Read moved to Des Moines to become Drake’s head cross country coach in 2025 after a seven-year stint as the head cross country and distance coach at Eastern Washington University. In his final season at EWU, Sam guided the men's XC team to a fourth-place finish at the Big Sky Conference championships, their second-highest placement in program history, while the women finished fifth and were regionally ranked throughout the season. Throughout Read's tenure, the Eagles steadily climbed the Big Sky ranks with improved team placements every year.
His first season at Drake was promising, as he coached the men’s XC team to a fifth-place finish at the MVC Cross Country Championships, while the women finished sixth. Furthermore, two runners earned All-MVC First Team honors under his influence, with Brenden Heitzig finishing second and Aidan Palmer finishing sixth overall at the championships. He also coached Anastasia Kirillov to an All-MVC Honorable Mention honor.
On the track, Drake produced a handful of NCAA West Region qualifiers in his first year including 10,000-meter runner Brenden Heitzig. Shot putter Ethan Elliott was Drake's lone NCAA qualifier in 2026.
While with the Eagles, Read has coached five school records on the track, including the men's distance medley relay, women's distance medley relay, men's 10k, men's 1000, and men's steeplechase. Read's tutelage has led to a total of 68 new additions to the Eastern Washington men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field all-time top 10 lists.
Some of his standout individual performers include Justin Roosma, an All-Big Sky steeplechaser and NCAA West Regional qualifier, Owen Higgins, an All-Big Sky 800 runner, and Isaac Barville, another NCAA West Regional qualifier in the 1500.
Prior to joining the staff at Eastern Washington, Sam served as a graduate assistant and assistant coach at Montana State University. Read played a pivotal role underneath notable Bobcat coaches Dale Kennedy and Lyle Weese for four years.
Montana State produced four All-Americans and 17 Big Sky Conference champions during his tenure in Bozeman. Read helped instruct two sub-four-minute milers and eight school record holders while the Bobcat team piled up nine top three finishes at the Big Sky Championships. Sam received his masters' degree from Montana State in 2016.
A native of Marion, Iowa, Read was a standout at Linn-Mar High School where he represented the Lions as a Drake Relays qualifier. He went on to run collegiately at Wartburg College and captured the crown in the 10k at the 2014 Iowa Conference Track & Field Championships and was an individual qualifier for the national meet. Read was a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from Wartburg in 2014.
He also met his wife, Rebekah, at Wartburg as they both competed for the Knights. They have two kids, Eliza and Bennett.
