In his third year as the pole vault coach (2024-25) Mitchell led Cody Johnston to be the Big Ten Outdoor Champion in the pole vault with his voided meet record clearance of 5.64m (18-6). Johnston is the program's first event champion in 31 years. A month later at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Johnston earned his second-consecutive First-Team NCAA Outdoor All-America honor being the first Illini man to achieve this feat in 36 years (Dean Starkey, 1988-89). Mia Morello also earned First-Team All-American status at this meet, 4.39m (14-4 3/4), under Mitchell's guidance. 

During the indoor season both Tori Thomas, 4.40m (14-5 1/4) and Johnston, 5.61m (18-4 3/4), were First-Team All-Americans at the NCAA Indoor Championships. 

Mitchell's second season (2023-24) he coached Thomas to a Big Ten Outdoor Championship title in the pole vault with a new meet and school record mark of 4.52m (14-10). She qualified to her second-straight NCAA Outdoor Championships and earned All-America honors with her seventh-place finish, 4.40m (14-5 1/4). She took third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn All-American status in both seasons for 2024. 

He coached Johnston to take second at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and earn All-American status at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with his fifth-place finish, 5.52m (18-1 1/4). Johnston is the first-ever freshman All-American in the pole vault in Illinois history. 

His first season (2022-23) was highlighted by leading Thomas to a NCAA Outdoor Championships qualification in the pole vault and she took second at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, 4.36m (14-3 1/2). 

Dennis Mitchell comes to Illinois from Akron and he will coach the pole vault. He has been Head Coach of the Akron men’s and women’s track and field/cross country teams since 1995. He grew the program from bottom of the conference to top overall in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Four years after his hire in 1999, the women’s team earned the school’s first ever outright MAC title when they won the outdoor championships. Since then, the school has seen a plethora of successes.

Mitchell led the squads to 35 MAC team titles and produced nine individual NCAA National Champions with six athletes. Akron was one of five programs that had individuals win national outdoor titles four years straight (2014-17). His teams finished in the top 25 10 times from 2011-19. Also, his teams finished in the top ten at the NCAA Championships twice.

He is a 33-time MAC and seven-time Great Lakes Region USTFCCCA Head Coach of the Year. He is the only coach in MAC History to win all four track and field titles in one year (2017). During the 2005-06 season, Akron became the first women’s program in MAC history to win the triple crown (indoor, outdoor and cross-country title).

On the Olympic front three of his athletes participated in 2016 and three more in 2020. The most notable being 2016 800m bronze medalists Clayton Murphy. He also produced 2015 World Champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber.

Prior to Akron Mitchell spent four years at the University of North Carolina (UNC) as the men’s and women’s field event coordinator. Here he helped the men’s squad win its first ACC team title since 1955. He directly coached 11 All-American performances and 20 ACC individual titles.

Before UNC Mitchell got his start at the University of Texas. Here he was a men’s assistant field coach and he primarily coached the pole vaulters while assisting in hurdles. He helped Texas win Southwest Conference Titles in 1986 and 87.

Mitchell, a native of Rialto, California, graduated from Abilene Christian University (ACU) with his Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Government. While at ACU he was a national qualifier in the pole vault on the 1985 NCAA Division II championship team. He began his college career at the University of Utah where he was a two-time runner up in the pole vault at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.

Mitchell is making the move to Champaign with his wife Cindy. Cindy has graduated from the Leadership Akron program and is a graduate of the University of Akron. The couple has two sons; Matt and Chad (a graduate of Akron) and a trio of grandchildren.