Shawn Cobey is in his fourth season as a member of the Tiger track & field staff.  He was an assistant coach from 2009-12 before spending the fall semester as operations manager for the program.  He was appointed as the program's interim director of track & field on Jan. 8, 2013 after Lawrence Johnson resigned his position.

Clemson captured ACC championships in women’s indoor and outdoor track & field in each of the last three seasons with Cobey on the staff.  The women’s team has had six straight NCAA top-20 finishes as well, culminating with a pair of top-five efforts in 2012.

Cobey’s athletes have been important contributors to the team success, both on the men’s and women’s sides over the last three years.

Zach Berg overcame a long bout with injuries to flourish in 2010, his final season in a Clemson uniform.  It is no coincidence his performance level elevated with Cobey’s coaching.  Under the new leadership, Berg established Clemson records in both the weight throw (66’11.5”) and hammer throw (210’7”) and was the third-place finisher at the ACC level in both events.  He also earned his first-ever NCAA qualification by placing 12th at the East Prelims in Greensboro to close the outdoor season.

Alex Padgett would go on to break Berg’s record in the weight throw as a senior in 2011, a year that turned out to be stellar for the Rock Hill, SC native.  It was a senior season that culminated with his first and only ACC championship in the shot put at the outdoor league meet in Durham, NC.  Padgett was also All-ACC in the indoor shot put under Cobey’s tutelage in 2011 as well.

On the women’s side, Brittney Waller worked her way from all-conference in the weight throw as a freshman to ACC Champion and second-team All-American in the event as a sophomore in 2011.  Waller followed with a second straight league title in 2012 as a junior.

Waller, a former USA Junior qualifier in both the discus and hammer, ranks among Clemson’s all-time top five performers in the weight, discus and hammer throws.

Cobey compiled an impressive coaching résumé at Youngstown State.  He coached the Penguin throwers to great individual success from 2003-09, serving the last three years as the program’s recruiting coordinator.  Cobey coached 105 all-conference performers as an assistant coach at Youngstown State, which included 32 conference champions.  Cobey had nine Horizon League champions and 20 all-conference performers in 2009 alone.

In addition to those outstanding totals, Cobey coached 23 NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers, five Horizon League Performer-of-the-Meet recipients, and one Horizon League Athlete-of-the-Year.  The Penguins experienced tremendous team success during his time as well, with the women’s team claiming five of the last six Horizon League outdoor championships.

In 2009, Cobey instructed a pair of NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers in Joe Lahmon and Aaron Merrill.  Both those student-athletes also won a pair of Horizon League crowns.  Merrill was also a USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete and third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.  Also in 2009, Danielle Curry won three Horizon titles (including a sweep of the indoor and outdoor shot put) in the women’s throwing events.

Curry was reunited with her former coach at Clemson for the 2011 season.  She was an ACC scorer in the shot put, weight and hammer throws and is ranked as high as No. 3 on the Tigers’ all-time performance list in the indoor shot put.

The most decorated thrower in Youngstown State history was coached personally by Cobey.  Bethany Anderson was a 12-time Horizon League champion from 2005-08.  She also was named Most Outstanding Field Performer at three different Horizon League meets during her time with the Penguin program.

He also coached Jarrod Davis to an outstanding career.  Under his tutelage, Davis was a two-time Most Outstanding Field Performer and three-time qualifier for the NCAA Mideast Regional.  Davis won three Horizon League championships in 2006.

Prior to his time as an assistant coach at Youngstown State, Cobey was head coach of his alma mater, Canfield High School, for two years.  Canfield won two conference championships under Cobey’s watch.

Cobey was a six-time all-conference thrower at Youngstown State, including a two-time conference champion.  He ranks among the school’s top 10 performers in the indoor and outdoor shot put, weight throw, discus and hammer throw.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 2001.  He earned a master’s degree in education leadership and administration in 2004.

Cobey, 34, married the former Ashleigh Evatt in July 21, 2012.