Last April, immediately following the 2024 NCAA women’s gymnastics championships, Carly Dockendorf could, at long last, exhale.
Her first season as the head coach of Utah’s gymnastics program was over.
The Red Rocks had finished third overall, behind national champion LSU and national runner-up California. It was a familiar place as it was the fourth-consecutive year that Utah had finished third overall.
It was Dockendorf’s first time leading the program, though, with her having taken over in November 2023 after Tom Farden and Utah mutually agreed to part ways.
The third-place finish was notable for Dockendorf, a first-time head coach, made more so by the fact Utah had gone the entire 2024 season undermanned with its coaching staff with only three full-time coaches, as opposed to the NCAA-allowed four.
Standing on the floor of Dickies Arena, reflecting upon her first season leading Utah, Dockendorf was frank.
“Honestly, I just took this program over five months ago,” she told the Deseret News. “I’m really excited to be able to continue to grow with the program and grow with these athletes. I’m excited to have a summer and to have a preseason with, obviously, a different leadership style. I’m excited to have a full year (leading this team).”
Changes
Beyond excitement and optimism about the future of Utah gymnastics, though, Dockendorf knew then, nearly nine months ago, that she wanted to make some changes going forward. She knew that Utah wasn’t going to look the same under her direction as it did under previous coaching regimes.
“It is going to be different,” Dockendorf said. “It was different these last five months and it is going to continue to grow. It is going to be a change.”
Fast forward to today and things indeed look different ahead of the 2025 season for the Red Rocks, which officially begins Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Huntsman Center against Utah State.
Starting with Dockendorf herself.
Something of a “deer in headlights” last season, by her own admission, the Red Rocks’ head coach is much more assured of herself this year.
“Someone actually sent me a picture from this time last year at my first event (as head coach). Seeing that picture, I remember that I felt like I was just treading water. Just trying to figure it all out,” Dockendorf said. “I mean, you are always going to be learning. You are never going to feel like you totally understand everything.
“But I definitely feel like I have a much better idea of what we need to do, where we are at and where we need to go. And just for myself too. Not trying to figure out how to be a head coach in 30 days before season starts. So that feels really good.”
A better place
There is evidence, beyond words, that Dockendorf — and by extension Utah — is in a much better place ahead of this season.
For one, Utah has a complete coaching staff again, after adding Mike Hunger as an assistant coach.
The Red Rocks have, by and large, sung Hunger’s praises, as has Dockendorf.
“He is the vault GOAT,” Dockendorf said. “He is amazing. And also his personality. His demeanor is just so calm and passionate and supportive. He really works collaboratively with the athlete and that has been huge.”
More than Hunger’s addition, though, changes have been made at Utah during the offseason. Changes to long-held practices that Dockendorf and her staff believe will help Utah be better than ever this season, as quickly as possible too.
So long depth charts, hello regular competition

Traditionally, Utah has utilized depth charts on each event during the preseason — and season itself — to educate its gymnasts as to where they stand.
Those depth charts would be released in the fall, following the first intrasquad competition, and would reveal the top six gymnasts on each event, as well as the next six gymnasts on each event, ranked seven through 12.
Those depth charts are no longer a thing.
“We decided this year to not do that,” Dockendorf said.
The reason?
To encourage regular and ongoing competition, which will prevent some gymnasts from feeling they are boxed out of a lineup, while guaranteeing that no gymnasts feel like they have it made.
“We wanted everyone to show up and be the best they can every day, regardless of where they currently stand on the depth chart,” Dockendorf said. “Because where you are in November may not be where you are in January.”
The lineup for the season opener wasn’t revealed to the Red Rocks themselves until yesterday and Dockendorf made a point to emphasize that gymnasts who are in lineup spots against Utah State are not guaranteed those spots going forward. It is a one meet deal.
No more, no less.
“We’ve communicated to the team — this is going to be our best six (on each event) for Friday. This doesn’t mean this will be our best six for the reason of season. We have a lot of depth and will have a lot of opportunity to switch people out and give others opportunities to go and that is really what we are going to do. We are going to put up our best six at this point Friday and if we need to make changes for next week, we will.”
Dockendorf does expect that as the season progresses, lineups will stabilize; that certain gymnasts will lock down lineup spots.
For now though, the 24 lineup spots are up for grabs.
“I know everyone is anxiously waiting to see what those look like,” Dockendorf said.
No more captains, leadership by all
Another thing that Dockendorf and company have elected to do away with is team captains. Or even a leadership council.
Any sort of traditional leadership structure amid the team itself really.
Instead, the team has leadership pods, three in total, that combine to include every member of the team.
Which is to say that everyone on the team has a voice right now, an unusual occurrence that Dockendorf wanted for two reasons.
“We felt like it was important to do two things,” she said. “Number one, develop our younger student-athletes into being leaders, because with the Graces, Mailes, Abbys, Jaylenes and Amelies, all those (gymnasts) who have left or are leaving our program, we really needed to start developing some of the younger girls into those positions.”
The second purpose, Dockendorf said, was to allow gymnasts to be involved in ways they hadn’t been previously. Dockendorf believes her team is replete with leaders, across classes, and in the traditional format that involved captains, many would go unheard.
Not anymore, though.
“It has been amazing,” Dockendorf said. “We have people who have been speaking up and bringing ideas to the table that we wouldn’t have gotten (the chance to) if they weren’t a designated captain. So the leadership pods have been really powerful and impactful to our program.”
Senior Amelie Morgan agrees.
“Everyone has their own experiences, their own way. Even the freshman have experiences that they can bring to the team. It doesn’t matter your age. You have so much to give,” she said. “Especially this year, everyone is a leader. We don’t have captains and I really love that concept, because I feel like it gives everyone the confidence to speak up and (offer) input. I think that has been really helpful to our team this year, getting everyone’s perspective and having everyone feel they have just as much of a voice on this team as anyone else.”
Will the changes pay off?
Dockendorf wasn’t shy after the Red Rocks Preview about the aspirations of the 2025 Red Rocks.
Namely they want to do better than finish third at the national championships, after four straight years of it.
National titles have always been the goal at Utah, though the drought is 25 years now, and that hasn’t changed.
How to go about getting there is changing under Dockendorf though. And her hope is that the changes made will be for the better.
“I’d really like to see the team build off our preseason and where we were at (the) Red Rocks Preview,” Dockendorf said. “... This is an exciting team. We have some big skills, some new faces and a ton of talent. And a team that is just hungry to have a big season.”
