UW hires new head rodeo coach

Seth Glause has been named the new University of Wyoming (UW) head rodeo coach. Glause comes to UW from Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in Cheyenne, where he has been the head rodeo coach since 2018.

“Glause has an excellent reputation as an outstanding coach and a better person,” says UW Athletics Director Tom Burman. “We had a lot of people who worked with him and competed for him reach out to us to sing his praises. We are excited to work with Seth and watch him develop our cowboy and cowgirl rodeo program.”

“I’m excited for the opportunity to lead the UW Rodeo Team,” Glause says. “This has been a goal of mine, and I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with our student athletes and help create the next generation of rodeo athletes at UW.”

“To be able to be the head coach at my alma mater is a great feeling, and I’m looking forward to being able to give back to the university where I graduated. It also is great to stay in the state of Wyoming, where I’ve grown up and give back to the state,” he continues. 

“I want to thank LCCC for the opportunity to be the head coach there the last five years. It was an amazing experience,” Glause adds. “I would like to thank Tom Burman, Randy Welniak and the hiring committee at UW for this new opportunity to lead UW’s cowboys and cowgirls.”

Coaching experience

Glause’s rodeo coaching career began in 2014 when he became involved as an instructor at Central Wyoming College (CWC) in 2014 and 2015. He has worked as an instructor at numerous clinics since. He also contributed as an instructor at the 2019 National High School Rodeo Finals. 

From 2016-18, Glause served as the assistant rodeo coach at LCCC. In 2018, Glause was elevated to the head coaching position. 

He was named the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) Coach of the Year in 2021. Glause also currently serves as the CRMR director. 

During his time at LCCC, Glause helped qualify athletes to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in 2017 and 2018 and from 2020-23.

As head coach at LCCC, Glause was responsible for recruiting rodeo student athletes; overseeing the rodeo program’s budget; administering the annual contracts for stock, feed and equipment; planning and executing practice plans for his student athletes; creating and managing relationships with donors, sponsors, volunteers and alumni and producing and promoting the annual Shawn Dubie Memorial Rodeo, which has been voted the best rodeo in the region for three consecutive years.

Rodeo experience

A former rodeo competitor himself, Glause was a three-time CNFR qualifier in 2007, 2008 and 2010. He was the 2007 and 2008 CRMR All-Around Champion, competing in bull riding, saddle bronc riding and team roping. 

In 2007, Glause placed third in the all-around at the CNFR, he placed fourth in bull riding and he was fifth in saddle bronc riding. At the 2008 CNFR, he placed third in bull riding, and in 2010, he finished in the top 10 in bull riding at the CNFR for the third time in his career. 

Glause went on to a career in professional rodeo, where he earned over $600,000 during his career. He was a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in bull riding, qualifying in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. 

Among his many professional titles were the 2009 Mountain States Circuit saddle bronc riding and all-around champions. In 2008, he was the all-around champion at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, and in 2012, he was the bull riding champion at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo.     

A native of Rock Springs, Glause graduated from Farson-Eden High School. He earned his Associate of Science from CWC in Riverton. He later attended Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla., before completing his education at UW, where he earned his Bachelor of Applied Science in organizational leadership.

Glause and his wife Jayme have a seven-year-old daughter, Kinlee, and a three-year-old son, Kallen.    

The UW rodeo program was moved under the direction of the UW Department of Athletics in July 2022 even though college rodeo is not an National Collegiate Athletic Association-sanctioned sport.

This article is courtesy of UW News and was originally published on July 11.