FAYETTEVILLE — Rob Jarvis is traveling to Paris on Tuesday to be at the Olympics with triple jumper Russell Robinson.

Robinson, a former walk-on, won an NCAA indoor title this year and finished second at the United States Olympic Trials with Jarvis as his coach at the University of Miami.

When Jarvis returns home from the Olympics, he’ll start his new job as a men’s assistant at the University of Arkansas coaching field events.

Razorbacks Coach Chris Bucknam announced Jarvis’ hiring on Monday to replace Travis Geopfert, who left Arkansas to become head coach of the men’s and women’s programs at Kansas State.

Jarvis had been an assistant at Miami, coaching men’s and women’s field events, since 2017.

“We got the guy we wanted in Rob,” Bucknam said. “He’s going to be sorely missed at Miami and we feel we’re fortunate to add him to our program.”

Bucknam said with Geopfert taking the Kansas State job on July 11, it was important to hire a replacement in a timely manner.

“There are not a lot of people capable of doing this job because of its demands, and I had to move quickly,” said Bucknam, who since 2008 has led Arkansas to 2 NCAA championships, 26 top-10 finished and 32 SEC titles in cross country and track and field. “So it was a targeted search.

“I needed to find a guy who wanted to be here, who wasn’t afraid of the expectations and embraced the challenge and what’s required. Rob wants to build on those expectations and enhance them.”

Jarvis coached 33 All-Americans at Miami, including 2 NCAA championships and 3 national runner-ups, along with 13 ACC champions while helping the Hurricanes win three conference team titles. He was the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association South Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year for 2024.

Miami’s men’s team finished 10th at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, its highest finish ever, and jumpers coached by Jarvis scored 14 of the Hurricanes’ 22 points.

Bucknam said he didn’t previously know Jarvis personally, but had him on a short list of candidates should a job come open on his staff based on his work at Miami.

Calls from coaching friends who endorsed Jarvis for the job helped convince Bucknam he was the right hire.

“Coaches I know well and respect called unsolicited and said, ‘Hey, I think this guy would be good for your program. He’s a great competitor and he’s an Arkansas kind of guy,’ ” Bucknam said. “That was what I wanted to hear.”

Bucknam said a conversation with Amy Deem — head coach of Miami’s men’s and women’s teams — helped seal the deal to hire Jarvis.

“Amy is someone in our industry who is elite,” Bucknam said. “She’s a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame person.

“If Rob was in that Miami program for as long as he was, that means there’s something special about him.”

Jarvis began his coaching career at Azusa Pacific, an NAIA program in California where he was an assistant from 2005-10 overseeing sprints, hurdles, relays and combined events for the men and women. He helped Azusa Pacific win eight NAIA team titles and coached 11 individual national champions and 59 All-Americans.

Jarvis also coached at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and was a director of operations and volunteer assistant at UCLA.

As a college athlete, Jarvis played wide receiver for the San Diego State football team from 1997 to 1999 before he had to give up the sport because of a knee injury and concussion.

Awarded extra eligibility by the NCAA, Jarvis competed in track and field at Azusa Pacific from 2003 to 2005, serving as team captain each of those seasons. He was a member of two NAIA championship team titles in 2004 and 2005 and earned four All-American honors running on relays.

“I love the fact that the guy played football in college,” Bucknam said. “There’s just something about that football mentality I love. That toughness factor, and Rob will bring that to our coaching staff.

“He builds great relationships with the athletes, he’s a tireless recruiter, and he’s a coach with great technical knowledge and has a lot of positivity.”