Jay Santos On Quick Success at Eastern Michigan

Jay Santos knew success was possible when he accepted the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan University, but he didn’t imagine it would come so quickly, especially since other collegiate coaches told him the first year as head coach wouldn’t be easy.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles had one of their best seasons in 2015. They placed fourth at the MAC Championships -- their highest finish since 2010 -- and scored a 195.075 to achieve the highest team score at conference championships since 2004. In addition, the Eagles broke the program record on February 20 with a 195.575 at Western Michigan.

“It was amazing to see the transformation of this team from when I interviewed and talked with a couple of the girls on the search committee to where we finished the season,” Santos said. “I thought many of the things that we accomplished last year would take a little longer. The team really embraced what we were trying to do from the start, and so much of our success simply came from the fact that the group accepted that we needed to change what was done in the past to be more successful as a program.”

Photo Credit: Greg Long

Despite setting a program record, Santos said there was no single highlight to the season. Instead, it was something that occurred throughout the entire season. But it wasn’t a specific meet or routine; it was the kind words he continued to receive from others.

“Every time we competed last year, we would have multiple people coming up to [my wife and assistant coach] Jess and I telling us how much better the team looks,” he said. “It came from so many different sources -- coaches, administrators, parents of athletes at other universities, etc.  It just kept happening everywhere we went last year, and it wasn't just about our gymnastics.”

It was also about “the intangible things with a team that make it successful.” It was about their positivity and increased energy, their togetherness and how they supported each other more.

“It was so amazing to hear, and it really felt great (and even a little humbling) to have so many people go out of their way to tell us things like that,” Santos said.

Santos continued to receive recognition for his efforts and quick influence on the Eastern Michigan program at the end of the year by being named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. To receive such an accolade as a first-year head coach gave him “an amazing feeling,” especially since it was voted on by the conference’s coaches.

“It feels great to have the respect of your peers and to know that they noticed the positive change in the program,” he said. “

Even though he may be head coach of the Eagles and the award has his name on it, he is selfless in accepting and receiving it and wants the entire Eastern Michigan gymnastics staff to be recognized. He “relied heavily” on assistant coaches Jess Santos and Shea Anderson, in addition to the trainers, strength coaches and remainder of the support staff, so he believes it should be a coaching staff award.

Photo Credit: The Eastern Echo

As a former assistant and associate head coach, he has first-hand experience and realizes the significance of the entire coaching staff. His collegiate coaching career began at Ohio State University as an assistant. After two seasons, he coached bars and was recruiting coordinator at Iowa State University. Though he feels like each of his previous coaching experiences helped him prepare to be a head coach, his time at the University of Illinois as visiting assistant and associate head coach had a big role in his preparation for his current position.

“My time at Illinois was pretty successful; qualifying for NCAA's three out of four years, it was an amazing experience,” he said. “I think one of the major things that helped me was that (Illinois head coach Kim Landrus) and I worked very well together, and there was a lot of trust between us."

"At my previous positions, my job responsibilities were pretty focused to a couple items. I feel that trust Kim and I had allowed her to give me a lot of responsibility and touch many different areas of the program.  Being able to branch out and take on new responsibilities at Illinois gave me experience and confidence in new areas and really helped prepare me for the transition from assistant to head coach.” Santos said.

He was even prepared to experience setting a new record. While Santos was still at Illinois, the Fighting Illini women’s gymnasts broke the then-program record with a 197.100 against Lindenwood. About a year later, he coached the Eagles to break their program record.

“It is great for the athletes, and you always have to feel proud in those moments when a team accomplishes something that no other team in your program's history has done before,” Santos said. “The athletes put in so much hard work during the course of the year, and it's always great to be a part of moments like that and reap the rewards for the dedication and hard work that the athletes put in.”

While breaking records is something Santos enjoys, that’s never the focus.

“We really try to talk to the girls about the ‘process’ more than the results,” he said. “Our focus needs to be simply on striving to improve every day and continue to raise our expectations for what it means to be an Eastern Eagle in and out of the gym. I firmly believe that if you are committed to working on improvement in yourself every day that you will then see the positive results such as winning meets, breaking records, etc.  But if your focus is solely on the results then you are going to be disappointed because you are looking to the end and not the journey that will get you there.”

Overall, his goal for the Eastern Michigan gymnastics program is to lead the Eagles to a conference championship and build a top 25 program. This past season has provided motivation for that ― the Eagles ended 2015 at No. 37, missing out on a trip to Regionals, despite being ranked in the top 36 all season.

 “It was the highest end of year ranking in school history, which was fantastic, but it was also a bittersweet. Eastern has never qualified a team to NCAA Regionals, so to be so close and miss out in the last week was pretty disappointing.  I want to build this program so that qualifying to Regionals is the norm so that we can continue to set our goals higher and higher.”

2015 Eastern Michigan Eagles

Santos may have big goals for the program, but he strives for more than just that.

“I really look forward to working with the athletes and helping them grow as gymnasts and people,” Santos said. “The focus gets put on the athletic side of things so often, but as coaches we can effect these young women in so many other ways and help them grow and prepare to move on to the next step in their lives.

“I'm really looking forward to building a program that is set up to have a positive impact on the lives of our athletes and help them achieve their goals in and out of the gym. I'm really excited for the future of the program and I think we have some great things in front of us.”

Written by: Amanda