’19 NCAA Offseason: Head Coach Hires Trickling In, Assistant Positions Open

Within about two weeks of the conclusion of the 2018-2019 NCAA swimming & diving championship season, there were more than 10 Division I head coaching positions available. Now just over a month removed, those positions are slowly being filled. But at the same time, a number of big-time assistant and associate head coach positions have been vacated, long with a few more head coach jobs.

Below, we’ve laid out the current state of major Division I openings, as far as we know.

Head Coaches

• The carousel began turning with the resignation of Cleveland State head coach Paul Graham a week before the Horizon League Championships.
• Southern Illinois head coach Rick Walker retired after 32 years at the helm of the Salukis’ program. His decision was announced in early February, though he finished out the season.
• Saint Francis University coach Kyle Almoney resigned on February 20th.
• In late February, Youngstown State head coach Ryan Purdy stepped down after he and the school couldn’t agree to terms on a contract for him to take over the newly-announced men’s program, in addition to his existing duties with the women’s team.
  • Former Binghamton University head coach Brad Smith was announced as the new Youngstown coach in late April.
• With Smith’s move, the head coach job at Binghamton is now open.
• Colgate coach Andy Waeger resigned from his position at Colgate after the team’s conference championship meet. He was there for 5 seasons.
  • Colgate announced Villanova assistant Edward Pretre (also the former head coach at Truman State) as its new head coach Monday afternoon.
• UNC head coach Rich DeSelm announced his resignation on March 4th, after a cancer diagnosis. We’ve heard rumors that the university is considering splitting the program into male and female teams. Interviews have been conducted, and an announcement should be coming soon.
• Evansville parted ways with head coach Brent Noble in mid-March after just 1 season.
  • Evansville hired Nitro Swimming’s Stu Wilson as head coach last week.
• Matt Bos resigned as the head coach at IUPUI in late March after his wife took a big job in Minnesota.
• Chris Ip was announced as ‘out’ at Brown, without explanation, in late March.
• On April 1st, C. Robb Orr announced his retirement after 40 years at the helm of the Princeton men. The rumor on this one is that the school is not leaning toward combining programs.
• Alabama head coach Dennis Pursley announced his retirement on April 10th.
  • Indiana University associate head sprint coach Coley Stickels got the Alabama job last week.
• Gardner-Webb, where Scott Teeters spent just 1 season as the head coach, is again looking to fill the position.
• Illinois State head coach Scott Cameron resigned in April after four seasons to pursue other opportunities.
  • ISU named Indiana University assistant Caitlin Hamilton is new head coach May 13.
• Stanford men’s head coach Ted Knapp stepped down in April after 35 years with the program. Stanford people tell us that NC State head coach Braden Holloway is the school’s top target, but there’s been no indication if he’s interested or not. Holloway says he’s staying at NC State.

Assistant coaches

• The University of Arizona parted ways with assistants Cory Chitwood and Beth Botsford last month.
• IU is also seeking two new assistants with the departure of both Stickels and assistant sprint coach Kirk Grand last month.
• The Cal women’s team is without an assistant as Sarah Dunleavy is leaving the sport to pursue other interests.
• Tennessee assistant Christian Hanselmann announced in early April he is heading back to club swimming.