University of Dayton Athletics

Aaron Gordon enters his seventh season at Dayton as Associate Head Track & Field Coach for the 2025-26 season. Gordon's primary responsibilities at UD are to oversee sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps. In 2025, Jadyn Haywood was named Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Haywood won gold in the 100m, and 200m at the A-10 Outdoor Championships including breaking the school record and claiming silver in the 4x100m relay with Anna Kessler, Lianna Shakoor, and Sydney Workman. Gordon and Haywood ended their season at the NCAA East Regional in the 100m. In 2024, Gordon guided Kendall Johnson to All-American honors in the Long Jump along with Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year honors. Johnson went on to become the first freshman in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championships. In 2022, Gordon was able to help guide Dayton’s 4 x 100m relay to it’s first ever win at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Also in 2022, Gordon guided Chante Clinkscale to the A-10 60m conference record and conference meet record with a time of 7.33. Gordon also guided Clinkscale to become Dayton’s first-ever regional qualifier in the 100 meter dash. By the numbers, Gordon’s athletes have accomplished:

- 33 x Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team honorees
- 11 x Atlantic 10 Conference Champions
- 2 x Atlantic 10 Indoor Track Freshman of the Year
- 2 x Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year
- 9 x Atlantic 10 All-Freshman Team Selections
- 6 x Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Week honorees
- 32 x Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field School Records
- 1 x Atlantic10 Conference Record and Conference Meet Record 
- 3 x NCAA East Regional Qualifiers
- 1 x NCAA All-American
- 108 x Top Five Indoor/Outdoor All-Time Performances in Program History

Prior to coming to Dayton, Gordon spent two seasons at Eastern New Mexico working with the sprints, hurdles, relays, jumps and throws student-athletes. During his time at ENMU, Gordon guided Marcus Parker to the ninth-fastest Men's Indoor 200m dash time (21.01) in NCAA Division II history and fourth-fastest wind-legal time in NCAA Division II history in the Men’s Outdoor 200m dash (20.36). Gordon also helped guide the Men’s 400m event group to a National Rank of 24th. On side women’s side, Gordon was able to guide the 200m event group to a top-five national ranking, and the 100m event group to 10th nationally. Gordon also guided Susan Jackson to a 2018 Texas Relays win in the high jump with a jump of 1.86m and an eighth-place finish at the 2018 US Outdoor Track & Field Championships. As a team, Gordon helped guide the men's infoor track & field team to the program's highest ranking of 13th and the highest finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field Championships at 16th. Under his guidance, Gordon’s student-athletes achieved:

- 16 x NCAA DII All-Americans Honors
- 1 x NCAA DII Academic All-American
- 26 x NCAA DII National Qualifiers
- 23 x USTFCCCA South Central All-Region Athletes
- 2 x USTFCCCA South Central All-Region Top Performers
- 14 x Lone Star Conference All-Conference Athletes
- 5 x Lone Star Conference Champions
- 7 x Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team Selections
- 2 x Male Lone Star Conference Academic Athlete of the Year
- 1 x Lone Star Conference Indoor/Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year
- 61 x Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field School Records
- 75 x Top-5 Women’s Indoor/Outdoor All-Time Performances in Program History
- 37 x Top-5 Men’s Indoor/Outdoor All-Time Performances in Program History
- 1 x LSC All-Time Indoor Track and Field Record (Men’s 60m)
- 1 x LSC Indoor Track and Field Meet Record (Men’s 60m)
 
Before his time at Eastern New Mexico, Gordon served as an assistant coach at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where his student-athletes broke 10 schools records and earned one NAIA All-American honor.
 
Gordon’s first coaching stop was as a graduate assistant at Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia During his time with the Jaguars, Gordon guided Sean Michael-Rand to the 2019 Peach Belt Conference Field Athlete of the Year award. Overall, Gordon’s athletes achieved:
 
- 33 x school records
- 2 x Peach Belt Conference records and PBC meet records
- 2 x NCAA Division II National Qualifiers
- 3 x Peach Belt Conference Champions
- 7 x Peach Belt All-Conference honorees
- 6 x USTFCCA Southeast All-Region honorees
 
Apart from Gordon’s success on the track, he has continued his education in the sport of track & field by earning advanced certifications from the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association. Gordon hold’s certifications from the USTFCCCA in the Sprints/Hurdles/Relays, Combined Events, Jumps, Track and Field Technical Coaching, and Strength & Conditioning. He also holds a Level 1 certification as well as a Fundamentals of Coaching Track & Field certification from United States Track & Field.  

Gordon, a Waco, Texas, native, attended West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, where he was a high jumper for the Buffaloes. Gordon went on to score for the Buffaloes at the Lone Star Conference Indoor/Outdoor Track and Field Championships and turned in his career-best finish of second place at the 2012 Lone Star Conference Indoor Invitational. He graduated from West Texas A&M in December of 2013 with a degree in sports & exercise science.  

Gordon now resides in West Carrollton, Ohio, with his wife Michaela Gordon.