Coach Jim Newkirk built the Tennessee Tech rifle program into one of the top collegiate programs in the nation, winning the fist three NCAA national championships in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Newkirk made the perennial national contender of the Golden Eagleyes, making them THE dominant team in the country during the early 1980s.

Newkirk’s rifle teams are the only Tech teams to capture a national championship. In additions, the Golden Eagleyes were ranked in the top five in the nation every year under his direction

The Morristown, N.J. native died in February, 1989, and was posthumously given the Award for Outstanding Service to Collegiate Shooting Sports by the National Rifle Association. The 1989 NCAA championship was dedicated to Newkirk.

Prior to coming to Tech, he served in the U.S. Army’s 25^th Infantry Division in Hawaii, which was preceded by a stint as rifle coach at Norwich University in Vermont. He earned his B.S. degree from Hawaii-Pacific in 1972. In addition to his coaching duties, Newkirk also served as a sergeant major in the Tech department of military science until his retirement from the Army in 1982.

An outstanding instructor in the techniques of riflery, Newkirk was also known as a successful recruiter and administrator. One of his shooters, Elaine Proffitt, was a member of Tech’s 1980 national championship team and thus became the first female competitor to win an award in an NCAA championship (NCAA didn’t sponsor women’s athletics until 1982).

During his decade as the Golden Eagleye coach, Newkirk’s shooters won more than two dozen All-America awards, three national team championships, three national individual championships, and an Olympic Gold Medal.