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Rob Coleman

Robert Coleman

Robert Coleman was named the St. Mary's University Director of Athletics on June 20 of 2018 and in July of 2021 he was promoted to Executive Director of Athletics. Entering his eighth year at St. Mary's and his thirty-sixth year in athletic administration, Coleman is part of the University's Leadership Council and serves as the direct liaison between the Athletics Department and the broader campus community.

Coleman has made quite an impact on the Rattlers over the past seven seasons. His vision for Rattler Athletics is to create an environment where student-athletes can grow spiritually, achieve academic excellence and compete for championships.  A few of his initial accomplishments were managing the athletic programs transition from the Heartland Conference to the Lone Star Conference before the start of the 2019-20 season and keeping all student-athletes safe and competing during the recent pandemic seasons of 2019-20 and 2020-21.

During the spring of 2019 the program secured two Heartland Conference Championships in the sports of Women’s Tennis (Tournament Champion) and Softball (Regular Season co-champion) while also capturing the programs first Lone Star Conference Championship in the sport of Men's Soccer (Regular Season Champion) in the fall of 2019. During that season, Men's Soccer recorded the finest season in program history with a record of 15-3-3 while advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time in school history and finished the year ranked 15th in the Division II Coaches Poll.

The momentum of the department's success was also not diminished by the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, caused by the pandemic, as St. Mary's celebrated the Women's Golf West Regional Championship and the Women's Tennis South Central Championship, with each team advancing to the NCAA Championships. At the NCAA Championships, the Women's Golf program advanced to the semi-finals finishing the championship in third place and securing a ranking of 6th in the Division II polls while the Women's Tennis program advanced to the quarterfinals and finished their season ranked 15th in the Division II polls.

During the 2021-22 season, the Women's Tennis program continued their strong play being named Co-Champions of the Lone Star regular season, capturing the programs first Lone Star Tournament Championship and winning the South Central Regional.  In total, six teams qualified for NCAA Regional play during the spring with women's tennis advancing to the round of sixteen and finishing the year ranked 15th in the Division II polls with an overall record of 21-4.

The 2022-23 season, had its success as well with two additional Lone Star championships being secured beginning with the Men's Soccer team winning their second regular season championship in the past four years, finishing with a record of 12-2-6 and 7-0-6 within conference while advancing to the Round of 16 and finishing the year ranked 9th in the Division II Coaches Poll for their best finish ever as a program.  The Women's Tennis team continued their impressive play winning another Lone Star Tournament Championship in back to back years and the South Central Regional.  The team advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships and finished their season ranked 15th in the ITA Rankings, for the third year in a row, with an overall record of 24-5.  Other successes included, the Women's Soccer program qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, STUNT, in their first year of competition, qualified for their National Tournament and finished their season as the 7th ranked team in Division II while Softball and Women's Golf also qualified for NCAA regional play. Lastly, the Women's Golf program was named the Academic National Champion by the Women's Golf Association (WGCA) with a 3.925 GPA.

The accomplishments during the 2023-24 season, included the Women's Soccer program advancing back to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year after finishing in second place during the LSC regular season and tournament championship.  The programs 23 wins over the past two seasons is tied for second most in school history.  The STUNT program also advanced to their National Championship, for the second consecutive year, after finishing their season as the 8th ranked team in the country.  The spring season was capped off by Softball returning to the South Central regional and the Women's Golf program advancing to the D2 Women's Golf National Championships where they played in the National Championship match and finished in second place.  Their second place finish was the best overall season in Rattler history.    

The 2024-25 season, had two additional Lone Star championships with the Men's Soccer team winning their third regular season championship in the past six years, finishing with a record of 12-4-4 and 8-1-1 within conference. The team was ranked as high as 13th in the Division II Coaches Poll during the season.  The Women's Tennis team also won another Lone Star regular season championship and advanced to the South Central Regional for the fourth time in the past five years finishing with a record of 17-4 and 9-1 within conference. The team finished their season ranked 14th in the Division II ITA rankings.  The STUNT program advanced to their National Championship, for the third consecutive year, after finishing their season as the 10th ranked team in the country.  Men's Basketball, Men's Golf (15th in D2 rankings) and Women's Golf (9th in D2 rankings) also advanced to NCAA regional play.  It was the first time in ten seasons for Men's Basketball playing in the NCAA Tournament, where they won their first round game and advanced to the round of 32.  Women's Golf advanced to their ninth straight NCAA regional appearance and it was the third time in program history that Men's Golf advanced past regional play into the NCAA Championships, where they finished in 5th place, their highest finish in school history. 

Overall, three current Rattler Head Coaches have received LSC Coach of the Year honors, including Johnny Clifford for Men's Soccer (2022) along with his staff being named as the South Central Regional Staff of the Year for Division II, Bill Macom for Men's and Women's Tennis (2025) and Connor McCarthy for Men's and Women's Golf (2025).

Over the past few years the program has also continued to flourish in the Learfield Director Cup standings. Finishing in 94th place in 2021-22, 85th place in 2022-23 and 98th place in 2024-25. The 98th place finish was the eighth time in the past nine standings the program has finished in the top 100. 

His seven years have produced numerous achievements as he oversaw the negotiation of an exclusive all sports apparel contract with NIKE and BSN, negotiated and secured the services of LCTV and KSAT12 in live streaming all eleven athletic teams games / matches throughout the greater San Antonio area and the completion of a new production studio housing LCTV and over $300,000 of new video equipment. He also was behind the addition of Esports to the athletic program in and the University in general in 2020 and a first of its kind four-year $250,000.00 corporate sponsorship with Spectrum Enterprises in support of the program. His latest contributions took place during the 2022-23 season with the addition of the programs thirteenth sport.  Stunt, one the the fastest growing female sports in the country has been a welcome addition to the programs sport team portfolio.  Coleman also has united with Texas Physical Therapy Specialist in bringing the organization to campus for the entire St. Mary's community.  This relationship has allowed the St. Mary's athletic program to be one of the premier sports medicine departments in all of Division II.  Train the Mind, a mental performance training company, supporting student-athletes, also partnered with the athletic program in 2022 and their focus will primarily be on the health and well being of every student-athlete.  Coleman, partnering with San Antonio Sports, was also able to secure St. Mary's as a first and second round co-host to the Women's NCAA Division I Basketball Championships hosted in San Antonio where he was the Tournament Director.

Coleman has also been instrumental in quadrupling the number of corporate sponsors during his tenure while elevating external revenues to new program heights. This fundraising success has lead to the recent facility upgrades: 

- Refurbishing of the Rohrbach Tennis Stadium courts
- AA&CC Conference Suite
- Men's and Women's Basketball locker rooms plus goals and shot clocks along with updated graphics on the arena floor 
- Men's and Women's Soccer upgraded playing surface at Sigma Beta Chi Field and a new scoreboard 
- Dickson Baseball Stadium and the Softball Stadium received new scoreboards, branding and locker room upgrades 
- Nutrition "Rattler Refuel" Station  
- Women's Soccer locker rooms 
- 864 square foot state-of-the-art Spectrum Esports Arena  
- 800 square foot Golf Performance Room  

Success has also taken place in the growth of the program and in the classroom. Over the period of 2020-2023, with the addition of two additional sports, the overall program grew by over 100 student-athletes now totaling close to 300, a 50% increase over that three-year period.  Also, during Coleman's tenure of seven years, the entire program has never averaged below a 3.31 gpa along with new highs for grade point averages. In the fall of 2018, the 11 teams recorded a 3.31 gpa then improved upon that record with a 3.34 in the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2019, the Rattlers earned a 3.4 but once again broke the record in the spring of 2020 with a 3.64 overall department GPA.  During the 2022-23 season, after the addition of STUNT, as the programs twelve NCAA sport, the program achieved a 3.6 GPA in the spring of 2023.  The program also earned the prestigious Lone Star Conference Balfour Academic Excellence Award in the spring of 2020 for the academic success of their six women programs earning the highest gpa for women's sports in the conference. In the spring of 2022, 2023 and 2024 the five men's programs accomplished the same feat winning the prestigious award back-to back-to-back. This has allowed the program to win the award at least once for either the men or women, four of the past five years.  Over this period of time, teams that have captured the conferences individual sport academic champions award have included: Baseball (three), Volleyball, Women's Golf (twice), Men's Tennis and Women's Tennis. Over the past fourteen semesters the athletic program has now averaged a gpa of a 3.3 and above. The Academic Success rate within the St. Mary's athletic program is currently at 86% with the national Division II four year ASR average at 76%.

Coleman's focus on transforming the lives of each student-athlete has also led to a number of new initiatives, including the programs first ever strategic plan that focuses on seven strategic goals. One of these goals deals with the health and wellness of all student-athletes and the #Rise up Rattlers platform promoting mental health issues; along with the newly created Ad-Hoc Committee for SAAC dealing with social injustice, diversity, equity and inclusion.   
    
As the Executive Director of Athletics, Coleman also has direct oversight of Athletics Alumni and Convocation Center, (AA&CC) and its staff. A 135,000 square foot comprehensive Athletic Center that includes a 3,800-seat arena with weight room, training facility, movement studio, racquetball courts, locker rooms and auxiliary gymnasium.  In addition, he also has responsibility overseeing the intramural and recreational programs for the entire campus. 

Coleman arrived at St. Mary's after serving the previous 12 years at Whittier College under the title of Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of Athletics. From 2006-2018, he headed a varsity sports program of 22 sports, nearly 500 student-athletes and 17 intramural sports. The program saw tremendous growth under Coleman's leadership, as the size of the program grew from 280 student-athletes to nearly 500 over a five-year stretch. Whittier also enjoyed excellence in the classroom and in competition, as evident by the program's Academic All-Americans, All-Americans and national rankings. Coleman's fundraising prowess also helped launch numerous facility upgrades, including a new $9 million dollar Aquatic Center, the installation of a new turf football field, new track resurfacing, and a new sound system and video display boards, among numerous other initiatives.

During his tenure, 52 student-athletes were named All-American across nine different sports, while eight sports achieved a national ranking within the top 30 between 2009 and 2016, including Men's and Women’s Water Polo, with each achieving the No. 1 Division III final ranking in the country. Whittier student-athletes also excelled in the classroom as eight teams were recognized as All-Academic by their sport and a total of 86 individuals were named Academic All-Americans.

Prior to Whittier, Coleman was the Director of Athletics at The City College of New York from 1998-2005. During his tenure at CCNY, Coleman reorganized the entire program. Under his direction the program won nine tournament championships and sent four teams to the NCAA Division III Championships with Women’s Track & Field finishing as high as third on two separate occasions. The program also sent seven teams to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament with Men’s Volleyball winning the Metro South Championship. Coleman also brought extensive renovations to the athletic facilities at CCNY, including the Nat Holman gymnasium, fitness center and athletics offices.

Before joining CCNY in 1998, Coleman served as an Assistant and Associate Athletic Director at Hunter College (NY) from 1990-98 while also serving as the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach from 1990-96. During that period, the Men's Basketball team won the CUNY conference championship four years in a row (1991 thru 1994) and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament going as far as the "Sweet Sixteen".  During that four year stretch the team accumulated a record of 91-25.  

Coleman has also been extremely active on NCAA committees throughout his entire career, he is currently the Chair of the Lone Star Conference Atheltic Administrators (2025-27), a member of the D2 ADA Board of Directors (2023-2026), representing the Lone Star Conference and a member of the D2 South Central Men's Baseball RAC Committee (2024-2026).  He just recently completed his service on the Division II Men's Golf South Central RAC Committee (2020-2023), the D2ADA/Division II Mentoring Program (2022-2023) and the Vice Chair for the Lone Star Conference's Athletic Administrators (2023-2025).

Other terms of service have included the NCAA Division III Financial Aid Committee (2012-16), where he was nominated chair of the National Committee in 2015-16; the Division III Interpretation and Legislation Committee (2004-08) where he was also the National Committee chair in 2007-08, and the Division III Men’s Basketball Committee (1998-01) where he was chairman of the Atlantic Region as well as chair of the National Committee during the 2000-01 season.

A 1987 graduate of St. Leo University in Florida, Coleman earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Athletic Administration and a Master’s of Education specializing in Sports Management from Springfield College, Mass., in 1989. While attending Springfield, Coleman received the prestigious athletic administration graduate fellowship from the Springfield College athletic department for the 1988-89 school year.

Coleman, currently resides in San Antonio with his wife, Victoria and their son, Aidan who attends Abilene Christian University, where he is a pitcher for their Baseball program.









 

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