Erik Whitsitt - Track & Field Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Erik Whitsitt

Title:
Assistant Coach (Throws)
Email:
ewhitsi1@utk.edu

A veteran throws coach, Erik Whitsitt enters his third season on Rocky Top in 2024-25.

In his second season with the Big Orange, Whitsitt guided a pair of rookie throwers to UT freshman records in the men's javelin and discus. Kevin Burr Jr. was the only freshman in the country to punch his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the javelin, finishing the year with Second Team All-America honors and a personal-best heave of 71.49m (234-6). South African standout Aron Alvarez Aranda broke the freshman discus record three times during the 2024 outdoor season, notching a PR of 58.89m (193-2) and finishing 11th at the outdoor national meet to round out a phenomenal rookie campaign.

Whitsitt's first year in Knoxville featured coaching Lady Vol senior Chandler Hayden to qualifying for both national meets, including a ninth-place finish in the weight throw at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships (22.29m / 73-1.25).

Prior to joining the staff at Tennessee, Whitsitt spent the previous 10 seasons in Eugene, Oregon, with the Ducks. During his time in the Pacific Northwest, Whitsitt coached student-athletes to two NCAA titles, 10 Pac-12 titles and six Oregon school records.

During that time, he guided 34 athletes to Outdoor NCAA Championship appearances. In 2014, six of his throwers qualified for the national meet.

He was also instrumental in the development of USA Junior under-20 javelin national champion Kohana Nakato and Mine De Klerk who won the world under-20 title in shot put and was a bronze medalist in discus.

During the 2022 conference meet, his throwers secured 51 total points for the Ducks as the men and women claimed league titles. Whitsitt also coached four athletes who earned All-America honors this past outdoor season.

At the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, Oregon secured 25 points from its throws group as the men’s team captured the conference crown and the women finished as runners-up.

In 2015, Sam Crouser successfully defended his NCAA title in the javelin and secured a fourth national title in five years for a Whitsitt-coached athlete. In total, the Ducks’ throwers scored 25 points at that year’s NCAA Championships with Greg Skipper and Jillian Weir finishing third and fourth in the hammer, respectively, with Brittany Man taking fifth in the shot put.

Crouser finished his career with four Pac-12 titles in the javelin—Whitsitt was his coach for the final three—and remains the only athlete to ever accomplish that feat in the event. Whitsitt then guided Crouser to an appearance at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing to close out his UO career.

Collectively, Whitsitt coached seven Ducks to a combined 10 Pac-12 titles with Crouser (2013-15) in the javelin, Weir (2014) in the javelin, Mann (2015-16) in the shot put, Skipper (2016) in the hammer, Cody Danielson (2016) in the javelin, Ryan Hunter-Simms (2017) in the discus and Ty Hampton (2022) in the javelin.

Prior to his time in Eugene, Whitsitt coached at Illinois State and developed two-time NCAA men’s javelin champion Tim Glover. He also coached two-time national women’s runner-up Brittany Smith who was second in both the shot put and hammer in addition to a third-place showing indoors in the weight throw.

Glover, the 2012 USTFCCCA National Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, and Smith both competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The two ISU standouts represented the United States at the 2012 NACAC U23 meet in Mexico, where Glover won gold in the javelin and Smith was the silver medalist in the hammer.

At the 2012 Missouri Valley Championships, Whitsitt’s throwers accounted for 41 of Illinois State’s 90 points in claiming the league title. Following the season, Whitsitt was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Whitsitt began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant, working with the USA Track and Field Summer League teams in his hometown of Pueblo and another in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

During his collegiate career at Idaho State (2002-05) and Boise State (2005-07), Whitsitt was a two-time conference champion in the shot put and was a member of four conference team titles. He was a four-time regional qualifier in the shot put and qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships and competed at the 2007 U.S. Championships.