{"id":12460,"date":"2026-06-30T10:41:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=12460"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:30","slug":"from-competitor-to-coach-danny-varnadore-spurs-on-the-next-generation-of-rodeo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2026\/06\/30\/from-competitor-to-coach-danny-varnadore-spurs-on-the-next-generation-of-rodeo\/","title":{"rendered":"From Competitor to Coach: Danny Varnadore Spurs on the Next Generation of Rodeo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Danny Varnadore (\u201911, \u201915) has a unique office at South Georgia State College, just a short drive from the Florida border. As the head coach of the college\u2019s new rodeo club, his days are spent in barns more often than in classrooms. His journey from professional bull rider to college coach is a winding tale with many twists and turns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBull riding is a challenge because it\u2019s not something a man\u2019s supposed to do,\u201d Varnadore said. \u201cIt\u2019s an adrenaline rush, like nothing else you\u2019ve ever done before in your life. When you are a 135-pound man getting on a 1,800-pound bull, and trying to conquer the beast, it\u2019s something that you want to do again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in Waycross, Georgia, Varnadore had experience riding horses, but had never been on a bull before. As a teenager in the 1990s, he watched the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) championships and listened as the commentators called out the names of riders and their techniques as they battled to stay on top of angry bulls. He begged his parents to let him give it a try. A month before he turned 16, he got his chance. With little training or practice, Varnadore climbed onto the back of a bull for a competition. He gripped the braided rope wrapped around the bull\u2019s back and took a deep breath. The gate opened, and Varnadore shot out into the arena with more than 1,000 pounds of muscle and bone trying to knock him off. A live crowd watched him get whipped and tossed around, cheering and calling his name. As he completed his ride and felt his boots hit the dirt, Varnadore knew he was hooked on riding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the very few things that you can do, and you will know immediately, \u2018this is not for me\u2019 or \u2018that was awesome. Can we do it again?\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cFor me, this was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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He threw himself into training and began his rise in the professional ranks. Varnadore abandoned the bachelor\u2019s degree he was pursuing and set his sights on a PBR title. He made the finals two years in a row, placing in the top 15 at both events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing from southeast Georgia, we\u2019re not supposed to go and compete against the Texas and the Oklahoma guys,\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cI thought to myself, \u2018I\u2019m not supposed to be here anyway, so I\u2019m going to give it a shot and see what happens.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varnadore competed in rodeo events across the country, preparing for the 2001 championship. He was excited heading into a competition in Columbus, Georgia, because many of his friends and family would be able to see him in action. He was scheduled to ride a notorious bull known for violently ejecting riders who dared to challenge him. No one had been able to successfully ride the bull for the eight seconds required to earn a score in competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew it was going to be a fight,\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cI was just trying to figure out a way to keep from being another victim. Come to find out, I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varnadore strapped on his padded vest and mounted his opponent, focusing as the bull shuffled beneath him. As the gate opened, the cheers of the home state crowd faded, and the animal did something it had never done before. Instead of tossing Varnadore around, it threw him onto the ground and charged, fracturing two of Varnadore\u2019s vertebrae and causing a slipped disc in his spine. In a twist of fate, a final stomp from the bull pushed Varnadore\u2019s herniated disc back into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe weighed 2,450 pounds,\u201d remembered Varnadore. \u201cNot all of the weight was on me because it was just one leg, but it felt like it because he knocked every ounce of air that I had in my lungs out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miraculously, Varnadore was able to rise from the arena floor and walk to the medical team. An evaluation that night revealed that he would not require surgery, but he would need a neck brace. After seven months of rest, he returned to the competition circuit and tried to regain his position in the championship chase. What he hoped would be a comeback story for the ages came crashing down when another injury sidelined him. Varnadore began to think about the toll the rodeo life was taking on his body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a couple of friends, one was a world champion, and another was a strong contestant, and both of them had neck injuries and ended up paralyzed,\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cIf it could happen to them, it could happen to anybody else. I realized that I probably just dodged a bullet, and this should be a wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After retiring from the sport, the bull rider settled into family life. He bought a farm, became a father and returned to college. He enrolled at Georgia Southern University\u2019s Armstrong Campus and earned a bachelor\u2019s in physical education, then became a Double Eagle with a master\u2019s in kinesiology. Varnadore was happy to find programs that allowed him to pursue his passion for teaching active lifestyles to others. The support and guidance he received from his professors helped him chart the next trail his life would follow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe experiences I gained through coursework and keeping up with professors helped me and set me up to be ready to teach at a college level,\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cIf I had not done that, I would not be able to be an instructor right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He taught and coached in Ware County public schools, but he never lost his love for rodeo. Wanting to share the gift of education with the next generation of rodeo enthusiasts, a year ago, Varnadore presented the idea of starting a rodeo club at South Georgia State College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always wanted to go back and coach at college rodeo, and when the opportunity came along, I just knew this was something our kids could use locally and regionally,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to be able to give back and share my experience and my story to encourage kids to make the right decision by getting your degree so you have something to fall back on. I thought I was going to win the world, and the next thing I knew, my final goals were not my original ones. You don\u2019t want to be scrambling for your next option in life like I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varnadore is proud that his rodeo club brings in students who might not have considered college in the first place. He approaches his lessons in rodeo skills as an opportunity to share a broader perspective on life with his students. He believes they can achieve their dreams, even if those dreams change as they eventually find their place in life after rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of them are in college because they want to pursue their dreams of going to the college nationals or being a national champion,\u201d said Varnadore. \u201cI see potential, and I see motivation in them because they have a goal of what they want to do. I don\u2019t know if, at this point, they understand that earning a degree will greatly benefit them in the long run. I just know they have potential, and I can help them put that where it needs to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the sun sets on a long day spent traveling the unpaved corners of Georgia, Varnadore puts saddles and spurs back in their lockers, ready for another group of students tomorrow. The grunts of cattle and horses fade behind him as he heads home to his own family. Even when he is away from the livestock, Varnadore carries the lessons of rodeo with him, always hoping his students find the same inspiration he did in the arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese kids have huge discipline because they wake up in the morning, they feed their horses, go to the gym, or whatever it is they have to take care of,\u201d he said. \u201cRodeo is just like life; it\u2019s a struggle daily. There are going to be ups and downs. You\u2019re going to win; you\u2019re going to lose. But it teaches you to get back up because you\u2019re never really out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Billy Tyson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Danny Varnadore (\u201911, \u201915) has a unique office at South Georgia State College, just a short drive from the Florida border. As the head coach of the college\u2019s new rodeo club, his days are spent in barns more often than in classrooms. His journey from professional bull rider to college coach is a winding tale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[91,92],"class_list":["post-12460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-fall-2025","tag-spring-2026"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t