Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Coaches Check-In Episode 9: Keith Vroman
7/24/2023 7:50:00 AM | General, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country
The Track and Field Coach chats about his first year at the helm and changes in the CUSA landscape
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Head Track and Field Coach Keith Vroman joins GoBlueRaiders.com Staff Writer for this edition of the Coaches Check-In Podcast.
After taking over the program officially this past summer, spending spring of 2022 as the interim head coach following the passing of Dean Hayes, Vroman discusses many of the standout men and women performances across the program this year, the things he's learned in a year as head coach after nearly two decades as an MTSU assistant coach, recruiting focus, the new Conference USA and much more!
You can find excerpts of the podcast below, lightly edited for grammar, clarity and flow. The full episode is available for download or to stream at the link above, or by visiting the "Podcasts" tab under "Multimedia" on GoBlueRaiders.com.
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This was the first year you were head coach of the entire MTSU Track and Field Program after many years leading the Cross Country team. What have you learned after one full year being the head coach of the program?
It's a lot different. I knew it was going to be. Dealing with a lot of the day-to-day stuff that athletes, and obviously with the number of athletes that we have on the team, there's things to deal with. Academics and stuff where when Coach Hayes was here, he really took the reign on a lot of that stuff because he was the head coach and I got to stay out of it. Now, I have to deal with all the 'issues', per se, financial aid and the academic side. Coach Hayes did most of that when he was here and there are benefits to being an assistant.
There's been a lot of challenges. We've put our foot forward recruiting and doubled the roster size from last year. (We've) done a lot of work this year. The coordination of the recruiting, trying to get our roster numbers up has been the biggest challenge.
That recruiting emphasis was evident early. I remember being around the Murphy Center on Football Game Days and seeing Coach Ray Bonner bringing in groups of recruits. What was it like bringing in that first class?
Our main emphasis was our relays. We haven't had relays I've wanted on the team. We didn't have the numbers. The big goal was to get the 4x100, the 4x400 on both sides together so we'd have a team to be able to compete on relays. Relays are more fun, especially the 4x400 at the end of the day. I like having a 4x400, we lost a couple of championships because we didn't have a full, good 4x400 healthy and fresh. The goal is to get those relays together. If you talk about teams, that's eight guys and eight girls. So that's what you're trying to bring in.
Dean Hayes was well known for finding many great Blue Raiders overseas, particularly in Africa, during his time as head coach. How have y'all maintained that presence?
When I came here in 2003 to be with Coach Hayes, I wanted to have a little bit more well-rounded experience. With recruiting, I've been to pretty much every World Junior Championship, which is international. Recruiting, I've been overseas myself several times. The connections that we have with the other countries is still highly intact because I had relationships with most of the people involved in the federations over there anyway.
It hasn't really changed a whole lot, we really changed up our recruiting style a little bit, as far as we're trying to get them here on academic scholarships and athletic scholarships. That's posed a few issues, but on the men's side we've done a good job of getting them the academic money to build a bigger team.
With all of the new programs moving in and programs leaving, what does the Conference USA look like for both men's and women's track, as well as Cross Country?
It will be interesting. Liberty is really tough in track and field. They'll be hosting Indoor conference championships every year because they have a really nice indoor facility, one of the best in the country, from what I've heard, I've never actually been there! You've got Liberty coming in that will be strong and then you've got Sam Houston State coming out of Texas, which usually has some good sprinters, multis, jumpers etc. out of that state. New Mexico State has a real good hurdles coach and they have some good distance runners.
A lot of what has left, you replace Charlotte with Liberty. They're very similar. The biggest loss is probably Rice. There's not anybody coming in that matches what Rice was doing. Then you've got LA Tech, (who) has a new coach and they're doing a good job recruiting as well and coaching. It's kind of like a new team at LA Tech as well. They have a good staff there, they're all my friends, but they do have a good staff. You add them in the mix. And then Jacksonville State just hired a new coach. He's a young guy trying to make things happen and I'm sure he will because he did a good job where he was before.
When we went from Sun Belt to Conference USA, it was a totally different world. I could tell you, Coach Hayes and myself when we joined Conference USA, we kind of held scholarships back trying to figure out what we had to do to be successful. This first year, it's really going to be the first two years once you add Kennesaw State, who has also a good staff, there's MTSU alumni on their staff, I'm good friends with them as well. They have a good track program. You're not going to see the full light, particularly if we have more changes, it's always crazy.
These next two years, in track and field with so many events, you have to see how things stack up the next two years to have a really good idea to understand what's necessary to win a championship. This year is more of a potluck. Hopefully, we recruited the right people. And we'll see what happens.
Listen to the full podcast
After taking over the program officially this past summer, spending spring of 2022 as the interim head coach following the passing of Dean Hayes, Vroman discusses many of the standout men and women performances across the program this year, the things he's learned in a year as head coach after nearly two decades as an MTSU assistant coach, recruiting focus, the new Conference USA and much more!
You can find excerpts of the podcast below, lightly edited for grammar, clarity and flow. The full episode is available for download or to stream at the link above, or by visiting the "Podcasts" tab under "Multimedia" on GoBlueRaiders.com.
--
This was the first year you were head coach of the entire MTSU Track and Field Program after many years leading the Cross Country team. What have you learned after one full year being the head coach of the program?
It's a lot different. I knew it was going to be. Dealing with a lot of the day-to-day stuff that athletes, and obviously with the number of athletes that we have on the team, there's things to deal with. Academics and stuff where when Coach Hayes was here, he really took the reign on a lot of that stuff because he was the head coach and I got to stay out of it. Now, I have to deal with all the 'issues', per se, financial aid and the academic side. Coach Hayes did most of that when he was here and there are benefits to being an assistant.
There's been a lot of challenges. We've put our foot forward recruiting and doubled the roster size from last year. (We've) done a lot of work this year. The coordination of the recruiting, trying to get our roster numbers up has been the biggest challenge.
That recruiting emphasis was evident early. I remember being around the Murphy Center on Football Game Days and seeing Coach Ray Bonner bringing in groups of recruits. What was it like bringing in that first class?
Our main emphasis was our relays. We haven't had relays I've wanted on the team. We didn't have the numbers. The big goal was to get the 4x100, the 4x400 on both sides together so we'd have a team to be able to compete on relays. Relays are more fun, especially the 4x400 at the end of the day. I like having a 4x400, we lost a couple of championships because we didn't have a full, good 4x400 healthy and fresh. The goal is to get those relays together. If you talk about teams, that's eight guys and eight girls. So that's what you're trying to bring in.
Dean Hayes was well known for finding many great Blue Raiders overseas, particularly in Africa, during his time as head coach. How have y'all maintained that presence?
When I came here in 2003 to be with Coach Hayes, I wanted to have a little bit more well-rounded experience. With recruiting, I've been to pretty much every World Junior Championship, which is international. Recruiting, I've been overseas myself several times. The connections that we have with the other countries is still highly intact because I had relationships with most of the people involved in the federations over there anyway.
It hasn't really changed a whole lot, we really changed up our recruiting style a little bit, as far as we're trying to get them here on academic scholarships and athletic scholarships. That's posed a few issues, but on the men's side we've done a good job of getting them the academic money to build a bigger team.
With all of the new programs moving in and programs leaving, what does the Conference USA look like for both men's and women's track, as well as Cross Country?
It will be interesting. Liberty is really tough in track and field. They'll be hosting Indoor conference championships every year because they have a really nice indoor facility, one of the best in the country, from what I've heard, I've never actually been there! You've got Liberty coming in that will be strong and then you've got Sam Houston State coming out of Texas, which usually has some good sprinters, multis, jumpers etc. out of that state. New Mexico State has a real good hurdles coach and they have some good distance runners.
A lot of what has left, you replace Charlotte with Liberty. They're very similar. The biggest loss is probably Rice. There's not anybody coming in that matches what Rice was doing. Then you've got LA Tech, (who) has a new coach and they're doing a good job recruiting as well and coaching. It's kind of like a new team at LA Tech as well. They have a good staff there, they're all my friends, but they do have a good staff. You add them in the mix. And then Jacksonville State just hired a new coach. He's a young guy trying to make things happen and I'm sure he will because he did a good job where he was before.
When we went from Sun Belt to Conference USA, it was a totally different world. I could tell you, Coach Hayes and myself when we joined Conference USA, we kind of held scholarships back trying to figure out what we had to do to be successful. This first year, it's really going to be the first two years once you add Kennesaw State, who has also a good staff, there's MTSU alumni on their staff, I'm good friends with them as well. They have a good track program. You're not going to see the full light, particularly if we have more changes, it's always crazy.
These next two years, in track and field with so many events, you have to see how things stack up the next two years to have a really good idea to understand what's necessary to win a championship. This year is more of a potluck. Hopefully, we recruited the right people. And we'll see what happens.
Listen to the full podcast
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