Kyle Ellis - Track & Field Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Kyle Ellis

Title:
Assistant Coach (Pole Vault)
Email:
kellis46@utk.edu

Updated: December 2025

Kyle Ellis joined the Tennessee track & field staff in August 2023. Entering his 16th year of collegiate coaching in 2026, Ellis oversees Tennessee’s pole vaulters and vertical jumpers while assisting with the program’s recruiting efforts.

In two seasons on Rocky Top, Ellis has reignited Tennessee’s storied success in the men’s and women’s pole vault. Under his guidance, Vol and Lady Vol athletes have combined for six All-America honors, five SEC Championship medals, two school records, two UT freshman records and 12 all-time top-10 performances in program history. His vault groups have consistently ranked among the nation’s top five in the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings, including a No. 1 national ranking in the men’s pole vault during the 2025 campaign.

Ellis’ second season in Knoxville featured major gains for Tennessee’s men’s pole vault at the conference level. At the 2025 SEC Indoor Championships, Blake Sifferlin claimed gold with a clearance of 5.50 meters (18-0.5), while Evan Puckett earned bronze at 5.35m (17-6.5). Outdoors, Cade Gray added a silver medal at the SEC Championships with a clearance of 5.55m (18-2.5). On the women’s side, Sarah Schmitt raised both the indoor and outdoor school records to 4.46m (14-7.5) and 4.45m (14-7.25), respectively, while Mya Strahm set Lady Vol freshman records indoors and outdoors at 4.42m (14-6) and 4.35m (14-3.25). Schmitt, Gray and Puckett each earned All-America honors during the 2025 season, highlighted by Schmitt’s sixth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships to earn First Team status.

During his first season at Tennessee, Ellis guided junior standout Sarah Schmitt to a silver medal at the 2024 SEC Indoor Championships before she set the outdoor school record with a clearance of 4.33m (14-2.5) at the Clark Wood Open. Schmitt later qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earned Second Team All-America honors with a 13th-place finish at the national meet.

Ellis joined the staff at Tennessee after working four years as an assistant coach at Memphis where he coached the Tigers’ jumps and combined events. Prior to Memphis, he served as an assistant coach at Texas A&M (2018-19), Wisconsin (2014-16) and his alma mater, Eastern Illinois (2009-14).

During his time in West Tennessee, Ellis’ Memphis athletes achieved four American Athletic Conference (AAC) individual titles, 23 conference medals, three school records and 18 all-time top 10 performances in program history. In 2023, pole vaulter Cole Riddle set the AAC indoor record with a clearance of 5.64m (18-6) before securing All-America honors at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque.

Ellis also coached four-time AAC medalist Alyssa Morello in the pole vault at Memphis, whose best clearance of 13-10.5 ranked No. 2 on the Tigers’ all-time program chart.

"It is truly an honor to have an opportunity to coach at the University of Tennessee under Coach Ross," Ellis said. "Historically, I have some big shoes to fill following legendary coaches Jim Bemiller, Russ Johnson and others. Not to mention, the UT vaulters that brought back Olympic gold and silver, national championships and NCAA records. This is a dream come true for me."

The Oklahoma City native spent the 2018-19 campaign as a volunteer coach at Texas A&M, where he guided Jacob Wooten to a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships with his mark of 5.73m (18-9.5). Wooten secured a pair of SEC silver medals that season with marks of 5.64m (18-6) and 5.55m (18-2.5) and the indoor and outdoor conference meets, respectively. Ellis worked with a pair of former NCAA champions, Lindon Victor and Audie Wyatt, as part of an elite post-graduate group during his time in College Station.

At Wisconsin, Ellis coached 2015 World Championships qualifier Zach Ziemek to a USATF championship record in the decathlon pole vault after clearing 5.45m (17-10.5), which went down as the UW outdoor school record. On the women’s side, Ellis recruited and developed former walk-on Taylor Amann who went on to be a three-time Big Ten champion and school record holder in the pole vault.

Ellis broke into the collegiate coaching ranks immediately after graduating, serving his alma mater Eastern Illinois as an assistant coach from 2009-14. Two of his athletes, Jade Riebold and Mick Vicken, were inducted into the EIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019. Riebold earned a pair of top-3 at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2013, which included a lifetime-best clearance of 4.45m (14-7.25). Viken secured First Team All-America honors that year and was a seven-time Ohio Valley Conference champion. Ellis also coached Peter Geraghty at EIU, who finished fourth at the 2014 NCAA outdoor meet with a jump of 5.50m (18-0.5).

Ellis received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2009 from Eastern Illinois University. He was a member of the Panthers men’s track & field team for two years, setting the EIU school record in the pole vault and ranking on the school all-time top-10 list in the javelin.