Ryan Grinnell Tabbed to Lead Wake Forest Jumps and Combined Events
8/2/2023 12:46:00 PM | Track and Field
Grinnell arrives from Utah State where he served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for sprints, hurdles, relays and horizontal jumps.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a strong 2023 campaign, in which 17 student-athletes reached the NCAA East Preliminaries, director of track & field and cross country John Hayes has tabbed Ryan Grinnell to lead the Wake Forest jumps and combined events, as announced Wednesday evening.
"I'm incredibly excited to bring in Ryan to coach our jumps and combined events," said Hayes. "He is highly respected in the coaching community and someone that will help us continue to move up in both the ACC and the NCAA. He has shown the ability to both recruit and develop athletes at the highest level."
Grinnell arrives from Utah State where he served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for sprints, hurdles, relays and horizontal jumps during the 2022-23 campaign.
"I am thrilled to join Coach Hayes and the Wake Forest Track & Field/Cross Country family," said Grinnell. "This is an incredible opportunity to be at such a distinguished university with championship success. Words can't truly express how excited I am to get to work in Winston-Salem and contribute to the vision of this dynamic staff."
Prior to his stint in Logan, Grinnell spent the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons at Georgia, where he worked under the direction of head coach Petros Kyprianou and helped coach two NCAA individual champions and 20 First-Team All-Americans, as well as assisted with 11 individual 2020 Olympic Trials qualifiers, six of which went on to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
"Ryan is a fantastic young brilliant mind in our profession with unmatched work ethic, loyalty and creativity," said Kyprianou. "He has been a crucial part of my career as a coach, both as an athlete and later as one of my assistant coaches. Not only is he a vicious competitor but he also understands the demands, rigors and challenges of any level of track and field. He is truly a remarkable coach and most importantly a great human being."
From 2016-19, Grinnell coached Washington State's horizontal jumpers, hurdlers and combined event competitors. While in Pullman, he instructed three PAC-12 champions and coached a number of team members to the NCAA West Preliminaries, as well as the NCAA Championships.
Under Grinnell's guidance, a pair of Cougars earned First-Team All-American honors, while another garnered Second-Team All-American accolades.
Grinnell previously spent the 2014-16 seasons at Utah State as an assistant coach for sprints, jumps, pole vault and combined events. During his first stop in Logan, he coached seven Aggies to second-team All-America honors and helped guide the 2016 men's team to a runner-up finish at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.
From 2012-14, Grinnell coached jumps, throws and combined events at Campbell, where he coached four individual Big South Conference Champions and one Male Indoor Athlete of the Year.
Grinnell began his coaching career as a volunteer at Georgia from April 2010-September 2012, while training for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. He was a member of the staff that led the Bulldogs to a school record for most combined points scored at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Hailing from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Grinnell finished his bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in business management from Boise State in 2009. While with the Broncos, he was a six-time First-Team NCAA All-America honoree, four of which came in the triple jump.
Grinnell won a school-record nine individual Western Athletic Conference titles and had three runner-up finishes. He was named the WAC's Male Performer of the Year, in addition to being Boise State's nominee for the WAC's Joe Kearney Award. Additionally, Grinnell was a two-time Academic All-American honoree and made the Dean's List from 2005-2007 with eight WAC All-Academic honors.
A highly-decorated professional athlete, Grinnell competed and qualified for the finals in the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the triple jump. In 2013, he was the USATF Championships bronze medalist in the triple jump with a leap of 17.02 meters (55-10.25). A week later, he soared to a personal-best of 17.22 meters (56-6), which finished the 2013 season as a top-10 World IAAF ranking in the triple jump.
Key Coaching Accomplishments
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"I'm incredibly excited to bring in Ryan to coach our jumps and combined events," said Hayes. "He is highly respected in the coaching community and someone that will help us continue to move up in both the ACC and the NCAA. He has shown the ability to both recruit and develop athletes at the highest level."
Grinnell arrives from Utah State where he served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for sprints, hurdles, relays and horizontal jumps during the 2022-23 campaign.
"I am thrilled to join Coach Hayes and the Wake Forest Track & Field/Cross Country family," said Grinnell. "This is an incredible opportunity to be at such a distinguished university with championship success. Words can't truly express how excited I am to get to work in Winston-Salem and contribute to the vision of this dynamic staff."
Prior to his stint in Logan, Grinnell spent the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons at Georgia, where he worked under the direction of head coach Petros Kyprianou and helped coach two NCAA individual champions and 20 First-Team All-Americans, as well as assisted with 11 individual 2020 Olympic Trials qualifiers, six of which went on to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
"Ryan is a fantastic young brilliant mind in our profession with unmatched work ethic, loyalty and creativity," said Kyprianou. "He has been a crucial part of my career as a coach, both as an athlete and later as one of my assistant coaches. Not only is he a vicious competitor but he also understands the demands, rigors and challenges of any level of track and field. He is truly a remarkable coach and most importantly a great human being."
From 2016-19, Grinnell coached Washington State's horizontal jumpers, hurdlers and combined event competitors. While in Pullman, he instructed three PAC-12 champions and coached a number of team members to the NCAA West Preliminaries, as well as the NCAA Championships.
Under Grinnell's guidance, a pair of Cougars earned First-Team All-American honors, while another garnered Second-Team All-American accolades.
Grinnell previously spent the 2014-16 seasons at Utah State as an assistant coach for sprints, jumps, pole vault and combined events. During his first stop in Logan, he coached seven Aggies to second-team All-America honors and helped guide the 2016 men's team to a runner-up finish at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.
From 2012-14, Grinnell coached jumps, throws and combined events at Campbell, where he coached four individual Big South Conference Champions and one Male Indoor Athlete of the Year.
Grinnell began his coaching career as a volunteer at Georgia from April 2010-September 2012, while training for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. He was a member of the staff that led the Bulldogs to a school record for most combined points scored at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Hailing from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Grinnell finished his bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in business management from Boise State in 2009. While with the Broncos, he was a six-time First-Team NCAA All-America honoree, four of which came in the triple jump.
Grinnell won a school-record nine individual Western Athletic Conference titles and had three runner-up finishes. He was named the WAC's Male Performer of the Year, in addition to being Boise State's nominee for the WAC's Joe Kearney Award. Additionally, Grinnell was a two-time Academic All-American honoree and made the Dean's List from 2005-2007 with eight WAC All-Academic honors.
A highly-decorated professional athlete, Grinnell competed and qualified for the finals in the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the triple jump. In 2013, he was the USATF Championships bronze medalist in the triple jump with a leap of 17.02 meters (55-10.25). A week later, he soared to a personal-best of 17.22 meters (56-6), which finished the 2013 season as a top-10 World IAAF ranking in the triple jump.
Key Coaching Accomplishments
- Three NCAA top five team finishes (2019-2021)
- One NCAA top eight team finish (2021)
- 25 NCAA All-Americans
- Assisted six individuals with qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
- 11 individual 2020 Olympic Trials Qualifiers
- Two USTFCCCA National Scholar Team of the Year Awards
- Two COSIDA Academic All-Americans
- Four USTFCCCA South Region Athletes of the Year
- Recruited a national top 10 class (2020)
- Five student-athletes named to the Bowerman Watch List
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