Dan Waters - Track & Field, Cross Country Coach

Dan Waters

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
dwaters@ia.ua.edu
Phone:
205-348-3557

Personal Information

Education: Kansas, 1995
Spouse: Jennifer
Children: Alexis, Charlie, Joseph

Coaching Experience

2011-present: Alabama, Head Coach
2004-11: Texas A&M, Recruiting Coordinator and Distance Coach
2002-04: Georgia, Distance Coach
1998-02: TCU, Distance Coach
1995-96: Texas, Volunteer Assistant Coach

Playing Experience

1992-1995: Kansas

Since taking over and unifying the Alabama men's and women's track and field/cross country program in 2011, Dan Waters has completely remade and revitalized the Crimson Tide. With his leadership, the Crimson Tide has made extraordinary strides, transforming into one of the nation's best overall programs, featuring top student-athletes in all disciplines and teams that can score from anywhere on the track.

Waters Guiding the Tide

The Crimson Tide men captured the program's first USTFCCCA Program of the Year recognition in 2018, the honor is presented to the cross country and track & field program with the best combined finishes at the NCAA cross country (14th), indoor (9th) and outdoor (5th) championships
The Alabama women finished a program-best third in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings in 2021 after finishing 8th in cross country, 16th indoors and 4th outdoors
Through the 2025 season, the men have recorded seven top-15 finishes in the last eight years at the NCAA Indoor Championships, taking as high as seventh during that span, while the women have posted nine top-20 finishes over the past 11 championships, including taking third in 2017 - the Tide's highest finish since 1994
Through 2025, the men have posted seven top-15 finishes over the past eight NCAA Outdoor Championships, including a high of 4th in 2024, while the women have posted five top-20 finishes in the last six years, taking fourth in 2021 - its best placing since 1987
From 2017 to 2025, at the SEC Championships, the Tide men have posted 13 top-5 finishes between indoors and outdoors, winning the 2018 SEC indoor title - the men's first 1972, while the women have posted four top-5 finishes since 2012, including a third-place finish at the 2021 outdoor championships, the women's best conference finish since 1994
At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the men posted its 12th top-20 finish, at the 2025 meet, while the women earned their third consecutive top-10 finish (10th) and fifth straight top-15 placement
At the SEC Cross Country Championships, the men posted their third consecutive top-two finish, at the 2025 meet, while the women claimed their fourth SEC title, and second in three years
In the 2019, the women finished seventh and the men were 10th at NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the first time since 1986 that the Crimson Tide men and women finished in the top 10 in the same year, while the women finished seventh and the men eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships, giving both the UA men and women top-10 finishes at the indoor and outdoor national championships in the same season for the first time in school history
Individually, Alabama has produced 16 individual NCAA Championships with titles coming in cross country (Mercy Chelangat (2020-21); (Doris Lemngole (2024), sprints (Diondre Batson -200m, 2014 (I); (Remona Burchell, 60m, 2014 and 2015, 100m, 2015), jumps (Quanesha Burks - long jump, 2015 (O) and 2016 (I); (Lakan Taylor - pole vault, 2017 (I); (Shelby McEwen - high jump, 2019 (I), throws (Hayden Reed - hammer throw, 2014), hurdles (Robert Dunning - 110-meter hurdles, 2021); (Chris Robinson - 400-meter hurdles, 2023) and distance events (Lemngole - indoor 5,000m, 2025; 3,000m steeplechase, 2024-25)
Since 2025, Alabama, under Waters, has produced 112 individual All-Americans who have tallied 319 honors across cross country, indoor and outdoor, while 31 relay squads have earned All-America recognition on his watch
Waters was named the head track & field and cross country coach at Alabama on May 11, 2011, immediately hiring an all-star staff who helped reshape Crimson Tide cross country and track & field during their first season at the Capstone, successfully merging the men's and women's teams into a unified program that helped forge a new team environment and identity for the Crimson Tide
One of Waters' first projects at Alabama was a multi-million dollar facelift of the Sam Bailey Track & Field Complex, which dramatically enhanced the functionality and capabilities of the facility, giving the Tide a highly impressive training and competition environment

In the Classroom

One of the finest honors of the Waters era was earned when the men's track & field squad was named the 2014 Indoor Scholar Team of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)
Alabama's cross country teams have been a mainstay on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team list under Waters, with both programs earning recognition every year since 2013. The women's track & field team has been honored 14 times during Waters' tenure (2012-25) while the men have made the list nine times (2014, 2018-25)
Alabama has earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team honors 23 times since Water's arrival, with the women going 14-for-14 (2012-24) and the men earning nine honors (2014, 2018-25)
Individually, Hayden Reed was named the 2013-14 USTFCCCA Outdoor National Scholar Athlete of Year, while Mercy Chelangat was the 2020-21 USTFCCCA Cross Country National Scholar Athlete of Year. Doris Lemngole followed suit, winning 2024 Cross Country National Scholar Athlete of the Year honors and 2025 Outdoor Track National Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.
The Tide's CoSIDA Academic All-America total has exploded during Waters' tenure with 17 student-athletes earning recognition a total of 24 times since 2012, including a program record six in 2021

Dan Waters Said

"Our focus at Alabama is to have a complete program, where everyone works tirelessly day-in and day-out to be their very best and to do things the right way, so that this program continues on its journey to national championships. I'm proud of the fact that at The University of Alabama we support each other and hold each other accountable as we strive for greatness. That means everyone - student-athletes, coaches and staff … throwers, jumpers, sprinters, distance - comes together to create a team like no other. That unity goes beyond the track and field/cross country program. If you look across the athletics department, we are all working to fulfill the Crimson Tide's legacy as a championship program. All that adds up to this - this is ‘Where Legends Are Made' and at The University of Alabama, you can truly have it all."

Waters Prior to Alabama

Waters took over the Crimson Tide following a highly successful run as recruiting coordinator and distance coach at Texas A&M
During his tenure in College Station, Texas, the Aggies won six NCAA national championships, including three-straight men's and women's outdoor titles (2009, 2010 and 2011), the first program to accomplish that feat
The Aggie's 2008 men's squad became the first in 18 years that a team defeated powerhouse Arkansas for the regional cross country title
Waters tenure at A&M started in August 2004, after serving a three-year stint overseeing the distance program at Georgia and five years at TCU in a similar capacity
Waters led the UGA men's team to the program's first appearance in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, as well as a team victory at the NCAA South Regional Championships
On the track, Water's distance runners broke seven UGA records
At TCU, Waters helped the Horned Frogs win four Western Athletic Conference team championships - two in indoor track & field, one in outdoor track & field and one in cross country
During his stay in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs notched four top-four NCAA team finishes and ranked No. 1 nationally by Trackwire.com in 2001
The 2000 WAC cross country and indoor track crowns were the first team conference titles in TCU history
Athletes at TCU during Waters' tenure included 1998 NCAA 800-meter champion Khadevis Robinson, a two-time U.S. Champion who competed in the 800 at the 2004 and 2012 Olympic Games
Waters began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas from 1995-96

All-American Career

Waters was an All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American for Kansas, earning All-America honors as part of the indoor 3,200-meter relay and Academic All-America recognition in 1995
He also won the 1992 Big Eight 800-meter title and was elected the Jayhawks' team captain in 1993 and 1995
Waters earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from Kansas in 1995