Luke Bryant - Assistant Coach (Throws) - Men's Track and Field Coaches

Luke Bryant

Title:
Assistant Coach (Throws)
Email:
lab24k@fsu.edu

Bryant is in his third season at Florida State overseeing the throws group, rapidly elevating the Seminoles' throws program into one of the ACC's premier units.

The 2026 season marked a historic year for Florida State throws, as the men's and women's groups combined to score more than 50 points at the ACC Championships.

Junior Shamar Reid highlighted the men's squad by breaking a 47-year-old school record previously held by two-time Olympian and former NCAA Championship meet record holder Bradley Cooper. Reid captured the ACC title with a throw of 65.87m (216-1), won the NCAA East Preliminary Round championship, and earned First-Team All-America honors.

On the women's side, 18-year-old freshman Nafy Thiam emerged as one of the nation's top young throwers. Thiam broke the Florida State outdoor shot put record, the Belgian U20 record, and the Belgian senior national record with a mark of 17.30m (56-9). She later represented Belgium at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

True freshmen Despiro Wray and Alexa Schwartz also made immediate impacts. Wray placed second at the ACC Indoor Championships before winning the ACC Outdoor Championship, becoming the first freshman in ACC history to win a conference title in the men's shot put. He recorded a personal-best 18.63m (61-1), then went on to win the Jamaican National Championship and finish runner-up at the NACAC U23 Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Schwartz improved more than eight meters from her high school best during her freshman campaign and moved to third on Florida State's all-time javelin list with a throw of 55.17m (181-0). She earned All-ACC honors and was named ACC Athlete of the Week.

In Bryant's inaugural season in 2025, the Seminoles recorded six performances that entered Florida State's all-time top 10 lists. During the indoor campaign, Austin Kleinman, Cooper Crowell, and Zee Curtis all posted personal bests in the weight throw that ranked among the program's best performances. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, all four throwers competing; Ahmari Avin, Kleinman, Crowell, and Curtis each registered personal-best marks.
Prior to joining Florida State, Bryant served in an administrative role at the University of Texas from 2022-24. Before Texas, he spent six years at Texas State University, serving as while both as an Associate Athletic Director and Assistant Track & Field Coach from 2016-22.

During his tenure at Texas State, Bryant coached three Sun Belt Conference Field Athletes of the Year, nine individual conference champions, and athletes who set four school records.

On the men's side, Bryant guided Brandon Busby and Dias Redmond II to first- and second place finishes in the shot put at the 2021 Sun Belt Indoor Championships. Busby also won the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 19.64m (64-5), earning Sun Belt Conference Field Athlete of the Year and Co-Most Outstanding Performer honors.
Busby became the first athlete in Sun Belt Conference history to capture conference titles in the discus, weight throw, and indoor shot put. During the outdoor season, he improved more than 12 meters in the hammer throw and set a school record with a mark of 64.86m (212-9).

Bryant's athletes continued their success in 2022, as Will Blaser captured the Sun Belt Indoor Championship in the shot put. Blaser finished the season with a personal-best throw of 18.08m (59-4), ranking among the top five performers in school history.

Bryant also played a key role in assembling one of the nation's top throws recruiting classes. According to Track & Field News, Texas State signed the nation's No. 1-ranked high school hammer thrower, No. 1-ranked discus thrower, and No. 4-ranked shot putter in the Class of 2022.
A former elite collegiate thrower, Bryant was a First-Team All-American at the University of Oklahoma, where he led the NCAA in the discus during the 2012 season. He established an OU school record of 62.70m (205-8), won two Big 12 discus championships, earned a bronze medal at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials final.

Following graduation, Bryant competed in the discus and ranked among the top 10 throwers in the United States for three consecutive years before concluding his competitive career at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. He also represented Team USA internationally, winning a gold medal at the U20 Pan American Championships in São Paulo, Brazil.
Bryant earned his bachelor's degree in communication from Oklahoma in 2012 and his master's degree in intercollegiate athletic administration in 2014. A native of Clearwater, Kansas, Bryant and his wife, the former Jessica Stone, a former tennis student-athlete at Saginaw Valley State University, reside in Tallahassee.