The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) track and field team announced on August 7 that it has hired Otis McDaniel, who spent last season as an assistant coach at Texas State University, as an assistant coach who will focus on sprints, hurdles and relays.
Last year at Texas State, McDaniel assisted with the sprints, hurdles and jumping events while serving as the recruiting coordinator. He helped lead the women’s program to indoor and outdoor Sun Belt Conference championships while helping the men’s program to runner-up finishes in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
He helped Mylana Hearn to All-American status after she qualified for NCAA West Preliminary Meet while also helping 13 others become regional qualifiers. McDaniel had a hand in changing the Texas State record books as they put 33 entries into the program’s all-time top-10 list while breaking three school records.
Prior to his time at Texas State, McDaniel spent two years as an assistant coach at Arizona State where he coached the sprinters and multi event athletes. He coached nine All-Americans, two PAC-12 champions, two-PAC-12 runner-ups and 20 regional qualifiers. McDaniel guided six of his student-athletes etch their names in the top-10 marks in program history.
McDaniel also served as the liaison for alumni and the Arizona State Track and Field Booster Club while also aiding in the organization of team travel outside of his coaching duties.
Before arriving at Arizona State, McDaniel was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Alabama for two years where he assisted with the development of the sprinters and relay teams. During his time in Alabama, he helped guide the program to three national champions, two national runner-ups and 16 All-Americans.
He spent three years competing professionally before jumping into coaching. He ran the 100 and 200-meter dashes where he qualified three times for the USATF National Championships. In 2008 and 2012 he qualified to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
McDaniel, the San Antonio native, graduated from Texas Christian University in 2008 where he completed one of the best collegiate careers in program history. He earned First Team All-American honors four times competing on the TCU relay teams while earning nine All-Mountain West Conference selections during the outdoor season and four all-conference honors indoors. As a sophomore, McDaniel was selected as the Mountain West Conference Track & Field MVP after setting the conference meet record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.35 seconds.
In 2006, he competed at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association Under-23 Track & Field Championships where he won the 200-meter dash. In 2005, he won two gold medals at the Junior Pan American Championships in the 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay.
McDaniel is USTFCCCA certified in sprint, hurdle and relay event specialist, jump event specialist, strength and conditioning and track and field meet and program management.
