On Monday, June 13, 2022 Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White formally introduced Head Coach and Director of Track & Field Duane Ross and Head Coach and Director of Cross Country/Distance Sean Carlson.

Ross takes over the Tennessee track & field program after 10 seasons leading North Carolina A&T. He led the North Carolina A&T men to a third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, resulting in co-National Coach of the Year honors. The Aggies men took it a step further this March when they posted a second-place team finish at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships—the best-ever finish by an HBCU program. Through 10 years as a Division I head coach, Ross has developed more than 30 first-team All-America performers.

Carlson comes to Rocky Top after spending the last 10 years at Notre Dame, transforming its distance group into one of the nation's elite. During his stay in South Bend, Indiana, he guided athletes to four American collegiate records, 13 school records, 29 NCAA All-America performances, two NCAA records and three NCAA championships. The Irish men have won three ACC Cross Country Championship titles and have achieved three consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships under Carlson's tutelage. He also has assisted in coaching women who have earned eight top-30 finishes—and six top-15 finishes—at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Tennessee boasts a rich, championship tradition in track & field/cross country. The programs have won a combined eight team national championships—five by the Vols and three by the Lady Vols. Four of those NCAA team titles have come since 2000.

Tennessee track also has produced 45 Olympians who have earned 18 total medals, including 10 golds.

Olympic gold medalists who studied and trained at Tennessee include Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, Justin Gatlin, Sam Graddy, Tim Mack, Tianna Madison, Aries Merritt and DeeDee Trotter.

Press Conference Transcript

Tennessee Head Coach and Director of Track & Field Duane Ross
 
Opening Statement
"First off, let me say that I'm extremely blessed and excited to be here. This is an absolutely wonderful opportunity that I'll be honest, I don't deserve. To be around so many joyful people and so many people that want to be invested in my success as well as the student-athletes' success just says a lot. I've just been overwhelmed and overjoyed the last couple of weeks. So I'm excited to be here, excited to be a part of this family. I'm ready to get to work. I know NCAAs just ended on Saturday night, and Saturday night I was trying on my new orange polo and was getting my workouts together for this coming summer. I'm excited to get started."
 
On why he says he 'doesn't deserve' this opportunity…
"Let me be clear, even at North Carolina A&T, that program that we built for the last 10 years and was super successful—I didn't deserve that either. And this is why I say that: I know a lot of our success we had at North Carolina A&T was because I woke up every morning and realized that I didn't deserve it, but I worked hard every morning to earn it, and I instilled that belief in our student-athletes. I mean come on, I coach track and field for a living. And I know you guys have seen the releases, I got paid a pretty good amount. So, to be able to do this every day, this is my passion, it's not a job. There are so many people in other situations that would love to be doing this. So that's why I say I don't deserve it, but I'm going to work hard every day to earn it."
 
On if he peeked at what Tennessee was doing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships even while with North Carolina A&T…
"Peek? I was all in the results and counting up the scores for next season. I'm a proactive coach—I don't sit and wait for things to happen. I was already planning for what we're going to do in indoors. I was already planning for my speech when I got here today, when I met with the student-athletes this morning. I'm beyond excited. What we have here, what our athletic director Danny White is doing, is just tremendous. Our initial conversation went so great, went so well. As coaches, Sean and I—we've spent a lot of time talking—put a lot into our student-athletes. I think good programs, you see that their coaches are more invested in their student-athletes' success than their own. And that's certainly the case here. It was really refreshing and really heartwarming to see Danny and his staff so invested in the success of their coaches. So yes, I am very excited about what we did at North Carolina A&T, but at the same time I am also very excited about what we're about to do here."
 
On coaching a talent like Favour Ashe, who just finished second in the 100m dash at the NCAA Outdoor Championships…
"Well I wouldn't say 'finally,' he had the same time as my guy that finished right behind him. But he is a great athlete, we spent a lot of time talking over this past week. I didn't want to be a distraction, so I let them compete this weekend and coach (Ken) Harnden did a great job with having them ready. But after the competition, I think everybody was just kind of relieved to put their shoulders down and talk a little bit, and we had a lot of great conversations. I'm looking forward to bringing what we're bringing and marrying that to what we have already here. This is not about trying to win a national title next year, this is about earning a national title every year after. I mean complete dominance. I'm unforgiving, I don't mind saying that I want to be the best. That's why we do this. I said the same thing to my student-athletes this morning. Ashe and I spoke yesterday in the airport, spoke about the same thing. Some of the other athletes have spoken about the same thing. We have to be unforgiving in our quest. We can't be afraid to say that we're here to be the best. That's what we're here to do. Everyone's excited from the conversations that I've had, I'm beyond excited and I know my family is. We're ready to get excited."
 
On what he can accomplish with the resources Tennessee has to offer…
"The sky is the limit. The sky is the limit, but my belief was the sky was the limit where I was at (previously). I've never thought any less of my ability or my student-athletes' ability. What I've said for 10 years was if you give me a track and give me a weight room, we are going to compete with the best and ultimately be the best. That doesn't change. I loved our alumni at North Carolina A&T. I loved my staff, and I loved my AD. The biggest thing for me was the next opportunity. As I mentioned, my initial conversation and that feeling that Danny and his staff are invested in my success, in Sean's success, in the staff's success. We spend so much time investing in our student-athlete's success, so sometimes, we forget that we want to be the best at this too. Danny made a statement to me when I initially met him that pretty much sold it. We spent hours together, but he could have led with that one statement and avoided all that talk. He said, 'We got your back.' That was huge. That was huge for me."
 
On how his experience of competing professionally has benefitted him as a coach…
"It taught me a lot. We all know with anything that there's going to be adversities and trials. At that level, you're going to be tested discipline-wise with the choices you make. It has taught me so many different perspectives. It has made me the coach I am today. Not just being able to compete at that level but the mental warfare that you have to be prepared for at this level. These are things that I pass along to our student-athletes daily. Even today, I talked to our student-athletes about their willingness to make sacrifices and be disciplined. We are coming in, and this is a coaching change. These athletes are committed and loyal to their former coaches, as they should be. I am going to demand the same thing when I come here, and I want that from them. This is where we have to make sacrifices and make choices, and we have to be able to live with them and grow from them. That experience taught me so much. It made me the coach I am."
 
On the importance of developing and sending athletes to compete in the Olympics…
"That is the ultimate goal for a lot of the student-athletes. Before we touch foot on the track, I asked each student-athlete, 'What is your goal?' There are a lot of them that say they want to be an NCAA Champion, an Olympian and a World Champion. Our conversation this morning went as such, 'Be careful when you say that, because someone who has lived that life is going to hold you to it.' My son, who is an Olympic gold medalist, when he said that, I treated him with the same intensity as I do with any other athlete. Be careful, son, when you say those words. I am that coach who is going to push that, and those days when you want to quit or too tired to finish, I am there to remind you of the discipline that you have to have to do this. Carrying that on to this team here, we have a very solid foundation. I couldn't be more pleased with what I've inherited. Building on that, I know we are going to be in contention to win national championships every year. That is the expectation. Nothing more and nothing less."
 
On if his son (Randolph Ross Jr.) has eligibility left and where will he spend it if so…
"Yes, he has a year and a half. That's a great question. I have been getting it all week. Let me tell you something about my son. I know there has been a lot of talk about him running professionally. There was a lot of talk about him running professionally last year after he ran and went to the Olympics. My son came to me, and I sat him down and said, 'We need to sit down and have a real conversation about the future.' He cut me off, and he never cuts me off. This is how I knew he was serious. He cut me off and said, 'Dad, nothing about my life is going to change if I go pro. I'm not about to go buy a house or spend money. I want to do what I am doing. I have aspirations to break the collegiate record. I want to break the world record. I am in no rush to do these things that everyone is speaking about.' As a father, that made me feel like I've done something right for him to come out and say those things. This is going to be his decision. Our latest and greatest conversation is when he came to me recently and said, 'I want to win a team national championship.' We've had those elude us, finishing second this past indoor season, third outdoor (last year), fifth last indoor and then this year having some mishaps at the NCAA Championships when we should have been in contention. We have been so close. My heart goes out to him and my daughter (Jonah Ross), who is also on the team. He wants to win a national championship. I have stressed to them since I've had them on my team that you don't want to miss out on that. I was a part of the teams at Clemson when we finished second at the NCAA Championships twice. My alumni and I, we still talk about those moments and coming up short. I tell our guys all the time, you don't want to life your life with regrets. When you're out there on the track, be disciplined and leave it all out there. Long story short, I don't know what he is going to do, but he is in orange today if that says anything."
 
On returning to Tom Black Track after winning a national championship there in 1995…
"The first thing I did when I walked to the track was walk over to Lane 4, that's the lane I ran in when I did win the title here, and I just walked it straight. It felt good. So, no, I did not (think I would be back coaching here), but when this opportunity arose, I had the conversation with Danny and I've got to tell you, my mind was made up within the first 10 minutes. First, our athletic director is very persuasive, I'm sure you guys know that. He is just innovative. As I mentioned, the support and the encouragement to say 'hey, we want you to be able to do this.' That goes a long way with an ambitious coach like Sean (Carlson) and myself."

On why Tennessee stood out as a place he wanted to come to…
"It was a combination of things. One, I grew up in Dallas, North Carolina which is not too far from here. As these opportunities came over the last few years, this has been a … as I mentioned earlier, I am passionate about this. I am passionate about my kids and the families. I take the responsibility of molding the young men and women and putting them on a great path. I take that very seriously. All of those things factored in when I considered whether to move or not. It was just never the right opportunity, it was just never the right fit. I go with my gut, a lot. If it doesn't feel right, then I just walk away. This situation here was similar, it felt right. The timing felt right, the team felt right, my new boss felt right. It was just, overall, a great feeling. My family, when I mentioned it to them, they were sold before I could even get it out of my mouth. It was just the right time and I'm excited to get here and have the support of everyone and to be able to get out there and do what I love to do."
 
On having his family with him in support…
"They're all lined up in orange, and they had orange before I did, if that tells you how excited everyone was. I am very, very family oriented and I mentioned this to our student-athletes, Sean and I spoke about it and I mentioned it to our staff coming in, I love for my children to be on the track. I want them growing up around this, I want them seeing these student-athletes, learning from them and I want our student-athletes to see their coaching staff family-oriented. That they have a core, they're centered, they have values. That goes a long way. We are all excited, you don't do anything without discussing it with each other. I discussed this with them before I made the decision, which was really short. I was on the phone between meetings with Cameron and then Danny with just 'what do you think?' Everyone is extremely excited, we're ready to get going. The only problem I have is that NCAA rules say we can't get practice started soon enough."
 
On if his success at North Carolina A&T, an HBCU, gave other programs at HBCU schools optimism that they could succeed at a high level… 
"I hope so. I've spoken to some coaches that are in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) and the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) who have thanked my staff and I for what we did. I've told them, 'No thanks needed.' This is what we are supposed to do as coaches. We are supposed to lift each other up and create other opportunities for everyone. This is something, as I mentioned earlier, that I take a lot of responsibility in. I hope that I did. I hope the next coach at A&T comes in and is able to take that program higher. Sean and I spoke about this and I think it's why our relationship is going to be so great and this program is going to be unstoppable—we both understand the gift. It's a gift for us to be able to change the lives of young men and women. It's not about us. We both understand that. When coaches collectively understand what the true gift is and we can muddle through the jealousy of what we are doing, I think this sport is going to grow. This is an Olympic sport. It's supposed to be the most talked about and the most watched sport in the world. I hope that I did leave a great legacy behind for HBCUs. That was the toughest part of my decision actually. When you build something for 10 years, you just can't walk away from it that easily. I knew what we built there. In the first few years, it was about winning championships. I will admit that. Through the course of that journey, it became more about the mission. The mission was teaching these black men and women that they can do whatever they aspire to be. That literally became the mission. It wasn't about the trophy. It was about saying, 'We can be the best despite what people are saying.' It was always the same thing every year: 'You don't have the resources. You can't do this. You can't do that.' In the very first meeting at North Carolina A&T with some of our alumni, a man told me that I was too ambitious, that I couldn't win nationals and that I couldn't do all of the things that we're talking about. Our naysayers have not learned yet that all that does is give me more power. It gives me more focus. Sean and I are about to do something that this country's never seen." 
 
Tennessee Head Coach and Director of Cross Country/Distance Sean Carlson
 
Opening Statement 
"I'll start by just saying how humbled I am and honored to be a part of this historic program and take it into the future. Danny White approached me about this opportunity. He made it something that I couldn't turn down. The commitment from the athletic department here to drive cross country is going to be unrivaled in the NCAA, and I can't tell you all how excited I am to get to work with the administration, with the student athletes and with Coach Ross. It's a really exciting time for Tennessee Track and Field. The big thing that I certainly want all of our student-athletes to know is that we're committed to building one of the best cross country and track and field programs in the country, but we're also committed to building them as people and preparing them for the next four years of their lives and a lot of the values, characteristics, attributes that it takes to be successful in the sport are the exact same things that it takes to be successful over the next 40 years of your life as a father, husband, employee. That's what we plan on doing here at Tennessee."  
 
On recruiting East Tennessee long distance runners…
"We're going to recruit the entire state of Tennessee very heavily. When I was at Notre Dame, we were second at the national meet with seven guys from within 500 miles of campus. You can do it with local talent, and we will start there and work out the best student-athletes we can here in Tennessee. The footprint of our program will certainly be here in the state." 
 
On if it is hard to recruit a high school distance runner when some don't mature until after college…
"It does, there are some advantages to be older as a distance runner for sure, but I am also committed to developing kids here and having them have a good experience. We've had multiple All-Americans and national champions that started as walk-ons and weren't highly recruited. Yared Nuguse was an NCAA Champion, and he was a walk-on. You can do it right out of high school and have a really good team. We'll have some grad students, transfers and things like that. We're going to try and build the best program we can, but I want it to be understood that developing kids out of high school for four years or five years is going to be a good footprint for our program."
 
On how he feels to be chosen to be the coach… 
"It's just really exciting to be on the cutting edge of a fort. We're going to be transforming track and field and cross country by doing this quite a bit. Coach Ross and myself, the resources and ability to pay attention to what were supposed to do, it hasn't happened in this work. Hopefully, other people don't figure out and catch up with us. We got the jump start, and we're first in the market in this. That was one of the biggest things that attracted me is his vision for what we're going to do here and changing the landscape of the NCAA."