LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer has announced his retirement after spending 20 seasons with the Tigers. The team made the announcement via Instagram and press release on Thursday April 14, 2022.
“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as LSU’s diving coach,” Shaffer said in the school’s press release. “I have been blessed to work with remarkable and talented student-athletes, and I’m humbled by the results and growth that has unfolded from the fruits of their labor and belief in themselves.”
“My time at LSU has been an incredibly rewarding and enriching experience. I can’t begin to put into words the appreciation I have for the support of the administration, staff, fellow coaches, and the student-athletes who make up the LSU family. These relationships will last a lifetime. But with 51 years in the sport and 27 as a collegiate coach, it’s time to pass the torch. Moving forward I have a healthy to-do list which first and foremost will focus on my family while continuing to support LSU Athletics in any way I can. Geaux Tigers!”
Shaffer has been an impactful coach for the LSU diving squad. In 2022, Shaffer was named the SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year. At the 2022 Men’s SEC Championships, diving made up 149 of LSU’s 505 points. The men were highlighted by Hernandez who won both the 1 and 3 meter springboard events.
On the women’s side at 2022 SECs, diving scored 293 of the team’s 541 total points. The women divers made up five of the team’s seven highest scorers.
He also coached six divers who qualified for NCAAs this past season. The women’s side had four divers at 2022 NCAAs scoring a total of eight points. The men’s side had two divers highlighted by third-place finishes by Juan Hernandez on the 1 and 3 meter springboard events.
Prior to this past season, Shaffer coached a program-best of four male divers to the 2017 NCAA Championships. Shaffer was awarded SEC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year in 2017 as well as SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year in 2008.
The LSU program as a whole will now have relatively new head coaches next season as head swimming coach Rick Bishop will be beginning his second season in the fall.
Is this the same Doug Shaffer that attended Ohio State a LONG time ago and hung out with John Wilson? Water fights with Chem hoses, racing around the dorm on our hands…
Enjoy your bass and trout fishing
Congratulations Doug! You had a full career as a diver at Mission Viejo, UCLA and as a coach at UCLA, Minnesota and LSU. I greatly appreciated your kind comments when I beat you out the retirement door in December. Over the
years I enjoyed our interactions when I coached you on a couple of international trips, and our friendship as we coached together and against each other at so many Nationals and NCAA’s. Best of luck in retirement. There is a world out there and I know you will enjoy it! Aloha and Mahalo, Mike
Congrats Doug! Great job at LSU! Go Bruins!
He sounds like a humble and gracious coach that produced fantastic results – what a winning combination!
Is this the same Doug Shaffer that dove for UCLA “back in the day”?
Yep, same guy.
Congratulations Doug! One of the best in the businesses!