Athens Christian, UGA, California and back. Inside Adam Tribble's return as cross country coach

Athens Christian and University of Georgia alumnus Adam Tribble has moved home.

Tribble was named last Monday as the new cross country head coach, and as an assistant track coach working with the long-distance program. He said head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert called him two weeks ago and by the end of one week, he'd been hired.

"We're really still working through all the pieces and figuring out how everything's going to work," Tribble said. "It's still kind of surreal. I think it's one of those things where the whole idea is that I am and going to be doing this, it's still something I'm trying to process and it's still marinating in a sense."

Tribble returns to his hometown after a six-year head coaching stint with California Baptist University in Riverside, Cali. He earned six Coach of the Year honors within the Western Athletic Conference and brought the Lancers home eight WAC Championship cross country titles — four men's and four women's. Fifteen new program records were set under his tenure, as he coached 22 individual champions and oversaw 117 All-WAC honorees, per CBU.

He was with the Lancers through their transition into Division I and hoisted them upon the national stage when the women's cross-country team made it to its first ever National Championship in 2022 — in 2023, both the men and women made it and placed their highest ever at 15th and 16th, respectively.

The Lancers were his first ever head coaching gig. After graduating with his master's in 2003, he spent five years with Arkansas, two years with Oregon State and seven years with Alabama.

"I've had the privilege of working at a variety of different places with a lot of really, really good people," Tribble said. "I feel like I've been able to learn and gather a lot from a lot of different perspectives over, you know, all over the country. Everywhere has its own challenges and strengths and times. Being able to see and experience all of that, and learn from so many different people, has helped provide a greater foundation to be able to move forward now."

Tribble has been a runner all of his life. In high school, he ran with coach Tim Cummings and the late Kent Kramer — who founded the cross-country program in the 90s — at Athens Christian, earning several state championships throughout his four years. He originally went to school at Georgia Southern, but after his first year, the men's program was dissolved, and he found himself landing at UGA.

"He was an extremely dedicated person, consumed with 'what do I do to be my best,' and he would do it," Cummings said. "The thing I did with Adam, was make sure he didn't over train. He was one of those guys that would say well, 50 miles a week is good, but 60 is better. ... He was a leader, everyone looked up to him. He was a great encourager, and he led by example. ... He was a coach's dream, as dedicated as any person I've ever coached. He got through some tough times and went on to achieve the top of his profession."

His favorite thing about running is the ability to push himself, individually, as hard as one can.

"It's not like playing basketball or something like that, where there's so many other people and other coaches and other players who have so much of an impact on what you do," Tribble said. "When you're out there running, especially if you're running cross country, like you alone as an individual control what you're going to be able to do and not be able to do.

"The fact that you set yourself up, whether that's over the summer in the weeks and months leading into your competitions, where you lay the groundwork and you decide, whether you are or aren't going to be successful. If you do all this stuff, it doesn't mean you are, but it provides you an opportunity where you can be and as a coach, it's our job to help provide that framework and to give the encouragement in those steps."

Tribble has plans already in place. His sights are set on Nationals, of course. He and coach Smith Gilbert both want the distance runners to be scoring points on the national stage and to be good contributors, overall, to the track program at UGA.

They want to take things to the highest level, knowing there's already elite energy flowing through the veins of this campus.