw of 245'6" and posted his career best in the weight throw at 51'5" at the C-USA Indoor Championships.
During his junior season with the Golden Eagles, Gibbs placed fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a 244'10" throw. Prior to the national championship meet, Gibbs took second at the NCAA East preliminary with a throw of 239'11".
Prior to Southern Mississippi, Gibbs was an All-American at Neosho County Community College where he recorded a person best of 227'7" in the javelin throw.
Fortenberry comes back to Memphis after a six-year stint as the head men's and women's track and field coach at Christian Brother University. He was the first full-time head coach in the program's history. He was previously an assistant coach for the Tigers from 2006-2016.
While at CBU, Fortenberry coached three NCAA Division II National Qualifiers, two All-Americans, one in long jump and one in hurdle and sprints and broke into the NCAA DII top-25 rankings. He also coached several conference and regional athletes of the year as well as multiple team and individual academic awards on both the conference and national levels.
Prior to Christian Brothers, Fortenberry spent 10 seasons with the Tigers where he worked with the sprints, hurdles, and jumps athletes. In his time with Memphis, Fortenberry coached 21 individual event conference champions, 18 regional qualifiers, and eight national qualifiers. He was also part of the 2007 C-USA Men's Outdoor Champion Team, the 2013 C-USA Women's Indoor Runner-Up team, and the 2014 American Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Runner-Up team.
"I could not be more excited to welcome Coach Fortenberry back to the Tiger family. Nic was a very successful and dependable coach for me in the past and I am ecstatic to announce that he is back with us to finish what we started," said head coach Kevin Robinson.
Before his first stint with the Tigers, Fortenberry helped coach the track and field and cross country teams at Houston High School in Germantown, Tenn from 1999-2006. While there, they won one state title with the Track and Field team and three with the Cross Country team.
Gibbs, a native of St. Andrews, Grenada, has spent the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Tigers and just recently got promoted to full-time.
"Emron has been with us as a volunteer coach for the last couple of seasons and he has done a tremendous job in that capacity, so it is an honor to be able to provide him with a full-time role," said head coach Kevin Robinson. "Emron has a great vision and will help to elevate our program to the next level."
Prior to coming to Memphis, Gibbs spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Southern Mississippi, where he helped coach multiple throwing events while helping to create training programs for the throwers. He also had a hand in organizing travel and recruiting for the Golden Eagles.
Gibbs had a successful collegiate career with Southern Mississippi where he was named First Team C-USA at the Outdoor Championships in 2017 and was a First Team All-American in 2016.
In 2017, he placed 20th at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships and was named Honorable Mention for his throw of 219'0". During that same year, he was the C-USA Conference Champion for his javelin throw of 245'6" and posted his career best in the weight throw at 51'5" at the C-USA Indoor Championships.
During his junior season with the Golden Eagles, Gibbs placed fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a 244'10" throw. Prior to the national championship meet, Gibbs took second at the NCAA East preliminary with a throw of 239'11".
Prior to Southern Mississippi, Gibbs was an All-American at Neosho County Community College where he recorded a person best of 227'7" in the javelin throw.
Fortenberry comes back to Memphis after a six-year stint as the head men's and women's track and field coach at Christian Brother University. He was the first full-time head coach in the program's history. He was previously an assistant coach for the Tigers from 2006-2016.
While at CBU, Fortenberry coached three NCAA Division II National Qualifiers, two All-Americans, one in long jump and one in hurdle and sprints and broke into the NCAA DII top-25 rankings. He also coached several conference and regional athletes of the year as well as multiple team and individual academic awards on both the conference and national levels.
Prior to Christian Brothers, Fortenberry spent 10 seasons with the Tigers where he worked with the sprints, hurdles, and jumps athletes. In his time with Memphis, Fortenberry coached 21 individual event conference champions, 18 regional qualifiers, and eight national qualifiers. He was also part of the 2007 C-USA Men's Outdoor Champion Team, the 2013 C-USA Women's Indoor Runner-Up team, and the 2014 American Athletic Conference Men's Outdoor Runner-Up team.
"I could not be more excited to welcome Coach Fortenberry back to the Tiger family. Nic was a very successful and dependable coach for me in the past and I am ecstatic to announce that he is back with us to finish what we started," said head coach Kevin Robinson.
Before his first stint with the Tigers, Fortenberry helped coach the track and field and cross country teams at Houston High School in Germantown, Tenn from 1999-2006. While there, they won one state title with the Track and Field team and three with the Cross Country team.
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