NEWS: Georgia Hires Adam Tribble From California Baptist as Next Distance Coach

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Earlier this week, the University of Georgia announced that Adam Tribble, the now-former coach at California Baptist University, has accepted the head distance coaching role at the University of Georgia. It should be noted that Tribble is a Georgia alum, previously running for the Bulldogs in the early 2000s.

Tribble is responsible for turning the California Baptist men and women into national powers in the longer distance events in recent years, specifically on the cross country course. Despite only recently clearing the four-year waiting period to compete at official NCAA D1 Championships (after moving up from D2), CBU has been an instant-impact program.

This past fall, the Lancer men placed 16th at the NCAA XC Championships while the women placed 17th. However, a pair of top-10 finishes at the Nuttycombe Invite as well as a pair of wins at the Griak Invite suggested that the men's and women's cross country programs at CBU were closer to that of top-10 teams, nationally.

With a heavy influx of international names, specifically from Europe, Tribble was able to lead the mid-major program towards being one of the most impressive risers of the 2020s. With a large handful of national-caliber individuals also coming out of Riverside, California, including top-tier steeplechase star Greta Karinauskaite, Tribble's time at CBU can be characterized as nothing less than fantastic.

Tribble will now overtake a Georgia distance program that has admittedly faltered in the SEC ranks during cross country. Last fall, the UGA women finished last out of 14 teams at the SEC XC Championships while the men's team finished 10th out of 12 teams.

The Bulldogs have also lacked continuity at the head distance position of their program. Tribble is now the fourth different distance coach at Georgia in the last four years.

The chances of Tribble transforming Georgia's distance program in the same way that he did with California Baptist seem relatively low (although not for any reason related to his coaching abilities). The Bulldogs have historically put far more resources and scholarships into their sprints and field events compared to distance. Even so, there is certainly room for Tribble to make progress with his new cross country teams, especially if the ever-evolving NCAA landscape eventually presents new opportunities for funding.

When it comes to California Baptist, there are a handful of coaches who were once assistant coaches of Tribble who could take over his Director role.

Jordan Pingel, a current assistant coach at Alabama, previously worked under Tribble for a brief period of time at CBU. The same can be said for current Duke assistant coach Adam Cooke, someone who has proven to be an excellent recruiter for both the Lancers and the Blue Devils.