Coach Bailey has over thirty years of experience in competitive running and fifteen years experience coaching. Since Bailey's NCAA debut in 2002 as head coach at Mercer, his athletes have set numerous university records.

He is a 1984 graduate of Warner Robins High School in Warner Robins, Ga. Bailey participated in cross country and track as a member of some of the strongest distance squads in the history of the school.

Bailey went on to serve six distinguished years in the United States Air Force, earning Southwest Asia Campaign and Air Force Achievement medals for his service during the first Gulf War. During the late 1980's, Bailey saw military service in England and enjoyed athletic success as a top runner in the 8th Air Force and as the coach of the cross country team at Lakenheath RAF.

Returning to the U.S. after an honorable discharge from the military, Bailey attended Texas Tech University. He ran for one season ('93) as a walk-on, gaining a position within the team's top-7 before leaving the squad for financial reasons. Bailey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences with magna cum laude honors.

Bailey recently earned his Level II certification in jumping events and completed the Instructor Training Course (ITC) from USA Track and Field. The ITC certification qualifies Bailey to teach the Level I schools curriculum.

Bailey is a Level II schools alumnus in the Endurance event-group and has gone on to earn the highest certification – Level III – in Endurance Events from USATF.

Bailey also assumed the duties as the national Level I Schools Coordinator for USA Track & Field after being tapped for the job by the Head of Coaching Education, former Olympic Head Coach Terry Crawford.

USA Track and Field offers certifications in 5 different event-groups. His Level III Endurance certification also qualifies him to teach Level II schools.

Bailey assumed the National Level I Schools Coordinator position from Clemson assistant coach Tamara Ards. Individuals who want to host a USATF Level I school (typically there are 30-50 per year) will send Bailey their application for approval. He is then responsible for making sure their application is in order and checking the proposed site and date for conflicts with other proposed schools around the country.

Bailey will also keep a database of certified instructors for staffing the Level I schools. USA Track & Field mandates three ITC qualified coaches for each school. Once Bailey has made sure all criteria have been met and the school is adequately staffed, he sends the application up the chain and makes the request to get the Level I school posted on the USATF website.

Three of Coach Bailey's USATF athletes have qualified for and run in the Junior Olympics National finals with one podium finish (Megan Breitbach, 7th 3000m, 2009).

While coaching at the high school level, Bailey garnered numerous regional championships and five consecutive state championships in cross country. As a head track & field coach, his teams finished as runner-up three separate times in close contests. Coach Bailey also coached a dozen individual state champions in cross country and track. Bailey is the recipient of numerous coaching awards including five successive GISA Coaches Association Coach of the Year awards spanning the years 1997-2001.

Coach Bailey states that his philosophy of coaching is centered on building a "complete" team: "Even though cross country seems like an individual sport in many respects, it takes a complete, well-rounded team to win. I want each of my athletes to be able to get support and energy from every other athlete on the squad. As a coach, I understand that each individual runner on the roster can potentially make every other runner on the team a better athlete. On my team, one goal is to have athletes that build one another up and have a positive outlook. When a team gets truly cohesive, the group will naturally develop a work ethic and ambitious sub-culture that leads to success. Teams with these attributes tend to finish their races in a tight group – and that is how you win cross country meets".

Building an academically successful, cohesive, athletically ambitious team is a primary goal on Bailey's Mercer squads. His stated academic goal is to maintain a high standard of scholarship and work toward a 100% graduation rate among his athletes and he has been very successful in this endeavor. The cumulative GPA for all of his athletes, men and women combined, is consistently above 3.1.

"Getting a great education is priority one, so I recruit athletes who are serious about their scholarship and that have shown academic success in high school," said Bailey. "Anyone coming to Mercer University ought to do so because we offer the programs and academics that will prepare them for their lives after college. However, I also recruit student / athletes who will make athletic success priority 'one-point-one' and are able to successfully balance the three dimensions of college life – that is to say, academics, athletics and their personal life.

"Ambition is the secret ingredient that drives success. I'm looking for runners with the ambition to study and make something of themselves and, of course, the ambition to be a great runner. Those kids who have a real love of the sport; who have immersed themselves in the sport; who identify with the subculture that is tied to it; those are the runners I want".