Ryan Grinnell - Assistant Coach (Jumps & Combined Events) - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Ryan Grinnell

Title:
Assistant Coach (Jumps & Combined Events)
Email:

Grinnell By the Numbers:

• 25 NCAA All-America Citations, including one at Wake Forest

• 4 Wake Forest school records

• 23 Wake Forest Top-10 all-time performances

• 3 NCAA Division 1 Top-4 team finishes (2019–2021)

• 2 NCAA Division 1 Champions (2021)

• 1 NCAA Division 1 Top-8 team finish (2021)

• 7 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers (2020)

• 4 USTFCCCA South Region Athletes of the Year

• 5 student-athletes named to The Bowerman Watch List

• 2 USTFCCCA National Scholar Team of the Year awards

• 2 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

Ryan Grinnell has served as an assistant coach at Wake Forest since August 2023, where he works with the jumps, hurdles, and combined events groups, bringing a proven track record of developing athletes into conference champions, NCAA All-Americans, and national-level competitors.

Since arriving in Winston-Salem, Grinnell has made an immediate impact on athlete progression and performance. His athletes have produced school records and twenty-three top 10 all-time marks while consistently competing at the top of the ACC. In 2026, he coached Seren Rodgers to the ACC Indoor Pentathlon Championship (3,989 points), the third-best mark in program history, while also elevating her into the program’s all-time top ten in multiple events. In his first season, Robbie Grace set both the indoor and outdoor school records in the long jump and earned outdoor NCAA All-America honors. He also guided Addison Berry to the No. 2 all-time mark in the indoor pentathlon, ranking among the top twenty-one performers in the 2024 NCAA season.

Grinnell’s coaching philosophy centers on long-term athlete development, technical consistency, and competitive confidence. Across his career, he has helped produce 25 NCAA All-Americans, seven U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers, four USTFCCCA Region Athletes of the Year, and five student-athletes named to The Bowerman Watch List. His athletes have succeeded not only on the track but also in the classroom, contributing to multiple USTFCCCA National Scholar Team of the Year honors and CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

Prior to Wake Forest, Grinnell coached at Utah State, University of Georgia, Washington State, and Campbell, developing athletes at every level of collegiate track and field. At Georgia, under the tutelage of world-renowned Coach Petros Kyprianou, he contributed to two NCAA champions, 20 First-Team All-Americans, and two top 3 NCAA team finishes while working with one of the premier training groups in the country. At Washington State and Utah State, he built event groups that produced conference champions, school record holders, national qualifiers, and NCAA All-Americans across hurdles, jumps, and combined events.

Grinnell finished his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boise State in 2009. Recognized as one of the most decorated student-athletes in Bronco history, Grinnell was a school-record six-time NCAA First Team All-American across three events (triple jump, long jump, and high jump). He won a school record nine individual conference titles and had three runner-up finishes. He was named the WAC Championships Athlete of the Year three times and finished four times as the WAC High Point Scorer at the conference championships meet. In addition, Grinnell was Boise State’s nominee for the WAC’s Joe Kearney Award, a two-time Academic All-American honoree, and made the Dean’s List from 2005–2007 while earning multiple WAC All-Academic honors.

A former elite athlete himself, Grinnell brings firsthand experience from the highest levels of athletics. He qualified for two U.S. Olympic Trials finals in the triple jump (2008 and 2012). In 2013, he was the USATF Outdoor Championships bronze medalist in the triple jump with a leap of 17.02 meters (55-10.25). A week later, he recorded a personal-best of 17.22 meters (56-6), which ranked in the top ten in the world (IAAF) for the 2013 season. His competitive background, combined with his coaching experience, allows him to connect with student athletes and guide them through every stage of their development, from arrival on campus to competing on the national stage.