Kelly Carter

Kelly Carter begins his first season as an assistant coach for the Blue Raiders track & field program. He will primarily focus on working with the Middle Tennessee sprinters.

Carter comes to Murfreesboro following an 11-year stint serving as the head coach at Tennessee State. During his tenure with the Tigers, he helped several of his athletes obtain numerous OVC awards. He also served as a coach on the national level during the U.S. Paralympic Games in 2007 (Rio de Janeiro) and 2008 (Beijing).

Prior to coaching at TSU, Carter spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach with his alma mater, Auburn. While there he honed his skills under coaching greats Mel Rosen and Ralph Spry. He was part of the staff for the team's fourth place NCAA finish in 1999 and third place finish in 2000.

As a three-time NCAA All-American, four-time All-SEC selection and two-time Penn Relay Champion, Carter boasts an impressive balance of knowledge and experience.

During his freshman year at Auburn, Carter participated in the 1988 Olympic Trials, making it to the quarterfinals. He then finished the summer with an outstanding time of 49.50 in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in Sudbury, Ontario, to become the 1988 Junior World Champion. In 1990, Carter took first place in the 400-meter hurdles in the SEC Championships and third place in the NCAA Championships in the same event.

The Atlanta native was a standout at Southwest DeKalb High School where he set numerous school, county and state records. His 110-meter state record stood for more than a decade before being broken by Terrance Tremmell, followed shortly by his 300-meter state record falling to Angelo Taylor. Both student-athletes attended Southwest DeKalb and later were medal winners in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Carter earned his bachelor's of science degree in communications from Auburn and his Masters in sports administration from TSU. His wife Angie was also an All-American at Auburn on the 4x100-meter relay team. The couple has been married since 1991 and has two children, Kyle and Haley.