James Isaac is in his second season at Georgia Southern. He coaches the jumps and multi-events and serves as the program's recruiting coordinator.
Year one saw the Eagles break four school records and post 15 top-10 performances during the indoor season and 16 top-10 performances during the outdoor campaign. The Eagles finished fifth at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships, their best finish since joining the league prior to the 2014-15 season.
Isaac comes to Statesboro from Great Bend, Kansas, where he spent last season at Barton Community College. He helped guide Cougar student-athletes to 18 All-America performances and was named the NJCAA Central Region Indoor Women's Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.Â
On the men's team, Shakwon Coke and Anthony Woods stand out as national champions in the Long Jump with Coke winning the indoor title (7.83m) and Woods winning the outdoor title (7.64m). On the women's team, Nia Robinson was named the USTFCCCA Central Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year after earning five All-America honors. She was national runner up in the indoor long jump (6.19m), indoor triple jump (12.60m) and outdoor high jump (1.77m), and placed third in the outdoor long jump (6.38m) and fifth in the indoor high jump (1.70m).Â
A native of Durham, North Carolina, Isaac was the assistant coach at Hugh M. Cummings High School in Burlington, North Carolina, where he helped the school bring home three state championships and a pair of runner-up finishes. Isaac coached 26 all-state performances in his three years, capturing 19 state titles and posting nine North Carolina all-time performances.
Isaac began his coaching career at Southern Durham High School, where he served as assistant coach for four seasons before taking over as head coach from 2015-2018. His 2017 team earned a third-place indoor finish and the 3A Mideast Regional runner-up trophy. Under Isaac, the program also produced three individual champions within its 14 all-state performances, the conference Male Runner of the Year, two individual state all-time performances, and one relay team state all-time performance.
Beginning in 2015 and coinciding with his high school coaching, Isaac was the 13-19 age group coach for the Durham Striders Track Club based out of Durham. During his tenure, Isaac's Striders produced 57 national qualifiers, 19 All-Americans, three national champions, four North Carolina all-time performances and one national record holder in the 13-14 Boys 100 meter hurdles.
Isaac earned a bachelor's degree in recreation administration – sports management with a minor in business administration from North Carolina Central University in 2013.
