Doug Reynolds - Associate Head Coach - Throws - Track & Field Coaches

Doug Reynolds

Title:
Associate Head Coach - Throws
Phone:
864-1897
Email:
throwcoach@ku.edu

Bio

Doug Reynolds rejoined the Kansas track and field coaching staff in September 2022. Since returning, Reynolds has led a handful of athletes to new heights, including Patrick Larrison, Dimitrios Pavlidis, Sofya Sluchaninova and Maddie Fey.

In his expansive and remarkable career, Reynolds has coached four NCAA individual champions, one NCAA collegiate record holder, and four Olympians. Additionally, he has worked with three IAAF World Championship competitors, 59 NCAA Division I All-Americans, 29 individual conference champions, and three conference Athlete of the Year recipients.

During his time with the Jayhawks, one of Reynolds' top pupils, Dimitrios Pavlidis, set and broke his own Kansas record in the discus multiple times. Reynolds helped Pavlidis win the Outdoor Big 12 discus title in 2024 and 2025, with a second place finish in 2023. These dominant seasons were also displayed with Pavlidis’ third and sixth place finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2024 and 2025, respectively. In addition to his Kansas discus records, Pavlidis became the Greek National Record holder with a discus performance of 65.11m in 2025.

Three other notable Kansas athletes Reynolds coached are Sofya Sluchaninova, Maddie Fey and Patrick Larrison. Larrison’s crowning collegiate achievement was winning the 2023 Indoor Big 12 Championship in the shot put. Sluchaninova entered the Kansas top five performances in the discus in 2025 with her 60.21m performance. This performance ranked fifth as an individual performance and placed her second all time as a performer behind Sasha Emilianov. Fey, who just finished her freshman season with Reynolds, won the U20 USA Championships in the discus throw and placed second in the shot put. She also finished fifth in both events at the Big 12 championships as a true freshman.

Reynolds returned to Kansas from Florida State University, where he was an assistant coach for a year. During his run with FSU, he coached three athletes to All-American accolades, including Sara Zabarino, who placed fifth in the javelin at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Before Florida State, Reynolds served as the Director/Head Coach of Track and Field and Cross Country at New Mexico State from 2017-2021. During his tenure, Reynolds coached his athletes to 43 individual conference titles.

In his first season as head coach of the Aggies (2017), Reynolds led the women’s cross country team to their first Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championship, making it the first women’s WAC Championship the school had won since 2009, while the men took third.

During his first indoor season with the Aggies, Reynolds had three athletes take home WAC individual titles at the 2018 WAC Indoor Championships, while finishing third as a team.

At the WAC Outdoor Championships in 2018, NM State placed third, which was the program’s best ever finish. The Aggies walked away with the gold in three of the four throwing events and won eight titles at the meet.

In 2019, Reynolds built upon his successful first season, finishing second in the WAC in both the indoor and outdoor Track & Field Championships, winning seven individual outdoor titles and three indoor titles.

In 2020, he led the Aggies to their first indoor conference championship in school history by winning the WAC, earning him the well-deserved 2020 Mountain Region Indoor Coach of the Year title. On their way to claiming the championship, the Aggies racked up an impressive seven individual titles.

Prior to New Mexico State, Reynolds was an assistant coach in charge of throws at the University of Alabama from 2011-2017. His athletes began leaving their mark in the Tide’s record books in 2013. Freshman Elias Hakansson smashed the school records in both the weight throw and the hammer throw multiple times over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons. Hakansson received SEC All-Freshmen honors for the indoor and outdoor seasons when he finished third in the weight throw at the SEC Indoor Meet and third in the hammer throw at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Hakansson closed out the season by earning First-Team All-America honors when he finished in eighth place at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Reynolds earned the South Region Assistant Coach of the Year award from the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in 2014 after impressive performances by his squad that year. At the 2014 SEC Indoor Championships, the Tide took home the gold and silver medals in the weight throw. The season was capped off with Hayden Reed winning the discus title at the NCAA Outdoor Championship and USA Track & Field meets.

At the 2016 SEC Outdoor Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Reynolds’ men’s discus team swept the medals for the first time in program history. Eight Alabama throwers placed on the men’s national top-20 rankings in either the discus, hammer throw, javelin or shot put during the 2016 season.

Reynolds joined Alabama’s staff as a throws coach after spending six seasons at Kentucky, where his student-athletes won nine SEC championships while also setting seven program records. In his first season with the Wildcats, Reynolds was named the 2006 NCAA Mideast Region Throws Coach of the Year.

In 2008, Reynolds coached Rashaud Scott to an NCAA title in the discus. Reynolds also helped UK’s Colin Boevers to two SEC discus titles and UK to four straight titles from 2008-2011. In 2011, Reynolds helped Boevers achieve fourth place at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
On the women’s side, Reynolds helped to coach Mary Angell to the 2011 SEC runner-up in the discus. Angell also competed at the USA Track & Field Championships. Under Reynolds’ guidance, Ashley Muffet earned four All-America honors, two SEC Commissioners Cups, two SEC championships and a 2009 SEC Outdoor Co-Field Athlete of the Year award with her strong performances in the shot put and discus.

Before he joined the Wildcat staff, Reynolds worked at the University of Arizona, Boise State University and the University of Kansas. Two of his star pupils – Jarred Rome (Boise State) and Scott Russell (Kansas) – competed in the summer Olympic Games and took part in the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships. A six-time All-American at Boise State, Rome was a two-time United States outdoor champion in the discus. He also represented Team USA at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics. Russell was a six-time All-American who claimed five Big 12 titles in three different events. In 2002, Reynolds coached Russell to an NCAA title in the javelin throw and weight throw. On his way to the title, Russell set the collegiate record in the weight throw. Russell went on to represent Canada at the 2008 Olympics, where he placed 10th in the javelin.

Reynolds also currently coaches Rachel Dincoff, whom he has worked with since 2016, and Sasha Emilianov, whom he has worked with since 2023. Dincoff was a participant at both the 2022 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she competed in the discus throw for Team USA. Emilianov was a participant in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Moldova, as well as a finals participant at the 2025 World Championships.

A graduate of Arizona, Reynolds earned national recognition as a Pac-10 champion in the discus, which also earned him a No. 1 NCAA ranking in the event. In 1996, he was the National Junior College Athletic Association shot put and discus champion and competed in both the 1997 and 1999 World University Games, where he took home a bronze medal in the discus. He competed at the 1999 and 2003 Pan American Games for the United States, where he was a finalist in the discus both years. During his career, Reynolds’ highest ranking was third in the country and 10th in the world in the discus throw.

Reynolds’ wife, Tracy, is a Kansas native. Doug and Tracy have three children - Sadie (16), Owen (12) and Brandtley (10).