One of the most accomplished coaches in collegiate track and field and cross country history, Bob Braman was hired as Lenoir-Rhyne's Director of Track & Field and Cross Country in May of 2025.
During his first year at the helm of the Bears, Braman oversaw nine All-Americans, 11 SAC individual champions, and 14 school records across the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. Sharonda Priester earned national runner-up honors in the 400m hurdles, becoming the 10th fastest NCAA Division II woman in that event's history. Tobechukwu Nwokocha was the national runner-up in the indoor long jump while Havyn Spain placed third in the 200m at Indoor nationals. Mackenzie Pringle was Braman's lone two-time First Team All-American, as she was sixth indoor and fifth outdoor in the triple jump, setting school records both times.
Braman joined Lenoir-Rhyne following a storied career at NCAA Division I Florida State University, where he served as head coach for more than two decades before retiring in May 2024. Under his leadership, FSU became a national powerhouse, capturing three NCAA Division I men's outdoor track and field national championships (2006, 2007, 2008) and earning 20 combined top-10 NCAA Championship finishes across men's and women's cross country and track and field.
During his tenure with the Seminoles, Braman earned 50 national, regional and conference coach of the year honors, including three consecutive USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year awards (2006–08) and the prestigious 2010–11 John McDonnell Award, presented to the nation's top coach.
Braman has coached hundreds of All-America performers, with 25 NCAA champions and 47 Olympians (27 men, 20 women) among his student-athletes. He also mentored 40 individual NCAA national champions and two Bowerman award winners, Ngoni Makusha in 2011 and Trey Cunningham in 2022. The Bowerman is the highest individual honor in collegiate track and field.
On the conference stage, Braman's FSU teams won 35 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and swept the ACC Triple Crown twice, winning team titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track in both 2008–09 and 2013–14. He was named ACC Coach of the Year 34 times.
Braman also elevated Florida State's cross country program to national prominence. The men's team made 15 NCAA Championship appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2010. The women's team qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time under his leadership in 2002, 2003 and 2006.
Prior to his 24 years as head coach at Florida State, Braman spent 17 years at the University of South Florida, 15 of those years as head coach. In his time at USF, Braman grew the program, which started with just men's cross country, by adding a women's cross country team in just two years and later expanding to add both men's and women's track and field to the Bulls Athletic program.
