The University of the Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) track and field team hired Brad Foote, who spent the previous four years as an assistant coach at Iowa Central Community College, as an assistant coach for throwing events on August 9, 2017.
In three years, Foote has helped to elevate the throws squad in a big way.
2020 Indoor: The women's shot put squad ranked 17th in the nation with an average mark of 14.52 meters. Ten of the 16 squads ahead of UTRGV came from Power 5 institutions, including Auburn, which was only 0.01 meters ahead of Foote's squad. UTRGV boasted four of the top seven shot putters in the WAC, all of whom were sophomores, with Samariae Bonds and Alexandrea Hurst at the top followed by Brittany Cantu and Taylar Kregness ranking sixth and seventh, respectively. Hurst broke the program record in the shot put at the start of the season and then Bonds broke it twice more. Foote coached two student-athletes to win four WAC Championships in throwing events, as Bonds and Paul May won the men's and women's shot put and weight throw.
2019 Outdoor: Bonds, Hurst and Diamond Thomas combined for nine of the top 10 shot put throws in program history, including seven marks ahead of the previous program record. Bonds set the record for the last time at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, coming in at 15.95 meters to finish in 18th place, just 0.27 meters shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Bonds also won the WAC Championship. Hurst and Thomas also competed at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, with Thomas taking part in in both the shot put and the discus, becoming the first student-athlete in program history to compete in two events. Thomas, who won the WAC Championship in the discus, finished the season holding seven of the top nine discus throws plus the second-best hammer throw in program history. On the men's side, Michael Gonzalez earned bronze in the shot put en route to All-WAC First Team honors. Gonzalez also earned All-WAC Second Team honors in the discus and the hammer throw while Sky Tatum took bronze in the hammer throw for All-WAC First Team recognition.
2019 Indoor: Hurst, Bonds and Thomas finished 1-2-4 at the the WAC Championships in the shot put by uncorking three of the top 11 marks in program history. On the men's side, Michael Gonzalez finished third with the second-best mark in program history en route to All-WAC First Team honors while Christian Hall-Gardner took All-WAC Second Team honors. In the weight throw, Gonzalez, Tatum, Hall-Gardner and Ricky Espinoza finished 2-3-4-5, with the first two earned All-WAC First Team honors and the latter two earned All-WAC Second Team honors.
2018 Outdoor: May won the WAC Championship in the discus while earning All-WAC First Team honors with bronze in the shot put and All-WAC Second Team honors in the hammer throw. Antonio Salinas joined May on the shot put first team with a silver medal while earning All-WAC Second Team honors in the discus.
2018 Indoor: May won the WAC Championship in the Shot Put while Salinas picked up a bronze medal and Gonzalez earned All-WAC Second Team honors. May and Hall-Gardner earned All-WAC Second Team honors in the weight throw.
In 2017, Foote helped Iowa Central Community College to an Indoor National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship while guiding Sterling Mungro to an NJCAA National Championship in the weight throw as his throw of 20.01 meters set a new NJCAA Championship meet record.
Foote also guided Mungro to a NJCAA National Championship in the hammer throw in the outdoor season while also guiding him to a second place finish in the hammer throw at the 2017 Region XI Championships.
Throughout his time with Iowa Central Community College, Foote coached 12 NJCAA national champions, 11 NJCAA national runner-ups and a total of 55 All-Americans. His throws group has helped the men’s and women’s teams combine for six NJCAA nationals team championships, six national runner-ups and three third place finishes.
In 2016, Foote was named NJCAA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year for indoor and outdoor seasons after guiding nine women to the NJCAA National Championships with three of them claiming top-10 spots in the both the shot put and weight throw.
That season, he also guided Brian Williams to a spot at the USA Olympic Trials after winning the discus throw at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships. He also went on to win the discus at the NACAC U23 Championship in El Salvador. Williams recently finished fourth in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the University of Mississippi.
Foote also helped Janeah Stewart, who finished second in the discus and weight throws at the NJCAA National Championships in 2016, to a sixth place finish in the shot put at the USA Junior National Championships in 2015 and is also currently leading the women’s throwers group at the University of Mississippi as she qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In 2014, he guided Brady Gunder to a NJCAA National Championship in the hammer throw after finishing runner-up in the weight throw at the NJCAA Indoor National Championship. Gunder went on to Kansas State where he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a junior and senior.
Foote not only guided his student-athletes in competition but also in the weight room as well as he was in charge of developing weekly workouts for the entire track and field team.
Foote earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2013. He is also USTFCCA certified in track and field and strength and conditioning.
