Coach Zack Scott, a VMI Track & Field alumnus, is entering his 21st season with the Keydets after joining the staff in 2004. In 2024, after three years at the helm of Director he was honored by his peers as the Southern Conference Outdoor Coach of the Year recognition of his long-standing impact on the program’s success and athlete development.
Scott’s responsibilities include meet management, recruiting across all event areas, and leading the team’s strength program. Since his arrival at VMI, he has coached seven NCAA East Regional qualifiers, 31 IC4A/ECAC competitors and 15 individual conference champions. His athletes have earned 45 All-Conference honors and five Freshman of the Year awards.
A 2007 USATF Emerging Elite Coach, Scott holds elite certifications, including:
- USATF Level 3 Throw Coach
- USATF Level 2 Jumps Coach
- IAAF Level 5 International Coach
- USTFCCCA Advanced Strength & Conditioning Coach
- USTFCCCA Endurance Events Specialist
Scott has recruited and or developed many of VMI’s all-time greats, including the women’s school record holders in pole vault, long jump, triple jump, discus, hammer, and shot put. He also coached VMI's first female Hall of Famer and five-time conference champion Mildred Cooper, and developed walk-on Chris Brandriff into a two-time Penn Relays runner-up, VMI javelin record holder, and recipient of the prestigious Three-Legged Stool Award.
Before returning to VMI, Scott began his coaching career in 1996 at James W. Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia. During his tenure, the school won two state football titles. He also mentored elite throwers, including Steve Huntzinger, a three-time high school All-American, Arcadia Invitional, CA shot put champion and one of Virginia’s all-time greats.
As a student-athlete, Scott was a high school nationally ranked in the shot put and discus thrower and was inducted into the Mount Vernon High School Hall of Fame in 2014. At VMI, he earned All-Southern Conference honors in the shot put, discus, and hammer, and was a contributor to two Southern Conference championship teams led by Coach General Mike Bozeman. In his First Class year, he scored 22 points at the Outdoor conference championship meet.
Scott earned a degree in International Studies at VMI and worked as a defense contractor specializing in intelligence operations before returning to the Institute. A U.S. Marine Corps Gulf War veteran, he is a longtime member of the Keydet Club Flying Squad and resides in Lexington, Virginia. He remains deeply committed to developing VMI cadet-athletes on and off the track on the runway or in the circle.
