Henry Spillers joins the department as the assistant coach for Cross Country and Track and Field, while entering his 27th season of coaching at the collegiate, high school and youth levels.
Spillers comes to Henderson State after a three-year stint at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, where he coached sprints and hurdles. In his time at Our Lady of the Lake, Spillers was a USTFCCA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year finalist in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. Spillers was instrumental in coaching 21 athletes to the NAIA Indoor and Outdoor National Championships, including two NAIA All-Americans.Â
Before his time at Our Lady of the Lake, Spillers served as the head coach of the Alamo City Track Club, with athletes competing in TAAF and AAU. In his two years at Alamo City, Spillers coached two AAU National Champions and three AAU National Runner-ups, along with nine All-Americans.
Spillers spend the 2014-15 season at the University of Texas-San Antonio where he worked primarily with the women's 400m runners, and helped the 4x400-meter relay team advance to the NCAA West Region meet.
In 2013, Spilllers coached sprinters to 33 top-10 all-time school performances, including three school records in the 200m dash, 400m dash, and the 4x400-meter relay. That relay team also broke the Western Athletic Conference record. Spillers had two athletes qualify for the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 400m, with both finishing third and fourth respectively.
At the high school level, Spillers has coached 12 athletes to state championships and several runners-up, as well as top-10 finishes in multiple meets. In 2004 and 2006, Spillers was named Northwest Florida Daily News Cross-Country Coach of the Year. In 2008 he was named Northwest Florida Daily News Track and Field Coach of the Year.
Spillers graduated from New Mexico State with a bachelors in Individualized Studies and Exercise Science, after serving in the U.S Army for five years and the Air National Guard for eight years.
Spillers is married to Joy, and they have one daughter named Keisha.
