Baylor track & field has hired Jeff Chakouian as an assistant coach, head coach Todd Harbour announced Wednesday. Chakouian (pronounced cha-coy-en) joins the staff starting Monday, July 17, after spending the last eight seasons at UCF.
“We’re extremely excited to have Jeff join us,” Harbour said. “We had some outstanding applicants, but we felt like Jeff was the right fit. He’s an outstanding technical coach, a tremendous communicator and an even better person. We are truly blessed have Jeff and his family join the Baylor family.”
Chakouian will serve as the new throwing and multi-events coach. In his eight seasons at UCF, he was in charge of field events and served as the recruiting coordinator for the Knights.
"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to coach at Baylor. My family and I can't wait to get to Waco and become part of the community,” Chakouian said. “I want to thank Coach Harbour and the Baylor coaching staff and administration for the opportunity. I would also like to thank Caryl Smith Gilbert for hiring me at UCF and Jeanette Bolden for keeping me on staff when she was hired as the Director of Track and Field."
Last season, he coached UCF to an American Conference Indoor Track Championship and saw a hammer throw school record fall during the outdoor season. Chakouian coached three throwers to the NCAA Preliminary Rounds.
In his time in Orlando, he also helped guide the team to five conference championships – reaching four outdoor titles in a row. During that span, he coached more than 15 NCAA qualifiers and all-conference performers in addition to helping student-athletes break over 20 school records in field events.
In 2013, Chakouian helped coach two student-athletes to top-5 finishes at the NCAA Championships, picking up the first top-5 finish at the outdoor championships by a non-BCS program since 2000.
Prior to UCF, Chakouian spent three seasons at Illinois State University where he coached a pair of Missouri Valley Champions and 13 all-conference standouts. He also served stints as a volunteer assistant coach at Kentucky and Brown, coaching six all-conference performers during that time.
Chakouian was a six-time All-American in the shot put as a member of the Kentucky track & field team. During his time in Lexington, he was a five-time SEC champion and an eight-time All-SEC selection.
A Seekonk, Mass., native, Chakouian graduated from Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2005. Chakouian and his wife, Samantha, have two daughters – Mackenzie and Leota.
Chakouian fills the vacancy on Harbour’s coaching staff created by assistant head coach Danny Brabham, who retired in June after 44 years of coaching – 28 of which were at Baylor.
