Carly Dockendorf named Red Rocks head coach

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – Carly Dockendort has been named the new head coach of the University of Utah gymnastics team, replacing Tom Farden, who parted ways with the Red Rocks last month.

Dockendorf, who had been serving as the Utes interim head coach, signed a contract through the 2027 season.

“Carly is a tremendous leader who cares deeply about the student-athletes in our gymnastics program and is the perfect person to be the program’s next head coach,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said. “She has played an instrumental role in the successes of our program in recent years and has guided student-athletes to multiple All-America honors. Carly is highly respected in the gymnastics coaching community and her track record shows a deep commitment to helping student-athletes reach their potential and pursue greatness. She embodies all the characteristics necessary to lead one of the sport’s most storied programs, and I have no doubt that she will continue to elevate the program to new heights, producing results in competition, in the classroom and in our community that our fans and alumni can be proud of. I am excited to see Carly take the reins of this program.”

Tom Farden out as head gymnastics coach at University of Utah

Farden left the program amid allegations that he had created a toxic environment within the program.

An independent review of the university’s gymnastics program found that Farden had caused some student-athletes to feel an “increased fear of failure.” However, the review noted that it didn’t rise to the level of abuse as defined by NCAA regulations.

Dockendorf began as a volunteer assistant coach at Utah in 2018 and rapidly ascended to higher roles in the program. After just one year, she was promoted to Director of Recruiting Development ahead of the 2019 season, named an assistant coach in 2020, and promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2022.
 
“It is a dream come true to be named the new head coach of the Utah Gymnastics family and lead this spectacular program into the future,” Dockendorf said. “I am so grateful to President Taylor Randall, our athletics leadership of Mark Harlan and Charmelle Green, and the Utah administrative team for trusting me to lead the Red Rocks. The legacy that has been built will continue to hold our program at the most elite level of expectation and standard every day. We will continue building upon the foundation of excellence, and developing not only world-class gymnasts but women who will leave this program believing in themselves and ready to impact the world around them. This team is full of courage, tenacity and strength, and I am truly excited to have this opportunity to work alongside them and celebrate their brilliant talent with the No. 1 fans in the country.”
 
Since joining the Utah staff, Dockendorf has helped lead Red Rocks gymnastics to four consecutive Pac-12 Regular Season Championships, three straight Pac-12 Championships, three NCAA Regional titles and three consecutive third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships. She was a key member of a pair of undefeated conference seasons (2020, 2021) and has helped guide Maile O’Keefe to back-to-back Pac-12 Specialist of the Year honors and a Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year honor, as well as Alexia Burch to a Pac-12 Specialist of the Year honor. The success during the past few years has been noted by coaches around the nation, leading Dockendorf to be named a Region 2 Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2022.
 
Dockendorf took Utah’s beam team to the next level year after year, and is coming off consecutive seasons with the nation’s top-ranked beam team. Under her guidance, the Red Rocks finished with a 49.670 National Qualifying Score (NQS) on beam in 2023, and the last year’s team recorded a 49.675 NQS. Since Dockendorf took over the apparatus, Utah has had four gymnasts earn NCAA All-America honors on beam and four gymnasts score at least one Perfect 10.
 
Utah finished No. 2 in the nation on beam in 2020 and backed up the performance with a No. 3 ranking in 2021 at the end of the regular season. In her first season as assistant coach, Utah’s beam team broke the school beam record that had stood since 1995 when the squad posted a 49.775 against UCLA on the road.
 
During the 2018 season, Dockendorf’s work as a choreographer and volunteer coach was especially beneficial on floor, where the Utes picked up four All-America awards and two postseason apparatus titles. MyKayla Skinner and Sydney Soloski won All-America honors on floor at the NCAA Championships and Skinner and MaKenna Merrell-Giles were regular season All-Americans. Skinner won the 2018 Pac-12 and NCAA Regional floor titles, tying with Merrell-Giles for the regional floor title.

University of Utah puts gymnastics Coach Tom Farden on paid leave

Before coming to Utah, Dockendorf gained a wealth of coaching experience in various disciplines. She spent nine years as an assistant coach with the Seattle Pacific University gymnastics program and as a track and field assistant coach for three seasons. During her time at SPU, Dockendorf guided her athletes to three individual USA Gymnastics national championships on floor and two on vault.  
 
As an undergraduate at Washington, Dockendorf won the 2003 Pac-12 uneven bar title, scoring a 10.0, and was a second-team All-American that season. She won 48 total event titles from 2002-05, including a school-record 24 titles on floor, and was a three-time regional champion. She would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in communications from Washington in 2006, where she was a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
 
She coached one year of gymnastics at Shorecrest High School and three years of track and field and soccer at the Seattle Academy of the Arts and Science before accepting the post at SPU.
           
Dockendorf became USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Certified in 2016 and earned a certificate from the NCAA Women’s Coaching Academy in Denver that same year.

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