Gary Newell joined the San Francisco track and field program as an assistant coach in the summer of 2017, and enters his second season with the Dons in 2018-19.
In his first season at USF in 2017-18, he coached the Dons to three school records in the 60-meter dash (indoor track), the 400 and the 4x400Â relay. He also recruited seven incoming sprints and hurdles student-athletes in his first season. Newell was tasked with boosting the Dons' hurdling crew, and has already done so by bringing in 400-meter hurdling specialists, also helping boost the relay and sprinting groups.
Newell came to the Dons by way of West Texas, most recently at Texas Tech and before that, West Texas A&M. Newell assisted the Red Raiders from 2015-17, helping guide the men to a 17th-place national finish and a top-50 showing for the women. The Red Raiders' squad featured 10 NCAA All-Americans in 2017, and the men's 4x400 relay team finished fifth at the NCAA Championships.
All told, Newell helped bring in the top-ranked sprint recruiting class in the Big 12, and the ninth-ranked sprint recruiting class in the NCAA, and Texas Tech featured 18 NCAA qualifiers during Newell's time with the program.
Prior to his time in Lubbock, Texas, Newell was on staff at his alma mater, West Texas A&M, for four seasons. Competing in NCAA Division II, Newell helped the Buffs capture 22 NCAA DII qualifying positions, with nine of those earning NCAA DII All-American status. Ten athletes were Lone Star Conference champions, and hurdler Cameron Lacour was the league's LSC Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2013.
Newell, a native of Alamogordo, N.M., earned his undergraduate degree in history from West Texas A&M and received his master's in sport psychology from Texas Tech.
