Don Hood enters his second season as head coach of the recently added LeTourneau University men's and women's track and field team.
In his first season at the helm of the YellowJackets, Hood helped three athletes qualify for the NCAA Division III National Meets (one indoor qualifer, two outdoor qualifiers) and has set the foundation for the program to grow under his guidance. The LETU women finished sixth at their first-ever American Southwest Conference Track and Field Championship Meet with Alexis Segura being named the first all-conference athlete in program history while the men finished seventh and had their first-ever ASC Champion in pole vaulter Austin Parrish.
Two athletes (Austin Parrish, Alex Hindman) were named to the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association Division III Indoor All-South Region Team to go along with three athletes (Parrish, Hindman, Arvin Hrushka) being named Division III Outdoor All-South Region honorees.
Hood joins LeTourneau after serving as the Girls Athletic Coordinator and Head Boys and Girls track and cross-country coach at Brownwood High School since 2009. The track and cross-country teams have won 9 district championships and the girls cross-country team has qualified for the state meet 3 of the last 5 years under his direction.
Prior to Brownwood, Hood spent four seasons as the head track & field coach at Abilene Christian University. During his tenure, Hood led the Wildcat men's program to three straight NCAA Division II outdoor team championships (2006-08), and directed the women's program to the 2008 outdoor team title, the program's first team championship since winning the 2000 indoor championship. In 2008, he was voted the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association Men's Coach of the Year.
Under Hood’s direction, the Wildcat men's team won the Lone Star Conference team championship in each of his four seasons, while the women's team won the LSC title from 2006-08.
“I was blessed to grow up in the household of one of the greatest American track coaches - I saw first-hand how much desire and commitment it takes to build a championship team,” said Hood about his experience and background. “Having spent my 29 years of coaching evenly split between HS and college has allowed me to keep in close contact with recruiting contacts and remain able to relate to the high school students we will recruit. Any success I've had is directly attributable to the work the athletes have put in. My job is to recruit quality people, then to motivate and instruct and watch the improvement come. Good kids that work hard can often find talent they didn't know they had.”
Before his time at ACU, Hood served as an assistant to Wes Kittley at Texas Tech from 2002 to 2005. During that time, he coached men's and women's horizontal jumps and the pole vault. He helped coach the Tech men to the 2005 Big 12 outdoor team championship, the school’s first track & field conference title. He also helped coach the women to third place at the Big 12 outdoor championships for their best ever finish at the meet.
During his three seasons at Texas Tech, Hood coached five All-American athletics, two school record-holders and 14 NCAA Division I championship meet qualifiers.
From 1996 to 2002, Hood was the head cross country and track & field coach at Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State), where he led the Bobcats to five Southland Conference championships and in the process earned five SLC Coach of the Year honors. He was honored in 2002 as the NCAA Regional Coach of the Year. During his time at Texas State, he coached three NCAA All-American athletes and more than half of the school's track & field records were set during his tenure.
Hood accepted his first collegiate coaching position as the assistant track & field coach at Sam Houston State University from 1994 to 1996. While at SHSU, he was in charge of the sprints, relays, vaulting and throwing workouts. During his two years, the Bearkats set 15 school records in the events Hood coached.
Before his time coaching college athletes, Hood started as the head coach for the Temple High School cross country and track & field teams as well as an assistant coach for the Wildcats football team from 1988 until 1994. Under his guidance 13 school records were broken, nine athletes medaled at the state meet, three All-American honors were earned, the Wildcats placed third at the state meet in 1994 and won their first district title since 1966.
Prior to his coaching career, Hood was a six-time TAPPS State Champion in cross-country and track in high school before earning four letters at Abilene Christian University in both cross-country and track. He was also a member of the Wildcat cross-country teams that qualified for the Division II national meets. During his time at ACU, Hood was named to the Dean’s Honor Roll seven times and earned the Bud Clanton Award twice for having the highest GPA among track letter winners.
After finishing his undergrad degree, Hood earned his master’s of science at the United States Sports Academy in 1988.
Don makes the transition to LeTourneau with his wife, Rachel, and their three daughters, Victoria, Julianne, and Annabeth.
