Edrick Floreal resigned as the Stanford Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field this past Monday to take over as the head coach of the University of Kentucky men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field teams.

Floreal joined the Cardinal coaching staff in 1998 as the assistant coach and became the head coach in 2005. In his eight seasons at the helm, he was named MPSF Coach of the Year five times, the 2009 West Regional Indoor Coach of the Year and the 2006 West Regional Outdoor Coach of the Year.

While Floreal’s coaching specialty is the hurdles, sprints and jumps, he has also been responsible for three Stanford women’s NCAA cross-country running titles. In addition, the men’s cross-country team finished in the top five for three out of the past four years.

Under his guidance, the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top 10 at the NCAA championships seven times for both the outdoor and indoor seasons. He has also led 91 Cardinal All-Americans, who have amassed a total of 197 national honors.

During this past season, he coached senior Amaechi Morton, who won the 400-meter hurdles at both the NCAA and Pac-12 championships. Morton will be representing Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

One of Floreal’s other most accomplished athletes is Erica McLain, a 2008 Stanford graduate who won three NCAA titles and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing.

As a former athlete on the Canadian Olympic team, Floreal competed in the triple jump and long jump at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics, respectively.

Floreal is also a two-time NCAA indoor champion and three-time NCAA outdoor champion in the triple jump, having competed at the University of Arkansas.

–George Chen