Joel Keller

Joel Keller rejoined the Nebraska track and field program as its on campus recruiting coordinator in July of 2021 until September of 2023. Keller previously served as a recruiting assistant before leaving in January of 2020 to be assistant track coach at Texas State.

Before returning to Lincoln, Keller was at Texas State for two seasons, where he lead the distance runners to one of the best years in school history in 2021. Keller led athletes to 18 All-Sun Belt Conference honors, eight Sun Belt Conference individual championships, four school records, two Sun Belt Conference records, multiple meet records and two NCAA West Preliminary Round appearances. Pedro Osorio Lopez won back-to-back Sun Belt Championships in the 800m and 4x400m relay, set the school record in the 1500m (3:48.20), set the indoor conference record in the 800 meters, and ran the second-fastest outdoor time in school history in the 800 (1:48.38). Kwanele Mthembu was named Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year after breaking the conference and school record in the 10,000 meters (28:48.33) and the school record in the 5,000 meters (14:01.37). The teams recorded five top-three finishes in the Sun Belt during Keller's time in San Marcos.
 
Prior to joining the Bobcat staff, Keller served as the assistant recruiting coordinator at Nebraska. The Huskers won the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Men's Conference title and were the Track and Field News Indoor Dual Meet National Champions. While at Nebraska, he was instrumental in signing 65 student-athletes who won 55 individual state championships and came from 14 different states and five countries.
 
Keller went to Nebraska after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas Tech in 2017-18. There, he helped lead the men’s team to the Big 12 Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Red Raiders also tied for fifth place at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finished in sixth place at the NCAA Indoor Championships and were voted the Track and Field News men’s outdoor dual-meet champions. The men’s cross country team also tied for the best conference finish in school history with a fifth-place showing at the Big 12 Championships. His runners had nine All-Big 12 performances at the Big 12 Indoor meet, and the men’s and women’s cross country teams were named NCAA All-Academic Teams with each squad boasting six Big 12 All-Academic recipients.
 
Before joining the Texas Tech staff, Keller coached the 2016-2017 year at Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, N.M. While at Volcano, he led the boy’s team to a state runner-up finish at the NMAA 6A Track and Field Championships, and a 10th-place showing at the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships. One of his runners, Jericho Cleveland, was the state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200-meters and finished in 10th place at the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships where he later represented Team USA at the NACAC Cross Country Championships. In total, Keller coached six runners who won two individual state championships and boasted six All-State performances.
 
Keller graduated from the University of Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science in 2016. There, he was an NCAA DII national qualifier in the 3,000m steeplechase and earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors in cross country. Keller holds the school record in the 3,000m steeplechase. He also received the William A. Bright Most Valuable Runner in cross country as a junior and served as team captain during his junior and senior years.

Joel's wife, Kieran, was a member of the 2017 NCAA National Champion Cross Country team at the University of New Mexico.