Shawn Wilbourn - A. Morris Williams, Jr. Track & Field Director - Track & Field Coaches

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Shawn Wilbourn

Title:
A. Morris Williams, Jr. Track & Field Director
Email:
shawn.wilbourn@duke.edu
Phone:
(919) 681-6360

Shawn Wilbourn serves as the A. Morris Williams Jr. Track & Field Director at Duke University, where he has established the Blue Devils as one of the premier programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the nation. Since becoming head coach in 2021 after serving more than a decade on Duke's coaching staff, Wilbourn has guided the program to unprecedented success, capturing five ACC team championships – including four women's titles (outdoor – 2021, 2023, 2024; indoor – 2022) and the program's first men's outdoor championship in 2025.

A four-time ACC Outdoor Coach of the Year (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025) and two-time United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Southeast Region Head Coach of the Year (2023, 2025), Wilbourn has coached Duke student-athletes to 321 All-ACC honors, 37 ACC individual event championships, 123 conference medals (relays counted as one) with 188 total medals earned by individuals, 110 All-America honors and an NCAA individual indoor national champion (2025). Under his leadership, Duke has consistently produced conference champions, national qualifiers, school record holders and Olympians while elevating the program to national prominence.

Wilbourn's impact extends beyond Duke. In 2022, he was selected as an assistant coach for Team USA at the World Athletics Championships, overseeing the men's throws and multis athletes. He has also represented the United States on the coaching staff for the NACAC U23 Championships and Pan American U20 Championships, further solidifying his reputation as one of the country's most respected track and field coaches.

Before becoming director of Duke Track & Field, Wilbourn spent 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach with the Blue Devils, earning back-to-back USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016 while developing numerous All-Americans, ACC champions and school record holders. During this time, Wilbourn mentored former Duke multis event standout Curtis Beach and coached him to NCAA indoor titles in the heptathlon in 2012 and 2014.

Prior to Duke, Wilbourn coached at the University of Georgia, SUNY Cortland, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. During his tenure at Cortland, he served as Director of Men's and Women's Track & Field and Cross Country, coaching 18 All-Americans and two national champions while earning multiple Atlantic Region and New York State Coach of the Year honors.

Wilbourn's accomplishments extend well beyond the collegiate ranks. He coached Olympian Patty Sylvester to the 2008 Beijing Games and has represented the United States as both a coach and athlete. A 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in the decathlon and member of the 1997 U.S. World Championships team, he posted a personal-best score of 8,268 points in the decathlon. Earlier in his athletic career, he was selected in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills and later spent time with the San Francisco 49ers.

A graduate of Long Beach State University, where he earned his master's degree in kinesiology and was later inducted into the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame, Wilbourn is a USATF Level II certified coach and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Wilbourn is married to Nicole Wray and has two children – a daughter, Justice, and son, Braeden, as well as a stepdaughter Mackenzie.