Michigan State University Athletics
Rachel Inniss Named Assistant Gymnastics Coach
6/3/2026 10:30:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Rachel Inniss has been named an assistant coach for Michigan State gymnastics, head coach Mike Rowe announced Wednesday.Â
An experienced coach in the Big Ten Conference, Inniss joins the Spartans after spending the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach at Illinois. Prior to her time with the Illini, she served as an assistant coach at Penn State for five seasons.Â
"Having Rachel join our staff will be a huge asset to our program," said Rowe. "Her own personal dance background has proven successful on both floor and beam, truly speaking for itself, and her ability to connect with our student-athletes while developing championship-level performances makes her an exceptional coach. We are excited about the impact she will have on our student-athletes and the continued growth of Michigan State gymnastics."Â
At Illinois, Inniss helped produce four NCAA Regionals qualifiers and led sophomore Chloe Cho to a second-consecutive All-Big Ten First Team selection in 2026. Cho also finished the season ranked inside the top 10 nationally on bars and in the all-around.Â
Penn State made four NCAA Regionals appearances as a team during Inniss' five seasons (2021-25), including a fourth-place finish in the Ann Arbor Regional Final in 2024. Across her five seasons, four gymnasts combined for seven All-Big Ten honors, three gymnasts qualified as individuals to the NCAA Championships and one gymnast was named an All-American at the national championships. In 2024, Kalea McElligott was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Ava Piedrahita was tabbed as the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Northeast Region Co-Gymnast of the Year.Â
Inniss was part of Penn State's staff that earned WCGA Northeast Region Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2024.Â
Prior to Penn State, Inniss spent two seasons at Temple, where she helped lead the Owls to back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships in 2019 and 2020 while working with the beam and floor teams. She was named the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019 and coached the 2019 and 2020 ECAC Gymnast of the Year in addition to both the 2019 ECAC Rookie and Specialist of the Year. Â
"The opportunity to join Michigan State and compete on a stage like this is something I'm extremely honored by," said Inniss. "I'm grateful to Mike (Rowe) for believing in me and for the confidence he's shown throughout this process. The culture, tradition and standard of excellence here speak for themselves. I'm excited to embrace the challenge, contribute however I can and help keep this program moving forward. I can't wait to get to East Lansing and get to work."Â
Inniss competed as a gymnast at Auburn from 2008-11, where she won an NCAA Regional floor title in 2010 en route to an individual appearance on the event at the NCAA Championships. After completing her collegiate career, she served as a student coach for one season with the Tigers before returning as a volunteer assistant from 2016-18. Before returning to Auburn in 2016, she spent four years as a professional dancer at Walt Disney World.Â
Inniss also has experience in operations, social media and creative management, fundraising and leotard design.Â
A native of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Inniss graduated from Auburn with a degree in public administration in 2012. She has a daughter, Charlotte.Â
