Jay Santos

Jay Santos Timeline Coaching Honors 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year 2021 WCGA Regional Coach of the Year 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year 2016 NCAA Central Regional Coach of the Year In nine seasons with Arizona State, Jay Santos has led the team to NCAA Regionals in eight-consecutive seasons (all but his first). In those seasons, the SUn Devils have also not had a losing record. In three seasons, ASU has advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals. The 2025 season was the first season as a member of the Big 12 Conference for Arizona State, and ninth-year head coach Jay Santos put together a solid season after losing half of the starting lineups from 2024. The Sun Devils qualified for NCAA Regionals for the last eight seasons in a row, this season going to the Washington Regional and placing fourth in the first session of the second round. The Sun Devils, who ended the season at No. 27 on Road to Nationals, ended the regular season with a 196.310 National Qualifying Score (NQS), the eighth season in a row with an NQS over 196.000. There were six scores over 196.000 this season, including a season-best 196.800 at Cal Quad 1 on March 14. In Santos' eighth season as head coach, Arizona State (8-5, 4-3, Pac-12) finished the season ranked No. 16 on Road to Nationals, which was the second-consecutive year in the top 20 and seventh-straight season ending in the top 25. The Gym Devils earned a spot in the postseason for the sixth-straight season. After finishing in the top two in the second round at the California Regional, ASU moved on to the regional finals for the second-straight year and the third time in the last four years. Two Gym Devils qualified as individuals to the NCAA Championships in Jada Mangahas (bars) and Anaya Smith (vault). Smith scored a 9.9375 on the biggest stage to be the national runner-up and earn First Team All-America status, the first All-American on vault since 2010. The team finished the regular season with a winning record for the third-consecutive season, the longest such streak since the early 2000s. ASU hasn't had a losing record since 2017, Santos' first season. The season high of 197.600 came on senior night against Southern Connecticut, which is the 11th-highest team score in ASU history. The Gym Devils had another strong season for Santos' seventh season, earning a final rank of No. 15 and a team NQS of 197.105. This is the third time ever that ASU ends the regular season with an NQS over 197, two of which have been while Santos has been in Tempe. ASU went to NCAA Regionals for the fifth-straight year, advancing to the regional finals. The team had an eight-meet streak of scoring 196.000 or better throughout the regular season. That run included a three-meet winning streak where the Gym Devils upset then-No. 4 Utah, set a program record road score in a win over Washington, and dealt then-No. 11 Oregon State its first loss of the season. He helped the team finish the season ranked in the top 20 on all four events and helped Hannah Scharf qualify as an individual in the all-around to nationals. For Santos' sixth season, he helped the 2022 squad finish ranked No. 22, the fifth year in a row finishing the year ranked in the top 25 and fifth year in a row qualifying for NCAA Regionals as a team under the Santos duo. The team scored a 196-plus in all but one meet, including three 197s. Arizona State had five conference wins to tie for the 2022 Pac-12 Regular Season Title, the first one in program history. It was also the most conference wins in a single season in 2001. The biggest win came against UCLA as ASU scored a 197.800 to beat the Bruins for the first time since 2001. That score was the seventh-highest score in program history. For the second year in a row, he helped coach Hannah Scharf to another WCGA Second Team All-America honor in the all-around. In June 2021, his wife Jess was promoted to co-head coach, he and Jess becoming co-head coaches for the Gym Devils that season. Santos' fifth season was historic as he led Arizona State to its most successful season in 15 years in 2021, wrapping up the year ranked No. 9 on Road to Nationals, the best finish since 2006. He was named the WCGA Regional Coach of the Year. The team ended the season with an NQS of 197.088 and finished in fourth in the Pac-12 regular season standings as well as in the Pac-12 Championship, making the night session for the first time. The best team score was 197.600, which Arizona State scored in the NCAA Regional Finals for the ninth best score in program history and the best postseason score the Sun Devils have ever earned. He helped Hannah Scharf and Cairo Leonard-Baker advance to the NCAA Championships. Scharf earned Second Team All-America honors on bars at nationals, in addition to her WCGA Second Team Regular Season All-America nod in the all-around. In his fourth season as the head coach in 2020, Jay Santos helped a young team, with seven making their collegiate debuts, reach new heights. They finished with a winning record (7-6-1) for the second-straight season, including a win over No. 10 Cal. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the season was cut short the week before the Pac-12 Championship, meaning NCAA regionals did not happen as well. However, the team went out on a high note, finishing ranked No. 21 on Road to Nationals, the highest ranking of the year. The four meets before the cancellations were all 196.000s or better, with a total of five team scores surpassing that number in 2020. In the last seven meets, the Gym Devils scored a 49.000+ on vault, finishing the season ranked No. 17 in the nation in that event. They also finished No. 17 on bars with six individual scores of 9.900 or better earned that season, five coming from Cairo Leonard-Baker. Santos led the Gym Devils to another successful season in 2019, the first since 2014 to have a winning record (11-10) in the regular season. The team was ranked in the top-25 on Road to Nationals all year and earned four wins over top-25 teams throughout the season. They scored a 196.000 or better six times and had a team RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) of 196.320 at the end of the year. The season-high score of 196.625 came at home against Oregon State, which was the 25th highest team total in program history. There were 25 scores of 9.900 or above throughout the year. To start off the postseason, the Sun Devils took fifth at the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, the best team finish since 2006. The team qualified for their second-straight trip to NCAA Regionals. Cairo Leonard-Baker qualified for nationals as an individual on bars, earning Second Team All-America honors. Boasting arguably one of the most substantial turnarounds in recent collegiate gymnastics history, Santos' squad improved 18 spots from their 2017 national finish of 41, capping the 2018 season ranked at No. 23 nationally (highest finish since 2007). Ranking in the top-20 of the national standings for 12 consecutive weeks, Arizona State made its first team NCAA regional appearance since 2014 while sending individual all-around qualifier Cairo Leonard-Baker to nationals. Courtesy of his efforts at the helm of the program, Santos was named the 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and the WCGA Regional Coach of the Year. Under the tutelage of Santos, the Maroon and Gold jumped nearly a point and half in their season finale RQS tally, improving from 195.145 in 2017 to 196.545 this season. Most notably, the team eclipsed the 49.000+ mark in 33 event rotations, after only having done so four times in 2017. The Gym Devils knocked off four ranked opponents on the season — No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Iowa, No. 14 West Virginia, and No. 20 Stanford — marking the first time since 2006 that the squad has accomplished the feat, while accumulating 13 team wins.  --LINK: Jay Santos rightfully earned his Pac-12 Coach of the Year award (by Kelly Doyle, ASU State Press/April 12, 2019) In his first season as head coach in 2017, Santos quickly elevated the program, as the Gym Devils hit a season high team score in five of six consecutive meets including a season high 195.700 at Arizona. The Gym Devils scored 195 in four separate meets, the first time that has happened since the 2014 season. The team showed significant improvement on bars and beam from the 2016 season. Their bars regional qualifying score increased from a 48.24 in 2016 to a 48.8 in 2017 while beam improved from 48.57 to 48.93. The Gym Devils finished the season ranked 29th in the country on beam. The Gym Devils also bested then-No. 23 Arizona for the program's first Pac-12 win since 2014 and the coveted Territorial Cup series point. At the Pac-12 Championship, the Gym Devils completed the season with a 195.600, their second highest team score of the season, plus a season-high 49.275 on beam in the final rotation, the highest team beam score since March 13, 2009. It was the second highest team total for the program at a championship meet since 2004 when they scored a 196.775. Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson named Jay Santos the head women’s gymnastics coach on May 27, 2016. Santos coached Eastern Michigan to the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championship, the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional appearance, and finished the season ranked 17th in the nation – the highest national ranking in the history of the program. In 2016, Eastern Michigan broke eight school records, including three on beam, earning Santos NCAA Central Regional Head Coach of the Year honors. Individually, Santos coached gymnast Rachel Slocum, who scored a career-high 9.900 to win the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional title on floor, to become only the second athlete in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships. He ended his time there with a 28-8-1 record. Prior to leading Eastern Michigan, Santos coached at the University of Illinois-Champaign where he served as assistant coach, then associate head coach in his four-year tenure. At Illinois, Santos coached the team to three NCAA Championship appearances in 2011, 2013, and 2014, finishing 11th in the nation each year. Santos also coached eight Illini gymnasts to All-American honors, including Alina Weinsten, the 2012 and 2013 Regional All-Around Champion, 2013 Honda Award Finalist, and 2013 South Central Region Gymnast of the Year. Santos was assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Iowa State from 2006-10, and also spent time as an assistant at Ohio State. Santos also spent eight years coaching at Somersault Gymnastics Center in Stoughton, Mass., serving as the women's team director and head coach for his last four years. At Somersault Gymnastics, he was responsible for all facets of the women's program and produced several Junior Olympic national and regional qualifiers, and many state champions. Santos served as a nationally-rated men's gymnastics judge from 1997-2001, working numerous college dual meets as well as Junior Olympic state and regional championships. Santos earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Operations Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995, and was a member of the Minutemen’s gymnastics team from 1990-95. At Amherst, he was a three-time co-captain and founding member of the department’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Santos’ wife is Jessica. They have two sons, Mason and Cooper. Arizona State and Jay Santos Year Record Conf. Finish Regional Finish Regional Final Finish+ NCAA Championship National Finish 2025 10-10 5th 4th N/A N/A No. 27 2024 8-5 6th 2nd 4th N/A No. 16 2023 7-6 5th 2nd 4th N/A No. 15 2022 6-4 5th 6th N/A N/A No. 22 2021 5-5 4th 2nd 3rd N/A No. 9 2020* 7-6-1 4th N/A* N/A* N/A* No. 21 2019 11-10 5th 7th N/A N/A No. 25 2018 8-8-1 6th 3rd - N/A No. 23 2017 1-11 8th N/A - N/A No. 41 TOTAL: 63-65-2 (.484) *Postseason canceled due to COVID-19 + Regional Final format began in 2019