Sean Carlson - University of Tennessee

Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White appointed Sean Carlson to lead UT's combined men's and women's cross country and distance program on June 11, 2022. Carlson came to Rocky Top after spending 10 years at Notre Dame, transforming its distance group into one of the nation's elite. During his stay in South Bend, Indiana, he guided athletes to four American collegiate records, 13 school records, 29 NCAA All-America performances, two NCAA records and three NCAA championships.

CROSS COUNTRY 2022

Carlson guided the Vols to a runner-up finish at the SEC Championships, the program's highest since 1999. At the NCAA South Regionals, Carlson led the men to their first region title since 1995, followed by their highest finish at the NCAA Championships since 1995 (20th).

Individually, Dylan Jacobs (4th) and Yaseen Abdalla (33rd) secured individual All-American honors for the Vols.

On the grass, the Tennessee women finished 6th at the SEC Championships and 5th at the Regional Championships. Kayla Gholar earned 2nd-team All-SEC honors.

INDOOR TRACK 2022-23

Carlson coached UT athletes to school records in:

Men's Indoor Mile (Canaan Anderson - 4:00.13)
Men's Indoor 3000m (Dylan Jacobs - 7:36.89)
Women's Indoor 5000m (Jasmine Fehr - 15:38.59)
Men's Distance Medley Relay (9:22.16)
Men's Indoor 5000m (Dylan Jacobs - 13:11.01)

Carlson coached Jasmine Fehr to the NCAA No. 15 time in the Indoor 5000-meter, and the second fastest 3,000m in Lady Vol history at the BU Terrier Classic.

Under his guidance, Yaseen Abdalla set a Sudanese national record and a collegiate all-time top-10 mark in the Indoor 3000m with a time of 7:42.23. Abdalla finished runner-up at the SEC Championships in the 5000m and earned second team All-American honors in the 3000m.

Carlson developed Dylan Jacobs through a historic season. Jacobs won an NCAA title in the Indoor 5000m and helped the Vols capture their first men's DMR conference championship since 2007 with a time of 9:32.75 - running the 1,600-meter anchor split in 3:56.46. He also won the SEC 3000m title. He finished his indoor career No. 3 all-time in the 5000m and No. 2 all-time in the 3000m in NCAA history.

Carlson guided two Lady Vols to All-SEC finishes in the Indoor 5000m: Kayla Gholar (2nd) and Rachel Sutliff (6th)

OUTDOOR TRACK 2023

Carlson coached UT athletes to school records in:

Men’s 5000m (13:36.93 - Dylan Jacobs)
Men’s 10000m (28:01.53 - Dylan Jacobs)

Carlson coached Jacobs to set a school record, meet record and facility record at the SEC Championships (5/13), becoming the SEC Champion in the 5,000-meter with a time of 13:36.93 - securing his third SEC championship in 2023 and fourth school record broken during his time at UT.

Jacobs (5000m and 10000m) and Abdalla (5000m) advanced to the NCAA Championships where they earned second-team All-American honors under Carlson's leaderships.

Carlson guided Rachel Sutliff to a fifth-place at SEC Championships before advancing to the regional meet in both the 5000m and 10000m.

He also led Joe Hoots to an All-SEC finish in the 800m and a lifetime best of 1:48.08.