Derek Gay

Bio

The 2025-2026 season is Derek Gay’s sixth year as the head men’s and women’s track and field coach at Taylor University.

In his first five seasons at the helm of the men's and women's track programs, Gay has guided the Trojans to numerous school records and national championship appearances. Under Gay’s leadership the TU men's track and field program has seen 83 athletes qualify for the NAIA indoor and outdoor national championships, broken 14 school records and earned 22 NAIA All-American honors. Furthermore, both of his men’s indoor and outdoor track teams were ranked inside the NAIA top-25 during the 2022-2023 season. Gay’s teams have also notched three top-25 showings at NAIA Nationals, with the 2024-25 men’s squad finishing 19th at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships, the 2023-2024 men’s squad placing 23rd at the NAIA Indoor National Championships and the 2021-2022 team finishing 15th at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships.

Gay’s women's track and field program has been even more successful, producing 126 NAIA indoor and outdoor national qualifiers, including 55 NAIA All-Americans, one NAIA National Championship relay and breaking 33 school records. The women’s track and field program has finished in the top 26 at each of the NAIA national championships it has reached during Gay’s tenure, including the two best finishes in school history in 2024-25, with the women finishing fifth at the NAIA Indoor National Championships and sixth at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships.

Gay came to TU after serving two years as the head track and field coach at Dillard University and seven seasons as an assistant coach on staff at Indiana Wesleyan University. Prior to starting his coaching career, Gay competed in track and field at IWU.

During his time at Dillard, Gay worked to reshape the program, doubling the roster size in less than two years and setting 23 new program records on the track. In that time, the team ran half of its fastest times in program history in the 100 and 200-meters and ranked as high as fourth in the NAIA in those events. The roster also produced 41 all-conference awards and raised its team grade-point average over the 3.0 mark in each year.

Before taking the reins at Dillard, Gay served as an assistant for IWU’s track programs. In those seven seasons, Gay saw the Wildcats claim eight-of-14 team championships in the CL, while helping his athletes to three NAIA National Championships, over 30 NAIA All-American performances and 28 new program records.

In addition to those impressive accomplishments, Gay is certified by the USTFCCCA as a specialist in sprints, hurdles and relays, holds a USATF Level II certification in sprints and hurdles, and is a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He has also been certified as a 100/110m hurdle and short sprint specialist by ALTIS, a professional track and field training group where he has spent time learning as part of their Apprentice Coach Program. Gay was also recently selected to take part in an extensive 9-month mentorship with Dan Pfaff, one of the world’s most renowned track and field minds.

Gay graduated from Indiana Wesleyan in 2011 with a degree in applied health and fitness and in 2020 completed work on his master’s degree in applied exercise science and kinesiology from Concordia-Chicago. He and his wife, Kayla, reside in Marion with their daughters, Sydney and Ruby, and their son, Maverick.