While much of the attention this preseason has been on the storylines surrounding the gymnasts—rightfully so—there are plenty of compelling plot points among coaches across the nation, too. From defending a championship, climbing back to the top, or capitalizing on great recruiting and portal work, coaches play a significant part in shaping the NCAA gymnastics landscape, and there are a myriad of compelling journeys to watch in 2025.
2024 CGN Coaching Staff of the Year: California
LSU
Can Jay Clark lead the Tigers to back-to-back titles? Can he keep his squad focused and hungry enough to push that hard again? If the answers are yes, the LSU staff will be hard to beat for staff of the year. Winning once? Very hard. Winning twice? A whole different mental ballgame.
Oklahoma
KJ Kindler has cemented herself in the legendary circle of NCAA gymnastics coaches, so she and her staff are always in this conversation. A comeback—especially ending with another title—from last year’s vault meltdown during the national semifinal would make the Sooner crew frontrunners.
California
Over the last few years, Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell have vaulted the Golden Bears from the nationals bubble to title contenders, culminating in a runner-up finish a season ago. That won them this award in 2024, and if they can continue California’s trajectory and nab the program’s first title, they’ll be two-time award winners. The pieces are there to do so.
Florida
Will this finally be the Gators’ year? If Jenny Rowland can get her team over the finish line for the first time in her tenure, she’ll certainly be a coach of the year candidate. Rowland has brought in some very strong transfers recently in Victoria Nguyen and Selena Harris-Miranda, the latter being arguably the most sought-after gymnast in the portal this year, and has finally brought Skye Blakely to Gainesville after several deferrals to pursue elite competition.
Utah
Carly Dockendorf is gearing up to lead the Utes after her first complete preseason as head coach. Given the high turmoil surrounding Tom Farden’s firing last year, it was widely anticipated that Utah could have a slightly off 2024—an entirely understandable outcome. Instead, Utah stormed to the Final Four and a podium finish, plus secured bragging rights as the last-ever (at the time) Pac-12 gymnastics champion. That speaks to Dockendorf’s leadership, and it seems like anything is possible this year under her guidance. Utah has been third for four-straight seasons; every veteran on the team has finished nationals in third place for their entire careers (except transfers and sixth-year Jaedyn Rucker who finished fourth in the shortened COVID year). Even finishing second would seem like a breakthrough and put Dockendorf solidly in the conversation for this award.
Georgia
Many are anticipating the debut season of new co-head coaches Cécile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts. The pair has been tasked with bringing the sport’s most title-heavy program back to the top and has put together a promising class of newcomers, transfers, and returners to make some headway in 2025. While another natty is a long-term project, closing in on a top 10 final ranking would turn some heads.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions had an exciting turnaround last season that was capped by an upset of Michigan in the Wolverines’ house in the regional semifinal. With a very strong freshman class, they are projected to contend for a Sweet Sixteen finish yet again; doing so back-to-back would absolutely put Sarah Shire-Brown’s staff in the conversation.
Michigan State
Mike Rowe has led a strong, steady revolution in East Lansing. He took over under difficult circumstances and has built a team that, at this point, should be considering a trip to Fort Worth a realistic goal. If the Spartans keep building in 2025, it will be because of amazing gymnastics, but also excellent recruiting, nationally recognized choreography, and attention to detail from the staff.
Stanford
Last season’s upset run through the postseason to the national championships may just be foreshadowing for what’s to come from the Cardinal, as it reloaded in the offseason with the top-ranked freshman class and has the potential to be a darkhorse contender for Fort Worth. If Tabitha Yim can nab Stanford a regionals seed in 2025 and work some more postseason magic, she and her assistants should be appropriately lauded.
Arkansas
The beginning of the Wieber era in Fayetteville was not without its bumps. An overall very inexperienced staff and a bit of roster churn made for some fine but not extraordinary seasons. Still, Wieber spent that time building a culture around her program at Arkansas and increasing hype. This year, every meet will be held in the larger Razorback venue, Bud Walton Arena. Wieber has attracted some massive recruits, including Olympic alternate Joscelyn Roberson, and a handful of talented transfers in Kaitlyn Ewald and Mati Waligora. She has put together the pieces of a big year and will be looking to build on her team’s breakthrough seventh-place finish in 2024. A trip to the Final Four would cement this staff’s growing legacy.
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Article by Brandis Heffner and Emily Minehart
