Mardy Scales is in his first season as assistant track and field coach at Kennesaw State in 2022-2023.
Scales will coach the sprints, relays and long hurdles.
"We are all excited to have Mardy join the Owl family," McDaniel said. "He has a such a great background as both an athlete and head coach. Mardy will be a catalyst in taking our sprint program to the next level. We are very fortunate to find such an outstanding candidate."
Scales joins KSU after spending the last seven seasons as the head coach at Cumberland University. He started the program at Cumberland in December of 2015 and produced the first national champion in program history in 2018.
During the 2022 season, Scales coached a pair of athletes to national titles. The Phoenix had their highest finish this past season on both the men's and women's teams with the men finishing 13th and the women finishing 10th at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships.
"First, I would like to thank the man upstairs, without him we couldn't have anything to celebrate," Scales said. "I would like the thank Coach McDaniel for believing in me and for this great opportunity at Kennesaw State University. I am very excited and ready to bring my talents to the Owls track and field program."
Scales was a seven-time All-American at Middle Tennessee State from 2001-04, winning the NCAA 100-meter outdoor collegiate title as a junior. He was a seven-time Sun Belt individual champion and was named Sun Belt Male Athlete of the Year in 2004. During the 2003 outdoor season, he recorded the fastest time in the NCAA that season in the 100m with a time of 10.02 seconds. During his Blue Raider career, Scales helped Middle Tennessee win three Sun Belt Conference indoor titles and one outdoor title and set multiple school records. He was inducted into the MTSU Hall of Fame in 2015.
Scales competed professionally from 2004 to 2009. He won the silver medal in the 100m at the Pan Am Games in 2003. He captured the gold medal in the 60m at 2005 USA Track and Field Indoor Championships.
Scales was a track and field coach at Centennial High School for one season in 2009 and started the Scales Pro AAU Track Club as well as Scales Pro Fitness in Franklin in 2013. He has a Level 1 USA Track & Field Coaching Certification.
He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Middle Tennessee in 2013.
