On Tuesday, Arkansas gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber, 30, resigned from her position, seven years after becoming the youngest head coach in NCAA gymnastics history. Her husband, Chris Brooks -- an assistant coach since 2019 -- was named as the next head coach.
One day later, Wieber is in her home office in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Brooks is on campus meeting with a recruit, while their 10-month-old daughter, Gigi, is in the living room with Wieber's mother-in-law. For the first time that she can remember, Wieber says she woke up this morning and gymnastics was not the central focus of her life. "It felt very strange but also, ever since I made the decision, I feel a lot of peace," she says. "I'm looking forward to exploring things I've never had the opportunity to explore."
In an exclusive with ESPN, Wieber shares in her own words what went into her decision, the timeline of Brooks being named as her successor and what she plans to pursue next. -- Alyssa Roenigk
I want people to understand that I'm not leaving coaching to be a stay-at-home mom. I have so much respect for stay-at-home moms, but I love working. I just needed more balance.
I was really worried about waking up today with a feeling of emptiness. I haven't felt that, and I think it's because I wake up and I see Gigi and that gives me a lot of purpose. But also, now I have the time to think about my future.
I feel like this is an important step for me to figure out what else I want to add into my identity as a human being without gymnastics as a part of my daily life. I don't feel anxiety about that. I don't feel fear. I feel a lot of excitement. I get to have more time with Gigi, but I also have other goals and passions and pursuits that I want to dive into that I wouldn't have had the time to do if I was still a head coach.
Becoming a mom changes your perspective. I've always wanted to be the type of woman who can prove women can do it all. And we can. I was. I want to be the best possible mom that I can be for my daughter and I want to be a great example for her.
Before I announced my decision, I was worried about the judgment. I worried about what people would think. I want to be the best role model for all women, and especially the young women I've coached. I want to show them that whatever you need to do for your well-being and your mental health and your family, you can make those choices, and they aren't the same for everyone.
Throughout my coaching career, it would pop into my brain, the question of whether this was something I saw myself doing until retirement. Since I went back to work after having Gigi, there was an inner battle between how much I love working hard and how much I love coaching and how, the more time I put into that, the less time I had for Gigi. And then the more time I spent with Gigi, the less time I had to put in work for the program.
I think athletes -- and most women, in general -- we don't do things at less than 100 percent. I was constantly trying to be 100 percent the best mom I could be, and 100 percent the best coach, and that is hard. It's doable. I was managing it the best way I could, but it wasn't easy. Throughout the year, I would go in and out of this decision and I finally put it on the back-burner so I could focus in the moment and be there for the team.
What made it even more difficult was this was a big family decision. It affected Chris and me. When a head coach leaves, the staff doesn't always get a guaranteed position on the other side of it. The night before I spoke with my boss, Chris looked at me and said, "I want you to be happy. You and Gigi are the two most important things in my life. If that means I don't get to coach anymore, I'm okay with that. We'll figure it out."
When I met with my boss, [Arkansas Athletic Director] Hunter [Yurachek], the first thing he said after I told him my decision was, 'Would Chris be interested in the job? We love the direction you've taken the program, and he's been such a big part of that.'
I said, "I don't know. I'll talk to him." We weren't expecting that.
When I left Hunter's office, I called Chris and he asked, "How did it go? How do you feel?" He knew I was afraid of walking out of that office and feeling like this job that had given me so much belonging and purpose was not mine anymore and I'd feel a loss. I was nervous about that feeling. But I left his office and felt a weight lifted.
I said, "Hunter is interested in you being the next head coach." Chris was like, "Are you serious?" When I got home later that evening, we talked and talked and talked. Chris never thought he would have this opportunity in his lifetime. We talked through every piece of the decision, like, what does this look like for our day to day? How is it going to shift our dynamic as a couple? What does it look like for Gigi? What does it mean financially? At the end of the day, I was so excited for Chris to have this opportunity. It's going to allow me the time to do some things I want to do, career-wise, and to keep our support system here in Fayetteville. It really was the best-case scenario for our whole family.
The day we decided all of this, Kyla Ross, who's one of my assistants and was also my teammate in the Olympics, came over and the three of us were standing in the kitchen and we just started giggling. I was like, "Guys, I'm gonna be sitting in the stands. Isn't that so weird?" We all started cracking up. But I'm also excited because I get to be the biggest super fan of the program.
One of the hardest transitions is going to be learning how to support Chris in his new role. He is an external processor. He loves to talk through everything, and I know he's gonna want to talk through things at home. I told him, 'It's going to be hard for me to not give you my opinion all the time.' I'm so used to having to make those decisions. It's gonna be hard for me to not insert my opinion and to let him take over this program and do it his way. If he tried to do it my way, it wouldn't work. It wouldn't be authentic to Chris. The main encouragement I've given him these last few days is just to be authentically himself.
It was hard telling the athletes and closing that chapter. That was something I dreaded about this decision. I recruited all those athletes to come to Arkansas and one of my favorite things about coaching was being in their lives and being a person they could rely on through all the challenges of those transformative four years. It wasn't just about gymnastics for me. It was about serving people and being a support system for those girls.
I started gymnastics at four. I was on the national team by 11. I retired at 17 and went straight into being a college student, working with the gymnastics team at UCLA. Then I went straight into volunteer coaching while managing and dealing with the fallout of the Larry Nassar situation and everything that was going on with me and the gymnastics community at that time. Then I jumped into this head coaching position. Intensity is all I've ever known.
I'm excited to not operate at that level of intensity all the time. I know there's so much more the world has to offer and that I can learn and grow into outside of gymnastics. I've never been outside of the gymnastics bubble and I'm excited to figure out what's there for me outside of that bubble.
I studied psychology at UCLA, and I want to pursue a career in leadership or organizational development. I'm looking at starting either an MBA program or earning a master's degree. I want to continue to develop my voice. I love public speaking and giving inspirational talks. I had to put that on hold over the last seven years.
I still want to be involved in the gymnastics world. I would love to work on a TV broadcast. I think I would have a great perspective, having been an athlete and having coached for 10 years. I'm open to all possibilities. I just want to continue to serve people and continue to use my voice for good. I feel a lot of peace. It feels in my gut like this was the right decision. I'm excited about life.
