By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
Almost all of the head coaching positions have been filled in the last month, with the biggest flood coming at the end of US Olympic Trials. With just over a month to go before most schools start, 4 positions are open at the moment.
PROGRAMS THAT STILL HAVE A HEAD COACHING POSITION OPEN (AS OF THE AFTERNOON OF JULY 14TH):
- Cal Poly: Phil Yoshida was placed on a leave of absence at the start of the 2023-2024 season and the athletes have now been informed that he will not return to his position.
- Incarnate Word: After one season under Reed Robelot, UIW is in search of a new head coach.
- Xavier: Brent MacDonald became the next head coach of West Virginia after spending 18 seasons with Xavier.
- Hawaii: Mike Stephens left the program to join the Stanford men as the associate head coach. Stephens arrived in fall 2022 after previously spending time as head coach at Boston College.
PROGRAMS THAT HAVE ALREADY FILLED THEIR HEAD COACHING POSITIONS:
- Texas: Eddie Reese retired and Bob Bowman took over with the announcement coming just two days after the Arizona State men won the 2024 NCAA title
- Arizona State: Soon after Bowman left to head to Texas, Herbie Behm was promoted from associate head coach to new head coach of the Sun Devils
- Bowling Green: Rickey Perkins did not have his contract renewed this offseason. The position was filled by Tanner Barton who most recently was head coach at Division III John Carroll University in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
- Toledo: Brie Globig was “relieved” as head coach and the position has now been filled by Jacy Dyer who was most recently the head coach of Fairfield (see open position above). Dyer graduated from Toledo in 2011.
- St Thomas (Minnesota): Matt Bos was hired as head coach on March 27th. St Thomas moved from Division III to Division I during the 2021-2022 season.
- Iowa State: Head coach Duane Sorenson led the team for 27 years and announced his retirement. The school is home to a women’s-only program. The program hired Matt Leach from Washington State.
- BYU: Shari Skabelund announced her retirement after leading BYU for 37 seasons. Skabelund was one of few women to lead a Power 5 men’s and women’s program. The position has been filled by Tamber McAllister who was previously an assistant coach under Skabelund.
- Texas A&M: With the retirement of head women’s swimming coach Steve Bultman, the school announced that it would combine the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. The school hired Virginia associate head coach Blaire Bachman as the school’s first Director of swimming.
- Fordham: After spending the season as interim head coach, Tom Wilkens was announced as permanent head coach.
- Illinois State: After head coach Caitlin Hamilton departed for Kentucky, Sean Sullivan was named interim head coach. The program has since hired Riley Hilbrandt who was most recently and assistant at East Carolina.
- Penn State: After head coach Tim Murphy spent most of the season on an unspecified leave of absence, the school announced that they would not renew his contract. Hollie Bonewit-Cron was named the next head coach of the program after most recently being the head coach of Miami-OH.
- West Virginia: Vic Riggs resigned from his position after 17 seasons with the program as he took over in 2007. Brent MacDonald arrived after most recently spending time as head coach of Xavier in the Big East.
- Evansville: Stuart Wilson stepped down to pursue other professional opportunities after spending five seasons with Evansville. Toby Wilcox enters his second stint as head coach at UE after most recently spending time as head coach of Birmingham Southern.
- Arizona: The school let go of head coach Augie Busch after he spent seven seasons with the team. UNLV’s Ben Loorz took the job to become the team’s next head coach.
- George Mason: Jamie Greenwood was promoted to permanent head coach after spending the 2023-2024 season as interim head coach.
- Washington State: Matt Leach left the program to take the head coaching job with Iowa State. Russell Whitaker was hired as the program’s next head coach after previously being the program’s Director of Operations and assistant coach this past season.
- Georgia Southern: Allyson Sweeney stepped down from her head coaching position after two years with the Eagles. The program hired Morgan McCafferty as the next head coach.
- Boston College: The Boston College staff will look entirely different this fall as the school parted ways with the staff in January after hazing allegations surfaced last September. 5-time Olympian Dara Torres was hired to take over the programs.
- Manhattan: Manhattan hired Brian Hansbury from the club level to become the team’s next head coach.
- UMass: The UMass women will be led by Maiya Otsuka after spending 9 years as an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s programs.
- Cleveland State: Head coach Hannah Burandt resigned from her position after spending five seasons with the school. Trent Richardson was promoted from assistant to head coach.
- George Washington: Head coach Brian Thomas departed the program at the beginning of May. Georgia Tech’s Chico Rego was announced as the program’s next head coach.
- UNLV: Ben Loorz left the program to become the next head coach of Arizona. Pat Oza was promoted from associate head coach to head coach of the teams.
- Fairfield: Jacy Dyer left the program to become the new head coach of Toledo (See below). Dyer spent two years at Fairfield. Jake Lichter joined the program after most recently being at Cornell.
- Miami-OH: Hollie Bonewit-Cron took the job as head coach of Penn State after eight seasons with Miami-OH. Samantha Pitter left Pitt to become the head coach of Miami.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: A Summary Of Current Open Division I Head Coaching Positions (July Update)