KU declines to renew Cook-Callen’s contract, will seek new rowing coach
By Henry Greenstein May 21, 2025
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
Kansas will not renew the contract of rowing coach Carrie Cook-Callen, athletic director Travis Goff announced on Wednesday.
“We are thankful for Coach Cook-Callen’s contributions to Kansas Rowing, both as a student-athlete and as the head coach for the past eight seasons,” Goff said in a press release. “She has represented the University of Kansas and Kansas Athletics in an impactful fashion, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Cook-Callen’s contract expired at the conclusion of the season after she had signed a three-year deal over the summer of 2022. KU will now look for just its third head coach in program history following Rob Catloth and Cook-Callen.
Cook-Callen, who is originally from Garden City, rowed at KU from 2002 to 2004. After beginning her coaching career at Iowa, she joined KU as an assistant in 2012 before assuming the role of head coach in June 2017.
Her extension in 2022 followed a season in which Melia Martin earned the title of Big 12 co-newcomer of the year. The next season, Katia Ustiuzhanina was newcomer of the year, as well as an honorable mention All-American according to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.
The 2024-25 campaign concluded on Sunday as KU recorded a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship in Sarasota, Florida, out of six schools competing, with three of its boats placing on the podium.
Goff will now make his sixth head-coaching hire since he assumed the role of athletic director in April 2021, after Lance Leipold (football), Lindsay Kuhle (women’s golf), Dan Fitzgerald (baseball), Nate Lie (soccer) and Matt Ulmer (volleyball).
This is the first time during Goff’s tenure that a coach’s departure has been publicly announced as a contract nonrenewal. The football opening was vacant when Goff took over; Kuhle’s predecessor Erin O’Neil resigned to move closer to her family; and Ritch Price, Mark Francis and Ray Bechard all retired.
KU luminary Vaughn returns to Jayhawks as assistant coach
122565KU declines to renew Cook-Callen’s contract, will seek new rowing coach
