AUBURN, Ala. - Richard Fisher and Joseph Riccio join the Auburn track & field staff as the assistant jumps and multis coach and assistant throws coach, respectively, head coach Leroy Burrell announced Thursday.
“I’m really excited to announce the addition of Joe Riccio and Rich Fisher to the Auburn Track and Field staff,” Burrell said. “Both Joe and Rich bring a wealth of experience coaching athletes at a high level. Coach Riccio and Coach Fisher have coached athletes at all levels, from conference champions to NCAA Championships to the Olympic Games. Coach Riccio has coached an NCAA Champion and a meet record holder. I’d like to welcome them to the Auburn Family, and I’m really looking forward to all the success I know they’ll bring to our program.”
Coach Fisher comes to The Plains after spending the 2023-25 seasons working with the jumps core at Michigan State.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Auburn Family,” Fisher said. “I look forward to working alongside such an accomplished staff as we continue to work toward our championship goals.”
Some of his career highlights include coaching at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Heath Baldwin placed 10th overall and captured the championship title at the 2024 USA Olympic Trials in the men’s decathlon. Under his guidance, Baldwin became a two-time Olympic Trials qualifier.
Before working at Michigan State, Fisher was the assistant jumps coach at Northwestern State University in Louisiana for two years. He helped lead the program to its top recruiting class in history, as well as a Southland Conference Championship on the women’s side, the first for the Demons in program history.
Fisher also coached three individual Southland Conference Champions, seven NCAA East Regional Qualifiers, and two USA U20 Outdoor Championships qualifiers.
He spent three seasons at Purdue before NSU, where he coached two NCAA Indoor Championships qualifiers in 2020. His jumpers and multi-athletes won the Big Ten women’s high jump, took second in the Big Ten women’s pole vault, and earned bronze in the conference men’s heptathlon.
Before working in collegiate track and field, Fisher served as Paul VI High School’s Head Sprint Coach in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Fisher is a 2013 graduate of Louisiana State University, where he competed for the track & field team, primarily in the 800m.
Riccio spent the previous seven seasons at Fresno State University before making his way to Auburn.
“I am extremely grateful to join this team, and a huge thank you to Coach Burrell!” Riccio said. “I am very motivated and looking forward to continuing the success, culture, and legacy that is Auburn Throws and Auburn Track & Field. War Eagle!”
At Fresno State, Riccio coached NCAA Champion and three-time All-American Cierra Jackson in shot put and discus. During his time in California, he also developed multiple NCAA finalists, including Jordyn Bryant, Amelia DiPaola, Harriette Mortlock, and Vanja Spain.
In his seven seasons at Fresno State, he qualified 24 athletes for the NCAA West Regional, with six advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Riccio’s athletes hold four of the six program records (hammer, javelin, indoor/outdoor shot put) and occupy 20 spots on the program’s all-time top 10 list.
Before Fresno, Riccio coached at Grand Canyon from 2014-2019, where he produced 2016 Olympian and 2017 World Championships competitor Tarasue Barnett in the discus throw. He also guided 15 athletes to Western Athletic Conference individual championships and had numerous athletes qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
In 2016, Riccio coached Jamaican native Tarasue Barnett to qualification for the Rio Olympic Games in the women’s discus throw. Barnett finished 16th overall, recording the top mark among all NCAA competitors at the Games.
The Scottsdale, Arizona, native started his coaching career at Mesa Community College as an assistant throws coach, where he guided several athletes to qualify for nationals, with two earning All-America honors.
Riccio began his collegiate career at Mesa Community College, where he was an NJCAA Champion and earned multiple national honors in the hammer throw. After competing at Mesa Community College, he went on to compete at Wyoming and Arizona State in the hammer throw.
Riccio is a graduate of Arizona State, earning his Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2013.
“I’m excited about the outstanding staff here at Auburn," Burrell said. "I think we have an excellent opportunity to enhance the depth and performance of our program, both on the recruiting side and the athlete performance side. I believe Coach Riccio and Coach Fisher will do an outstanding job not only working with the athletes we have here, but also recruiting and developing athletes to perform at a high level while living up to the principles of the Auburn Creed and the high standards of performance Auburn Track & Field has come to expect.”