Skip To Main Content

St. Mary's University Athletics

Official Athletics Site of St. Mary's University

Scoreboard

Robert Coleman 2026 Headshot

Robert Coleman

Robert Coleman was named St. Mary’s University Director of Athletics on June 20, 2018, and was promoted to Executive Director of Athletics in July 2021. Entering his ninth year at St. Mary’s and 36th year in athletic administration in 2026, Coleman serves on the University’s Leadership Team and as the liaison between Athletics and the broader campus community.

Under Coleman’s leadership, Rattler Athletics has experienced significant growth in competition, academics, facilities, revenue and student-athlete support. His vision centers on creating an environment where student-athletes can grow spiritually, achieve academic excellence and compete for championships.

National Leadership
Coleman has held numerous NCAA and conference leadership positions throughout his career. He currently serves as a member of the NCAA D2 Management Council, the primary governing body within the NCAA’s Division II framework, and is Chair of the Lone Star Conference Athletic Administrators (2025-27). He also recently completed his terms on the D2 ADA Board of Directors and the Division II South Central Baseball Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

Throughout his career, he has also spent time on the Division II Men’s Golf South Central RAC, the D2ADA/Division II mentoring program, the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Committee, Division III Interpretation and Legislation Committee and Division III Men’s Basketball Committee, where he served as a national committee chair.

Championship Success
Since Coleman arrived at St. Mary’s, Rattler teams have produced numerous Lone Star Conference championships and NCAA postseason appearances, highlighted by:
  • Baseball: Qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2026, for the first time in 10 years.
  • Men’s Basketball: Returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25 for the first time in 10 seasons, advancing to the Round of 32, and repeated the feat in 2025-26.
  • Men’s Golf: Advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2024-25 and finished fifth nationally, the highest finish in program history.
  • Women’s Golf: The first Lone Star Tournament Championship in school history, NCAA Regional and National Championship appearances, including a second-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II Championship, the best finish in program history.
  • Men’s Soccer: Three LSC regular-season championships, including the program’s first in 2019; NCAA Round of 16 appearances in 2019 and 2022.
  • Women’s Soccer: First-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23, followed by a second consecutive appearance in 2023-24.
  • Softball: One Heartland regular season co-championship.
  • STUNT: Four consecutive appearances at the national championship from 2023-26.
  • Women’s Tennis: Multiple LSC championships, one Heartland Conference Tournament Championship, three South Central Regional championships and multiple NCAA Round of 16 appearances.
Three current St. Mary’s head coaches have earned LSC Coach of the Year honors under Coleman’s leadership: Johnny Clifford, Men’s Soccer (2022); Bill Macom, Women’s Tennis (2025); and Connor McCarthy, Men’s Golf (2024 & 2026) and Women’s Golf (2025).

Growth & Innovation
Coleman has overseen substantial growth of the department, including the addition of STUNT and Esports, increasing the student-athlete population by more than 100 to nearly 300.

He negotiated an exclusive athletics apparel agreement with NIKE and BSN, secured live-streaming partnerships with LCTV and KSAT12, and oversaw the construction of a new production studio featuring more than $300,000 in video equipment.

He also helped establish a four-year, $250,000 corporate sponsorship with Spectrum Enterprises and quadrupled the number of corporate sponsors during his tenure, creating new resources for the department and its student-athletes.

In a campus-wide partnership, Coleman united with Texas Physical Therapy Specialists, a relationship that has enabled St. Mary’s athletics to become one of the premier sports medicine departments in Division II.

During his tenure, Coleman had introduced the program’s first-ever strategic plan, which includes the health and wellness of all student-athletes and the #RiseUpRattlers platform promoting mental health issues, as well as an ad-hoc SAAC committee that deals with social injustice, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Facilities
Coleman’s fundraising and revenue-generation efforts have helped fuel extensive facility improvements, including:
  • Rohrbach Tennis Stadium court renovations
  • Men’s and Women’s Basketball locker room and arena upgrades
  • Men’s and Women’s Soccer playing surfaces, scoreboard and locker room floors
  • Baseball and Softball Daktronics scoreboards, locker room upgrades and Trackman
  • Rattler Refuel nutrition station
  • 864-square-foot Esports Arena
  • 800-square-foot Golf Performance Room
  • AA&CC Conference Suite
  • Bill Greehey Arena Nevco video score tables and indoor video display boards
Academic & Student-Athlete Success
Academic achievement has remained a cornerstone of Coleman’s tenure. St. Mary’s Athletics has maintained a 3.3-or-better department GPA over the past 16 semesters, with the department recording a high of 3.64 in spring 2020.

The department has earned the Lone Star Conference Balfour Academic Excellence Award four times in the past six years, with both men’s and women’s programs earning the honor.

St. Mary’s Athletics currently has an 87% Academic Success Rate, compared with a 77% national four-year average for Division II.

The Rattlers have also flourished in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings under Coleman’s leadership. In 2025-26, St. Mary’s finished 98th, the ninth time in the past 10 years the program has finished in the top 100.

Coleman also implemented the department’s first strategic plan and initiatives focused on student-athlete health and wellness, mental health and inclusion.

Previous Experience
Prior to St. Mary’s, Coleman spent 12 years as Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of Athletics at Whittier College, overseeing a 22-sport program with nearly 500 student-athletes. During his tenure, 52 student-athletes earned All-American honors, 86 were named Academic All-Americans, and multiple teams achieved national rankings, including No. 1 national finishes in men’s and women’s water polo.

Coleman previously served as Director of Athletics at The City College of New York, where he reorganized the department, oversaw nine tournament championships and guided four teams to NCAA Division III Championship appearances. Earlier, he served as an Assistant and Associate Athletic Director at Hunter College, where he also coached men’s basketball.

A 1987 graduate of St. Leo University, Coleman earned a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Administration and a Master of Education in Sports Management from Springfield College in 1989.

Coleman currently resides in San Antonio with his wife, Victoria, and their son, Aidan, who is a pitcher on the baseball team at Abilene Christian University.

Sponsors