After being hired on Nov. 8, 2018, Cale McDaniel enters his ninth season as Kennesaw State University's director of track and field and cross country in 2026-27.
Since taking over the program in 2018, McDaniel has guided Kennesaw State to unprecedented success. Daniel Haugh became KSU's first NCAA Division I national champion in 2019 and finished 11th in the hammer throw at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Haugh won the hammer throw at the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships and placed sixth at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Isaiah Rogers captured the NCAA weight throw national championship in 2023.
Under McDaniel, the women's program won the 2021 ASUN Conference Indoor Championship and the 2022 ASUN Conference Outdoor Championship, with McDaniel earning ASUN Coach of the Year honors. In KSU's final season in the ASUN, the Owls swept all four men's and women's indoor and outdoor conference championships in 2024. The men's team won the Conference USA indoor and outdoor championships in 2025, while the women's team captured the Conference USA indoor championship in 2026. Since 2019, KSU has produced 29 All-Americans.
The program has also excelled academically under McDaniel's leadership. Kali Terza was named Conference USA Women's Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2025. Ahmed Magour earned ASUN Men's Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in 2024, while Sarah Hendrick received College Sports Communicators First Team Academic All-America honors in 2023. Katie Meyer was named ASUN Outdoor Track Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2022, and Lindsay Billings earned ASUN Indoor and Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in 2021. From 2019-24, Owls student-athletes earned 55 selections to the ASUN Cross Country and Track and Field All-Academic Teams. McDaniel's teams have received USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors 16 times, while 43 student-athletes have earned USTFCCCA All-Academic individual recognition. All four cross country and track and field programs have also recorded their highest semester GPAs during the McDaniel era.
Since joining Conference USA on June 1, 2024, the Owls have won three conference track and field championships. KSU athletes have earned 118 conference medals, including 46 gold medals. Terza was named Conference USA Women's Field Athlete of the Year in 2026, and Chance Cross earned Conference USA Men's Track Athlete of the Year honors in 2025. KSU has represented Conference USA at three of the past four NCAA Championships.
McDaniel was selected to represent TEAM USA in Poland for the 2026 indoor world championships.
During KSU's final six seasons in the ASUN (2019-24), the Owls reached the conference podium 449 times, winning 133 gold medals. McDaniel's athletes have set 64 school records. In addition, the KSU men's track and field team earned the ASUN Beam Award in 2020, while Rogers received the individual Beam Award in 2023.
McDaniel arrived at Kennesaw State from Western Carolina, where he served as director of track and field and cross country during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
He inherited one of the nation's premier mid-major programs. The KSU men's track and field team had won seven consecutive ASUN indoor championships and eight straight outdoor championships, while the women's program had claimed back-to-back indoor titles and the 2017 outdoor championship.
Before becoming head coach at Western Carolina, McDaniel spent six seasons primarily coaching the throws. During his tenure, he coached six Southern Conference Women's Most Outstanding Field Performers, three Men's Indoor Most Outstanding Field Performers, two Women's Outdoor Most Outstanding Athletes and one Women's Freshman of the Year. He also coached 30 Southern Conference individual champions and 104 all-conference performers.
A five-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year, McDaniel has served on the NCAA Track and Field Executive Committee since 2017. Under his guidance, 11 Catamounts qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Round, while three student-athletes achieved qualifying marks for the USATF Junior Championships.
As both a student-athlete and coach, McDaniel helped Western Carolina win 19 Southern Conference championships, including three during the 2017-18 season with the men's indoor title and both the men's and women's outdoor championships. He also helped the Catamount women's program earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors every season.
McDaniel earned his USTFCCCA Throws Specialist Certification in 2012 and his USTFCCCA Strength and Conditioning Specialist Certification in 2016. He holds Level 1,2 and 3 certifications in the throws from USA Track and Field.
As a student-athlete at Western Carolina, McDaniel was a six-time All-Southern Conference performer and helped the Catamounts win outdoor team championships in 2007 and 2010 and the indoor championship in 2008.
McDaniel graduated from Western Carolina in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in physical education. He earned a Master of Education in physical education and health in 2013. A licensed health and physical education teacher in North Carolina, he also served as an adjunct professor in Western Carolina's health education department beginning in 2013.
"My family and I are thankful for all the experiences at Western Carolina, and we look forward to the new challenges ahead," McDaniel said. "I would like to thank Mr. Overton and Mr. (Travis) Glasgow for taking the time and providing my family and me with such a wonderful opportunity."
McDaniel and his wife, the former Erin McDaniel, a standout women's soccer player at Western Carolina, have four children: Braxton, Georgia Grace, Max and Brock.
