Finding His Place - Feature
Always Been A Bear - Feature
JT Okada spent seven-and-a-half seasons as head coach of the Cal men's gymnastics team, starting in the 2018 season before stepping down in March 2025. Okada had previously served as an assistant coach for the Golden Bears over the previous five seasons before taking the helm.
Okada acted as head coach of the 2025 Golden Bears for the first two months of the season. In that time, he saw pommel horse specialist Aidan Li be named to the Canadian Senior National Team, while freshman teammate Matteo Bardana was selected for the Canadian Senior Next Gen National Team; Li was also named the CGA and MPSF Specialist of the Week in February, while Bardana received MPSF Freshman of the Week honors. Okada’s emphasis on academic excellence in his teams continued throughout his final season, as seven Bears were named MPSF All-Academic following the regular season.
In 2024, Okada’s Bears had their best performance yet at the NCAA Championships, posting their best overall finish (seventh) and highest team score at the NCAA Qualifier in that scoring era (407.158) while qualifying 10 to the final – the program’s most since 2015. Aidan Li, who later went on to become the Canadian pommel horse champion, notched his first-career All-American nod to become Cal’s first in the event since 2014. Jasper Smith-Gordon also picked up his second-straight Regular-Season All-American award. The Bears’ MPSF weekly award-winners included Theodor Roald Gadderud (Gymnast of the Week), Chris Scales (Specialist of the Week) and the trio of Carter Kim, Brendan Strom and Jaxon Mitchell (Freshman of the Week). In total, Cal posted four scores over 400 and set team program records in three events, plus 13 additional top 10s; individuals posted 15 program top-10 scores, including Li’s school record on pommel horse. The Bears continued to be outstanding in the classroom; 14 were named CGA Academic All-Americans (10 of them First-Teamers), while two of those – Noah Newfeld and Tyler Shimizu – were also honored as CSC Academic All-Americans and Smith Gordon picked up a CSC Academic All-District nod. In total, 11 Cal gymnasts – the most in the conference – were selected as MPSF All-Academic honorees.
The 2023 season saw Okada's Bears earn another trip to the NCAA Championships, finishing ninth as a team and fielding seven Finals qualifiers for the second straight year. Noah Newfeld appeared in his second straight Winter Cup, while Tyler Shimizu represented Cal at the Core Hydration Classic and at the U.S. Championships that summer. Freshman Khalen Curry set the program vault record in February; two weeks later, sophomore Jasper Smith-Gordon bettered that mark to earn co-CGA Rookie and Specialist of the Week as well as MPSF Specialist of the Week honors. Other weekly award-winners on the squad included senior Noah Sano (MPSF Specialist) and freshman Theodor Roald Gadderud (MPSF Freshman x 2). Both Newfeld and Smith-Gordon were named CGA Regular Season All-Americans, while Curry, Sano, Roald Gadderud, Chris Scales and Landon Wu notched All-MPSF nods. In total, Cal accumulated 13 individual program top-10 scores and six team top-10s. 11 members of the squad were named MPSF All-Academic; Lavanakul and Smith-Gordon also earned CSC Academic All-District Honors.
In the 2022 season, Okada helped lead Cal to yet another NCAA Championships appearance, where they finished ninth as a team. No fewer than seven qualifiers reached the Finals that year, including two freshmen. Star Noah Newfeld represented the Bears at the Winter Cup and the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, with teammate Noah Sano joining him in the latter event. Senior Yu-Chen Lee earned both CGA and MPSF Gymnast of the Week honors in late February after leading Cal to a season-high 401.150 total points. In total, 12 members of the team reached MPSF All-Academic status that year.
Navigating through unprecedented times during the COVID-19 global pandemic, Okada led the Golden Bears to their seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships, finishing with a national team ranking of No. 10. His leadership helped Caleb Rickard earn All-America honors at the national meet. Okada also produced the program's first national rookie of the year honor when Noah Newfeld was tabbed the CGA Rookie of the Year.
Prior to the 2020 season ending abruptly due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Okada guided his Bears to many accomplishments. The Bears set program records in three events - floor, parallel bars and vault, including notching the top three vault scores in school history. Individually, Okada helped Darren Wong set the school record on parallel bars and also guided the sophomore to an event victory on floor at the Pac-12 Invitational. Another of his pupils, 2021 team captain Caleb Rickard, was tabbed MPSF Gymnast of the Week in March. Academically, five Bears earned MPSF All-Academic honors.
In 2019, for the sixth consecutive season, Cal found itself in the NCAA competition finishing 11th in the nation. The Bears upward trajectory throughout the year was highlighted by a pair of 400-plus team scores for the first time since 2017. Under Okada's tutelage, breakout freshman Darren Wong earned a pair of MPSF Gymnast of the Week nods and a CGA Rookie of the Week honor. He finished the regular season ranked sixth in the country with a team-high 80.117 average score in the all-around competition. The Bears culminated the year with seven MPSF All-Academic honorees.
In Okada's first season at the helm in 2018, the Bears advanced to their fifth consecutive trip to the national stage and in one year's time, the Bears more than doubled their number of entries to the NCAA Championship individual finals. Seven Cal gymnasts advanced to the culminating session after just three Bears qualified a season ago. At the NCAA meet, Cal produced a pair of All-Americans in senior Yordan Aleksandrov and sophomore Kyte Crigger.
Okada, who was officially named head coach on May 2, 2017, came to the Golden Bears with several years of coaching experience to his name as a competitive gymnastics instructor for Golden Bear & Head Over Heels Gymnastics. There he coached gymnasts in preparation for college gymnastics. He has also served as the sport psychology coordinator for Cal Athletics and works with a variety of sports and athletes.
Okada graduated from Cal in May 2009 with a degree in anthropology and holds a Master’s in Kinesiology from San Francisco State.
Okada has coached a variety of national and international team members for USA, Canada, Bulgaria and more recently served as the South Africa men's gymnastics head coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics
