The Hawkeye track and field program had to adjust to a multitude of changes in the 2020-21 season.

First, the Big Ten postponed all 2020 fall sports to spring 2021. As many athletes compete in cross country in the fall and track and field in the spring, the Hawkeyes had to adjust to a split squad in the early months of the spring season.

The NCAA gave all spring 2020 athletes an extra year of eligibility after the season was canceled because of concerns surrounding COVID-19.

But as track season spans throughout the winter and spring months, Iowa’s senior track and field athletes were only permitted to compete in the 2021 outdoor season.

So, seniors like hurdler Jaylan McConico and thrower Laulauga Tausaga had to rejoin the team in the middle of the season.

Iowa director of track and field and cross country Joey Woody led his team through the unconventional year, picking up Big Ten Championships along the way.

That’s why Woody is The Daily Iowan’s 2020-21 Coach of the Year.

Before chasing a professional track career, Tausaga decided to come back for a fifth year in the Black and Gold.

A Chino Hills, California, native, Tausaga originally never considered coming to Iowa. But the atmosphere Woody creates with his team, Tausaga said, was a selling point.

“Brick by brick, he’s laying the foundation for an amazing team,” Tausaga said earlier this year. “And I know that even when I’m gone it’s going to flourish under him. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this team and a part of the history that’s going to make Iowa track and field that much more amazing.”

Under Woody’s supervision, Tausaga became a four-time Big Ten Outdoor Champion in 2021 — a first for the Hawkeye track and field program.

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While Tausaga couldn’t defend her NCAA Champion status in discus at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, her season-best throw of 65.63 meters was good for runner-up at the national meet.

As director of track and field in 2020-21, Woody coached the Hawkeye men’s team to a sweep of the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor track and field championships.

The men’s track and field team scored a program-record 127.5 points —33 points clear of runner-up Michigan — and notched its first sweep of the Big Ten Championships since 1963.

At the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Hawkeye men finished 12th — its best finish at the NCAA Championships in over 50 years.

Woody also swept the Big Ten Men’s Coach of the Year honors in 2020-21, garnering the Indoor and Outdoor award.

He also earned the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Region Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year award.

As Iowa track and field adjusted to uncertainty in the 2020-21 season, Woody kept a level head, leading his team to a historic year.

For leading the Hawkeye men to a sweep of the Big Ten Championships and other achievements throughout the season, Woody is the DI’s 2020-21 Coach of the Year.