CECILE CANQUETEAU-LANDI DIDN’T know what to think when she heard that Georgia had dismissed head coach Courtney Kupets Carter the night before the NCAA championship meet last April.
Kupets Carter had been in the role for seven largely subpar seasons after a spectacular career as a student-athlete in which she led the team to four national titles. The gymnastics world erupted in a near-frenzy as the news broke, and many wondered what was next for the storied program. Others speculated on what took place behind the scenes.
But Canqueteau-Landi, the longtime coach of Simone Biles and other elites at the World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas, was mostly concerned about what the shift would mean for Autumn Reingold, one of the young gymnasts she was working with. The 17-year-old had verbally committed to Georgia as part of the Class of 2025 and her future was now suddenly in flux. So Canqueteau-Landi sent a text to the team’s then-assistant coach Ryan Roberts, who she had known for years. It would inadvertently change her life.
“What now?” Canqueteau-Landi wrote. “Does [Reingold] need to find a new home? What does this mean for you?“
Roberts wasn’t certain of anything in that moment, and he picked up the phone and called her. He said he wanted to stay with the team but wasn’t sure if he would be able to. Roberts asked Canqueteau-Landi if she would be a reference for him if he applied to be the new head coach. She immediately said yes and said she would be happy to vouch for him.
Roberts wasn’t thinking about his formal pitch to school officials on why he should have the job, or anything other than that he wanted to stay in Athens and continue working with the GymDogs, during that conversation with Canqueteau-Landi. But an idea occurred to him the following day, something that would not only make him a very appealing candidate for the position, but also could make Georgia a top destination for recruits and put the team back atop the college gymnastics world.
He shared his vision during his initial interview with the Georgia athletic administration.
“I knew they would ask me about my ideal staff, so I came prepared,” Roberts told ESPN in November. “I said, ‘Cecile would be the first person I would want to hire.’ And because of her resume and the compensation we would need in order to get her, the idea of a co-head-coach position just made sense.”
Georgia’s athletic administration unequivocally agreed.
And, despite less-than-ideal timing because Biles’ third Olympic appearance was three months away and Canqueteau-Landi’s daughter had one year of high school remaining in Texas, Canqueteau-Landi agreed, too. Roberts and Canqueteau-Landi were announced as Georgia’s new head coaches on April 25, just six days after Kupets Carter had been fired.
Now, some eight months later, the unlikely duo is ready to usher in a new era in Georgia gymnastics. After a challenging stretch for the once-revered program, including three consecutive last-place finishes at the SEC championships, Canqueteau-Landi and Roberts will look to do what its previous three head coaches were unable to do and revive it to its former glory.
The GymDogs opened the season with a third-place finish (and a 195.975 total score) in a quad meet with Denver, Missouri and Long Island earlier this month, and followed it up with a 196.825 in a home victory against Boise State last week. The team is ranked 13th heading into week 3 — and while it’s very early in the season, that’s already an improvement over the 18th-place finish last year.
Georgia is now set to open conference competition on Friday against Florida (6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network), with a team that includes last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year Lily Smith and 2020 Olympic alternate and surprise transfer Kara Eaker. They all know the eyes of the college gymnastics world are on them.
“There’s pressure, but pressure is a privilege. All of the gymnasts here see the wall [in the practice gym] every day,” Canqueteau-Landi told ESPN as she pointed to the images and banners on the wall commemorating the program’s record-setting 10 national championships. “They all know the legacy Georgia has, and they want to be on that wall too. I want them to be on the wall. That’s what we’re going to work towards every single day.”
SUCH OPTIMISM WASN’T EXACTLY in high supply in April. Just days before Kupets Carter’s dismissal, then-sophomore Naya Howard, one of the team’s top scorers, went to the school’s athletic administration with an ultimatum.
Frustrated by the state of the program and concerned about the toll it was taking on her mental health, she said she would transfer if a change wasn’t made.
“I just went in there and I was like, ‘Look, this is what’s happening in the gym and you’re not fixing it,'” Howard told ESPN in November. “It wasn’t working for me and I wasn’t just going to sit there like I was happy. I have nothing against Courtney at all, but it wasn’t a healthy environment.”
She didn’t know what impact her words would have, and she spent the next few days wondering what would happen next. Would she need to enter the portal to find another school for her final two years of eligibility?
But Howard didn’t have to wonder for long. By the end of the week, Kupets Carter had been fired and Howard, like several of her teammates, got to work on promoting Roberts’ case to get the job.
“Ryan has developed me into the person I am and he’s like a dad to me,” Howard said. “He’s really helped me. And I was like, ‘You can’t stop here, you can’t just leave.’ And then he called me and he was like, ‘You can advocate for me.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m doing it.’ I was calling [director of athletics] Josh Brooks and [deputy athletic director] Stephanie [Ransom] every hour. I think they were sick of me calling them about it.”
Howard was emphatic about Roberts’ positive influence on the program, especially during such a rough stretch, and was determined he remained part of the coaching staff in any capacity.
“We’re not just gymnasts to him — we’re people, and he believes in us,” Howard said. “It feels like a family.”
Howard was at home in Chesapeake, Virginia, when Roberts and Canqueteau-Landi were hired as the new head coaches, but she FaceTimed with a teammate who was on campus and watched some 500 miles away as her team was told the news.
The mood in the room was one of overwhelming relief.
“It made me so much less stressed out because I was like, ‘Okay, Ryan understands my gymnastics, he knows me, he knows us,'” sophomore Ady Wahl said. “I had been a little nervous about what was going to happen, but I was so excited it was going to be Ryan. He’s a great coach and knowing that a familiar person would still be here was really nice for me.”
While Wahl was thrilled about the addition of Canqueteau-Landi — “she’s coached Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles!” — several of her teammates were initially confused.
“It’s kind of funny because a majority of us didn’t really know who Cecile was,” Smith explained. “So when our athletic director told us, I legitimately didn’t know at first when I heard the name. I thought it might sound kind of familiar but I had no idea.”
Their puzzled expressions quickly changed once they were told who she had worked with.
“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, no way,'” Smith said. “I remember thinking, ‘We’re going to be coached by Simone Biles’ coach?’ That’s truly the best you can get.”
It didn’t take long for Georgia’s new head coaches to jump into action. Within days, Eaker, a two-time world champion as part of the U.S. team, came to campus for an official visit. She had previously announced her retirement from the sport after alleging an abusive environment at Utah, but had found the desire to compete again. Georgia seemed like a perfect place for a fresh start.
Due in large part to Georgia team member Ja’ Free Scott, Eaker’s longtime friend, who vouched for the new coaching staff and healthy team culture, Eaker committed. (But because of an eligibility issue with the NCAA, Eaker had to file for a waiver in order to join the team and wasn’t formally approved until August.)
Other transfers were equally inspired by the opportunity with the GymDogs. Anaya Smith, the reigning NCAA runner-up on vault, transferred from Arizona State for her final year of eligibility.
Csenge Bacskay, who competed at the Olympics for Hungary over the summer, made the move from Nebraska, alongside assistant coaches Oleksii Koltakov and Marissa King. Bacskay first met Canqueteau-Landi accidentally at a souvenir shop in the Olympic Village after she had already committed to Georgia, and Canqueteau-Landi attended Bacskay’s subdivision during qualifying.
While Canqueteau-Landi had not yet arrived on campus when most of the gymnasts returned during the summer because she was in Paris, there was still an excitement few on the team had felt before.
“The vibes were so good,” Smith said. “Everyone was happy. I mean, compared to last year, it’s different, I can’t really explain it. Even with the new coaches and the new transfers and freshmen coming in, everyone just came in with such a positive attitude and wanted to work hard from Day 1.
“And now, I already see so many improvements from where we were at this point last year. I’m so excited to show everyone what we’ve got and how hard we’ve been working.”
TO SAY THE expectations are high at Georgia would be a gross understatement.
Georgia doesn’t just have a gymnastics tradition — it is the literal benchmark for excellence in the sport at the collegiate level. The 10 NCAA championships — including five straight from 2005 through 2009 — are the most by any program in NCAA history. The 16 SEC championship titles and 42 individual NCAA titles are also records. Pictures, posters and banners line the wall of the team’s practice gym, and trophies and plaques are visible as soon as one enters the gymnastics facility, which is named after longtime head coach Suzanne Yoculan.
A five-time National Coach of the Year, Yoculan was at the helm for all 10 of the team’s NCAA titles, then retired following the 2009 season after 26 years on the job. Jay Clark, the then-associate head coach of the team and current head coach at LSU, was promoted, and it appeared at the time the team wouldn’t miss a beat.
But that’s not exactly what happened.
During Clark’s first season as head coach, the GymDogs missed the NCAA championships for the first time since 1983. After three seasons, in which the team finished in a disappointing third place at the SEC championships every year, Clark resigned.
“I’ve been blessed to spend almost my whole life at the University of Georgia,” Clark said at the time. “It’s a sad time, but the program will continue and I wish it all the success in the world. I love the university. I love the kids. I love Athens. I really enjoyed my time here. I came here as a student and never really left, so it hurts to walk away from something that’s been such a big part of my life for so long.”
He was replaced by Danna Durante. While she guided the team back to the “Super Six,” the final meet of the NCAA season (which is now limited to four teams), the team’s results remained mediocre compared to its former glory. She was fired following the 2017 season.
Then Georgia turned to Kupets Carter. During her time as a student-athlete from 2006 through 2009, the team was unstoppable and she was a large reason. Kupets Carter, a two-time Olympic medalist, helped the team win the title every year during her run, and also claimed nine individual NCAA titles, including three all-around. A student assistant coach with the team in 2010 under Clark, there was undeniable enthusiasm for the hire.
“I don’t know that anyone that’s at another school who’s a really great head coach wants to come to Georgia, where there’s a dynasty here. They want to create their own,” Yoculan, who was brought back as a volunteer assistant, said during the introductory news conference. “Courtney can create her own, but it’s part of her own.”
But there would be no new dynasty. And as the team struggled, and Kupets Carter tried to find her identity as head coach, she began to sever connections to the teams of the past, according to some around the program. Former gymnasts weren’t included in ways they had previously had, and Yoculan left her role after two seasons. Howard said Yoculan had been prohibited by Kupets Carter from even speaking to members of the team the previous two years.
“She didn’t want anyone interfering,” Howard said. “I reached out to [Yoculan] myself, just because I wanted her motivation and advice. But we weren’t supposed to talk to her.”
During Kupets Carter’s reign, the GymDogs compiled a 38-60 regular-season record. The team hasn’t reached the NCAA championships since 2019, and its fourth-place finish at the SEC championships that season was its best result during the Kupets Carter era.
“These are always difficult decisions, but this one was especially tough because of what Courtney and her family mean to the University of Georgia,” Brooks, the athletic director, said in a statement announcing her dismissal. “She is among the greatest Bulldog student-athletes of all time, and her many accomplishments and accolades will be remembered for years to come. At this time, we feel it is in the best interest of our gymnastics program to make a change in leadership as we pursue SEC and national championships.”
The vacancy sparked countless rumors online about who would take over the position, with some speculating Clark might return after leading LSU to its first NCAA title. Other names circulating included Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber, the head coach at Arkansas, and former Georgia star and current LSU assistant Courtney McCool Griffeth, but few if any seemed to have Canqueteau-Landi on their radar.
But, as it turned out, Canqueteau-Landi had been contemplating a move to the NCAA ranks for the past several years and had even been in the mix for an Alabama assistant job when Roberts was working in the same role for the Crimson Tide. She always knew collegiate gymnastics was where she wanted to be following her days working at the elite level.
“There were other opportunities but they didn’t feel right,” Canqueteau-Landi said. “And I just didn’t feel quite finished in a way with the club career, so I wasn’t ready to do it. At first I told Ryan, ‘Oh no, I can’t do this now’ but then we started talking about his vision. He reminded me a lot of [Canqueteau-Landi’s husband and co-coach at WCC] Laurent in his coaching style and I thought we could be a really good pair.”
Her daughter Juliette had already committed to dive at Auburn — just a three-hour drive away and a frequent SEC opponent — starting in the fall of 2025. And Canqueteau-Landi felt she’d already taken a far greater risk than this one when she moved from her native France to Oklahoma in her early 20s while speaking minimal English. She relished the idea of being able to turn around the program, and said she thrived when people doubted her. She accepted the job before the school could even formally fly her out.
“When we took over WCC and we started coaching Simone, everybody was waiting for us in the corner to fail,” she said. “I was told so many times when I was an athlete that I was not going to be able to make it. I wasn’t good enough. When I moved [to the U.S.] with my two suitcases, everyone was like, ‘You’re not going to make it, you’re going to come back.’
“But here I am, 20 years later. I think this is really the same thing. There are some people who really want to see Georgia back on top but others hope we don’t do as well. I use that as motivation.”
IT’S BEEN 15 YEARS since Georgia last won an NCAA championship.
Few members of the current roster were probably even aware of college gymnastics during that run in 2009, or in the dominating years before.
But none of that seems to matter on a cloudy Thursday in November as the team gathers in the practice gym for a television promotional shoot. One by one, each gymnast — with Instagram-worthy hair and makeup and TikTok-approved dance moves — spends several minutes filming in front of a white inflatable backdrop with a series of bright lights surrounding the temporary set. There are wide smiles and toe points, hair flips and snippets of beam choreography, and lots (and lots) of cheering from other teammates off-camera.
The clips will be used on TV throughout the season during meets, and all those on the team are aware fans will be watching their every move.
But instead of being daunted by the attention, they seem excited for it. And they want every opportunity — whether it’s a five-second video clip or a meet against an SEC rival — to show how hard they’re working to turn things around.
“We want people to know that we’re hungry, we’re ready, we’re coming after it,” Wahl said. “We’re on the up and something truly great is in the works.”
According to Wahl, that “something great” started at a team retreat at a rented cabin on Lake Oconee in August. During the getaway, the team grew close with various bonding activities. Soon after getting back to campus, everyone, coaches included, took part in an individual assessment which gave a detailed look at each person’s distinct personalities, what they needed to succeed and how they can best work together.
Roberts, who came up with the idea of implementing the assessment, explained that the results have helped “mitigate anything preemptively” in terms of how people interact and perceive one another. Wahl said it opened her eyes as to the different ways various teammates respond to situations and how to support one another. For Eaker, who had been away from the sport for nearly a year before returning for practice, it helped create a safe environment and allowed her to have an open dialogue with both her teammates and coaches.
“It’s such a feeling of relief,” Eaker said. “To not be scared to talk to the coaches about what’s hurting [physically] or just not being at your best every day. Ryan even says, ‘You’re not going to be at 100% everyday, everyone has an off day.’ It’s exactly what I needed.”
And it has allowed Roberts and the rest of the coaching staff to know how to best push each gymnast in the practice gym. While fans are focused on results, Roberts said they purposely avoid talking about the big picture and are instead focused on simply being the best they can be.
“We value the process,” Roberts said. One of our big goals is to hit 24-for-24 every meet. If we do that, we’re probably going to do pretty well and the results will come. During the last few years we’ve been good in practice but we just haven’t been able to execute exactly how we need to in the meets, so that execution is something we’re focused on. We’re just keeping it simple, we can’t control the scores, so all we can do is control our execution and just try to get better every single day.”
The team has put a greater emphasis on conditioning and has spent a significant amount of time in the weight room. Roberts has tried to make sure every gymnast and their family feel connected to the program and the coaching staff. Same goes for former members of the team. He called the process of getting them back involved a “reintroduction.”
In Howard’s mind, everything has changed for the better. She said the alumni have been back around after being mostly absent during her first two years. She guessed she now has a relationship with at least 10 of them. And Yoculan has been around more too. Howard said she’s stopped by during some intrasquad events and Canqueteau-Landi calls her frequently.
“I want to know what she did, how she did it in the past and what was important to her,” Canqueteau-Landi said. “She’s done so much, she created this program, so I wanted her help. I want her guidance. I want her knowledge.”
In a conference stacked with talent — six teams were ranked in the top 10 of the preseason coaches’ poll — it remains to be seen if Georgia will be able to reclaim its status on top. But they’re certainly having fun trying.
Smith, who said she never considered transferring despite the turmoil at the end of last season and was the team’s lone representative at the 2024 NCAA championships, believes the best is yet to come.
“We have our eye on the prize, which is nationals,” Smith said. “We come in here every single day, giving a hundred percent even on the hard days, and we’re ready to have a great season and show people what Georgia gymnastics is all about. We are going to prove ourselves. Just wait.”
