Meet the Coaches

Katie Doman started her college coaching career at University of Idaho in the Spring of 2012 as an assistant coach. Eventually, she was hired as the Head Coach of the Vandal Spirit program in the Fall of 2016. When Doman started coaching, the program only had a co-ed cheer team; however, pushing for a more inclusive environment for students at U of I, she incorporated all-girl stunting and the Vandal Gems (dance team).

Katie's collegiate cheer career started at the University of Washington, where she was member of the cheer team her freshman and sophomore years. She then transferred to U of I and joined the co-ed team to help cheer on the Vandals during her junior and senior years. Katie was also named dance leader for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

Before taking over the Vandal Spirit Program, Katie coached the Moscow High School Varsity teams from 2013 to 2016. While with the Bears, she led them to win three district championships.

Over the years, Katie has done choreography for various high school cheer and dance teams in Washington and Idaho. She prides herself on the research and work she puts into routines for coaches. As a result, these routines have helped several teams win district championships. She has also been a cheer and dance judge in the surrounding area, starting her judging career in the winter of 2007.

Katie grew up in Tacoma, WA, and graduated in 2004 from Cascade Christian High School. While in high school, she participated in competitive gymnastics, cross country, high school cheer and all-star cheerleading. Katie is a two-time U of I alumna. She graduated from her undergraduate studies in the Spring of 2012 in General Studies and recently graduated in the Spring of 2022 with her master’s degree in Adult, Organizational Learning and Leadership.

Dawson Murphy joined the Vandals in 2024 as an assistant cheerleading coach.

Dawson grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, graduating from Lewiston High School in 2016. As a varsity cheerleader each year of high school, Dawson helped lead the Bengals to the State Championships where they placed in several categories during his high school career. Additionally, Dawson was professionally trained in tumbling at 360 Gymnastics and Cheer.

Dawson’s collegiate cheerleading career started at Weber State University where he cheered and danced competitively for the Wildcats his freshman and sophomore year, capturing one NDA D1 Hip-Hop national title in 2017, and two NCA D1 Large Co-Ed national titles in 2017 and 2018. He later transferred to Utah Valley University and joined their D1 Small Co-Ed team for the remainder of his collegiate career.

Before joining the Vandals coaching staff, Dawson coached high school cheerleading for five years. In his high school coaching career, Dawson led his teams to qualify for state every year, capturing two state titles, and two top-15 placements at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships. Dawson was also a UCA Staff instructor for six years.

In addition to his position with Vandal Cheer, Dawson works as an account manager for Rebel Athletic, outfitting cheer teams across Idaho, Montana and Utah in all things cheerleading apparel. Dawson also owns a choreography business which, under his direction, choreographed four State Championship winning routines, seven top 5 state placing routines and four top 10 national placing routines in just two years of business!

Jordan French started coaching at University of Idaho in 2024 as a Vandal Spirit assistant coach, working primarily with the Vandal Gems Dance Team. Jordan has 26 years of dance experience and 12 years of teaching and coaching experience. Before joining the Vandal Spirit Squad staff as an assistant coach, Jordan served as a choreographer for the Gems for three years.

In college, Jordan was a 4-year member on the University of Washington Dance Team, where she served as a captain for three-of-four years in her collegiate career. While at UW, she danced on a global stage, representing the team and university in China, Mexico, Canada, on stage with Brad Paisley, in addition to performing at multiple college football bowl games. After completing her undergraduate studies, she earned her Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs. During her graduate studies, Jordan transitioned into a coaching role at UW as a graduate assistant dance coach, eventually working her way up to later become the head dance coach for the Huskies.

While coaching at UW, Jordan brought the dance team to UDA Nationals for the first time in program history where they took home top-10 placements in the D1A hip hop category in three consecutive years. After coaching at UW, she continued her career as an instructor with various competitive dance studios around the state of Washington, and also pursued freelance choreography ventures for teams and studios across the country.

Since moving to Moscow, she has continued her freelance choreography work while transitioning back into collegiate coaching. She prides herself on continuing her dance education and staying up-to-date on the latest dance rules, regulations and trends.