Tempest Love - Track & Field Coach - University of Tennessee Athletics

Tempest Love

Title:
Associate Head Coach (Jumps)
Email:
tlove12@utk.edu

Associate head coach Tempest Love enters her third season on Rocky Top in 2024-25. She is responsible for coaching Tennessee's horizontal and vertical jumpers.

Love guided freshman standout Grant Campbell to All-America honors in 2024, as the rookie from Maryville qualified for nationals and placed 15th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He finished the 2024 campaign ranked 10th in Tennessee indoor history with a jump of 2.16m (7-1).

In her first year in Knoxville, Love's jumpers helped the Lady Vols post a pair of top-10 team finishes at both NCAA championship meets, while the Vols finished No. 9 in the USTFCCCA's annual "Program of the Year" standings.

Love guided Lady Vol standout Charisma Taylor to four All-America honors in the long jump and triple jump over the course of the 2023 indoor and outdoor seasons. The Nassau, Bahamas, native placed fifth in the long jump and second in the triple jump at indoor nationals, including a mark of 14.88 meters (48-10) in the triple jump that shattered her own school record and ranked as the No. 2 performance in collegiate history.

Freshman high jumpers Cheyla Scott and Brandon Pottinger had promising success as rookies under Love's tutelage. Scott broke the school record and won bronze at the 2023 SEC Outdoor Championships, clearing 1.85m (6-0.75) at the conference meet. Pottinger won the CARIFTA Games title for Jamaica before returning to Knoxville and scoring a point for the Vols at the SEC outdoor meet, clearing 2.04m (6-8.25) to place eighth.

Love joined the Tennessee staff after spending the previous 10 seasons with Ross at North Carolina A&T. Under Love, the Aggies won 12 long jump conference titles, 10 triple jump conference titles and five high jump titles. The Aggies also had 54 first-team, second-team and third-team all-conference selections under her leadership.

On eight occasions, the Aggies had student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round in the triple jump. It happened seven times in the high jump and five times in the long jump. Long jumper Brandon Hicklin earned two first-team outdoor All-American honors thanks to Love's guidance, finishing fourth nationally in 2021. Hicklin also came away with two second-team All-America honors as an indoor long jumper.

With the help of A&T jump events, the Aggies swept all four MEAC track and field championships in 2017 and 2019. The Aggies won 16 conference championships during Love's tenure.