The Anderson File

Coaching Experience

1996-97: Texas Tech
1997-2002: Auburn
2003-2016: Iowa
2016-Present: Tennessee

Coached Athletes' Success

56 All-Americans
18 Conference Champions
2 SEC Champions
1 Olympian
43 School Records

After spending two years as Tennessee's assistant coach for distance and recruiting coordinator, Layne Anderson is entering his first season as a volunteer assistant coach in 2018-19.

During his first year on Rocky Top, Tennessee saw some great individual distance performances as freshman Megan Murray took 35th place in the NCAA South Regional during the cross country season. She then went on to make the United States Team for the World Cross Country Championships. Murray placed 10th at the NACAC Championship before heading to Kampala, Uganda for the World Championship. Anderson also had a hand in coaching Zach Long to a fourth place finish at the SEC Outdoor Championship in the 5000m. Long then went on to earn second-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. Chelsea Blaase finished seventh in the 10K at the NCAA Championship as she notched her seventh career first-team All-America honor and her ninth total All-America honor.

Anderson came to Tennessee from the University of Iowa where he served as the head cross country coach and assistant coach for the track and field team. Anderson had been with Iowa since 2003 and served in many roles as an assistant women's track coach (2003-07), head coach for the women's cross country team (2003-11), head coach of the women's track and field team (2008-12) before taking over as the head cross country and assistant distance coach in 2012.

During Anderson's tenure with the Iowa women's cross country team, the Hawkeyes crowned six All-Americans, three NCAA Midwest Regional champions, one Big Ten champion and 17 all-region honorees.

The Iowa cross country team also had success in the classroom earning USTFCCCA all-academic honors 11 times under Anderson. From 2003 to 2016, the Hawkeyes received 57 Academic All-Big Ten honors, including a school-record nine honorees in 2011.

Anderson served as the head women's track and field coach from 2009-11 before being named head coach of the combined program in 2012. He served as interim head coach in 2008 after the passing of former Hawkeye Head Coach James Grant. Under Anderson's direction, Iowa notched 43 All-Americans, 13 Big Ten champions, 78 academic All-Big Ten honors and qualified 124 Hawkeyes for postseason competition.

As an assistant track coach for the Hawkeyes from 2003-07, Anderson had success with the middle distance and distance corps. During that time the Hawkeyes crowned three All-Americans, posted 19 national qualifiers and 13 regional qualifiers. Iowa and Tennessee were two of four schools in the nation to have NCAA indoor qualifying marks in the 800 meters, mile, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters and distance medley relay in 2004. Stanford and Kentucky were the only other schools to achieve those standards.

Prior to joining the Hawkeyes, Anderson served as head men's and women's cross country coach and assistant track coach at Auburn University (1997-2002). During his tenure, he coached seven All-Americans, two SEC champions, 15 all-SEC honorees and 58 academic all-SEC performers. He also coached eight individual school record holders and four relays to school records. Anderson helped the men's team to four top-15 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and two top-20 placings at the NCAA Indoor Championships During his tenure the women's squad posted three top-15 finishes at the national indoor meet and one at the NCAA outdoor meet. The men's highest national finish was third place in 2000, while the women's was 11th in 2002.

The Tiger cross country team produced four all-South Region performers, two NCAA individual qualifiers, four team titles, three individual titles and two SEC Athlete of the Week Award recipients under Anderson. He served as meet director for the annual Auburn Cross Country Invitational, which featured over 600 runners, and the 2000 NCAA South Regional Championships.

Before his stint at Auburn, Anderson was an assistant men's cross country and track and field coach at Texas Tech (1996-97), where he coached six Red Raiders to nine All-America honors. In 1997, the men's track and field team placed 11th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and 21st at the national indoor meet. He also coached one GTE academic all-district award recipient.

He served as the administrative assistant to the Faculty Athletics Representative at Auburn (1994-96), which included a one-year stint as administrative assistant to the Graduate Program Officer (1994-95). Anderson was a graduate teaching assistant at Auburn (1991-94) and The Citadel (1989-91). During his graduate assistantship at Auburn, he worked with 1991 World Champion and 1996 Olympic silver medallist Samuel Matete and two-time Olympian Tommy Asinga.

As an athlete, Anderson was a three-time Southern Conference individual champion and set 10 school records at The Citadel. He was named team MVP three times and was a member of a USATF national champion distance medley relay. A three-time academic all-conference selection, Anderson was named to the Dean's List four times and the Gold Stars list twice.

The son of an Army Officer, Anderson graduated from Frankfurt American High School in 1985. He was a five-time Department of Defense Schools champion in the 800 and 1,500 meters and was named Department of Defense Schools European High School Runner of the Year twice. Anderson holds two degrees from The Citadel. He earned a bachelor's (1989) and masters of education (1991), both in health and physical education. Anderson and his wife, Alexis, have two sons, Sawyer and Griffin.