Rick Atkinson Position: Head Coach Experience: 13th year

Career/School Record Prior To 2001 Season: 92-84 (12)

Rick Atkinson begins his 13th season as head coach of the Michigan State gymnastics team after compiling an 92-84 overall record over his past 12 seasons.

Atkinson has led the Spartans to eight winning seasons in the last 12 years. In 1999, Michigan State ended the regular season ranked sixth in the nation, took fifth at the Big Ten Championships and advanced to the NCAA Eastern Regionals.

Atkinson has coached two NCAA All-Americans: Keith Douglas (vault) and Victor Prisk (still rings).

Just the second head coach in the 48-year history of MSU men’s gymnastics, Atkinson served as an assistant coach to longtime mentor George Szypula for two seasons prior to his appointment as head coach.

Atkinson became the first freshman in Iowa State’s history to earn All-America honors, accomplishing that feat in 1982 in floor exercise. He ended his career as a two-time All-American on floor and captained the team as a senior.

He qualified for the USA Championships in 1983, but his best year was in 1985 when he was the Big Eight floor exercise champion and NCAA runner-up in the same event. Atkinson was also a finalist for the Nissen Award, given to the outstanding senior gymnast in the nation, in ’85.

Atkinson graduated from Iowa State in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and obtained a law degree from Michigan State University in August of 1999.

Born Feb. 20, 1963 in Waterloo, Iowa, his family includes wife Cindy, and children, David, A.J., Spencer and Nicole.