Augustana College Athletics

Coach Jake Edwards is in his first season leading the throwers and directing operations for the Vikings in 2026-2027.

Edwards arrives in Rock Island after serving as the head throws coach and recruiting coordinator at Muskingum University in Ohio. At Muskingum, Edwards made an immediate impact mentoring multiple throwers to significant new personal bests and conference scoring performances. He guided senior Avrie O'Neil to a more than 2-meter improvement in the weight throw where she earned the OAC conference title.

Prior to Muskingum, Edwards had an All-American career at University of Dubuque as an athlete. He was a 4x NCAA qualifier earning 2 all-America honors in the shot put as well as earning multiple all-conference honors in the American Rivers Conference. He was a 5 event scorer across the throws in college and finished his collegiate career in UD's top 5 all-time list in the indoor and outdoor shot put, hammer throw, and discus.

While at UD, Edwards served as the lead throws coach for FASST Track Club, the premier track club in the Dubuque area where he designed and implemented training plans for high school and collegiate throwers. 

Edwards still competes professionally for Summit Throws and the Garden State Track Club.

A native of New Jersey, Jake resides in the Quad City area and is completing his master's degree in business administration.