May 14, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Former Auburn stand-out Rod Tiffin will be the new Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach at Samford University, announced Athletic Director Bob Roller Wednesday. Tiffin comes to Samford after serving 11 years at the University of Alabama as an assistant coach. Tiffin's hire will become effective July 1.
"I am really excited about the new opportunity to coach at Samford," Tiffin said. "We really like the family aspect of the University and we think it's a great fit for our family. I'm thrilled about the team. They are a young team and I'm excited about the new conference and ready to see the things we can do."
As head track and field/cross country coach, Tiffin will oversee all aspects of both the track and field and cross country programs. He will be assisted by Chad James and Lauren Blankenship, mostly in cross country, and another assistant in track and field to be named at a later date.
"We're very excited to have Rod lead our track and field programs," Roller said. "He brings a great deal of national and international experience to our program and has outstanding ties to the Alabama high schools and programs throughout the country. It's a great fit for Samford and we look forward to the Tiffin family joining us."
For the Crimson Tide, Tiffin's primary responsibilities included the long, triple and high jumpers, multi-event athletes and the throwers.
Before his stint at Alabama, Tiffin coached the highly successful field event crew at Auburn University. While working with Alabama head coach Harvey Glance, Tiffin's field event crew amassed 17 school records, 20 All-American honors, eight Southeastern Conference Championships, three NCAA titles, a gold medal at the World University Games, two Olympic team berths and two World Championship berths.
During the 2001 season, Miguel Pate was Tiffin's prized athlete at the University of Alabama as he earned two All-American honors and won the gold medal at the 2001 World University Games.
Tiffin's continued work with Pate paid off when he competed at the 2002 USATF Indoor Championships in New York where he won the long jump event on his second jump with a mark of 28'02.25", setting the collegiate record.
Pate went on to win the 2002 NCAA Indoor long jump championship. After his exceptional collegiate career, Pate, under the guidance of Tiffin, went on to claim three U.S. titles and a bronze medal in the long jump at the 2003 Indoor World Championships. Tiffin trained Savante Stringfellow when he won a gold medal in the long jump at the 2003 Indoor World Championships as well.
Tiffin has coached All-Americans in several different field events including; the javelin, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, weight throw and the decathlon. He has worked with three NCAA Champions; Pate, decathlete Victor Houston and pole vaulter Clark Humphreys. He also coached two World Championship athletes, two Olympians and an Olympic Festival team member.
Prior to Tiffin's coaching stint at Auburn, he served one year as the head track and field and cross country coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The two previous years, he was an assistant coach for the Blazers. While at UAB, he coached 33 Great Midwest Conference (GMC) individual champions and five All-Americans. He was named the conference "Coach of the Year" during the indoor and outdoor track seasons and track teams won the conference titles both seasons.
One of Tiffin's first All-Americans at UAB was Vonetta Jeffery. Jeffery set a total of 11 school and conference records and was an All- American in the 100-meter dash as well as a two-time All-American in the 200 meters and the long jump.
In 1995, Jeffery was crowned the long jump champion at the 1995 United States Olympic Festival with Tiffin¹s help. She is now a member of the United States bobsled team and became the first African-American female to win a Winter Olympic gold medal in the bobsled.
As an All-SEC standout decathlete for Auburn University, Tiffin also set a few records of his own. His 3,590 points scored in the pentathlon once ranked fourth on Auburn¹s all-time list. He previously held the seventh best javelin mark in school history. Tiffin received his bachelor's degree in Economics from Auburn in 1990.
A native of Scottsboro, Ala., Tiffin was a three-sport star at Scottsboro High School. He was named to Scottsboro's first-team football roster of this century. He also played two years of college basketball at Snead State Community College before transferring to Auburn University.
He is married to the former Beth Groom of Birmingham. They have a son, Connor (8) and daughter, Harper (13 weeks).
