Leo Settle joined the Mustang staff in the Summer of 2019 working with sprints, hurdles and relays. Settle came to the Hilltop after one season as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge. Settle assisted in coaching two hurdlers to NCAA Championship appearances while working with the Matadors.
In his first two years at SMU, which include cancelations to the 2020 outdoor season and the 2021 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships due to the COVID pandemic, the Mustangs have garnered seven All-America honors. The Mustangs have posted 16 indoor and 14 outdoor times which rank in the program’s all-time top 10 for an event and set seven SMU records.
Prior to Northridge, Settle spent seven seasons at UTEP where he served as an assistant coach in sprints, jumps and relays. At UTEP, Settle coached an Olympic Qualifier, three IAAF World Championships qualifiers and 12 Conference USA Champions. The Miners won six Conference USA titles including five consecutive indoor titles from 2013-17. Settle spent three years as an assistant coach at New Mexico, coaching 16 regional qualifiers three All-Americans, and 11 school record setters. His coaching career began as a volunteer coach at UTEP for four seasons.
Settle enjoyed a decorated student-athlete career at Arkansas-Little Rock. He is a member of the Little Rock Athletics Hall of Fame, a USA Track Indoors finalist in the 200 meters, and was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Time Indoor Track & Field Team, winning 10 Sun Belt individual championships. He graduated from Little Rock with a master's in exercise science in 2010.
Per NCAA Rules & Regulations, institutional staff members or representatives of its athletics interest shall not employ or give free or reduced admission privileges to a high school, preparatory school, or a two-year college athletic award winner. The SMU Track Camp is open to any and all with entrance limited only by age and camp capacity.
