Josh Huger Named Cal’s New Associate Head Coach

The coaching carousel keeps turning–Josh Huger has been named as the new associate head coach of Cal Swimming and Diving.

There’s been a lot of talk about who will fill Matt Bowe‘s shoes at Cal now that he’s been appointed head coach at the University of Michigan. However, Huger’s name wasn’t one that we expected to be in the running as just last month he was promoted to associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Tennessee. Bowe was the second Bears assistant to leave Cal’s program in as many years to take a head coaching job.

Huger has been with the Volunteers for four seasons. During his time on Rocky Top, Huger was in charge of recruitment and worked closely with Tennessee’s sprint group. This past season, that work was highlighted by Jordan Crooks, who he helped coach to SEC, NCAA, and SC World title in the 50 freestyle. At SECs, Crooks became the second person to break the 18 second barrier in the event, ripping 17.93 en route to his title.

Huger coached the Vols and Lady Vols to 13 SEC Championships, 39 SEC medals, and 51 All-America nods. Those efforts at the conference level were highlighted by the women’s team winning the SEC title in 2020 and 2022. This past season, both the men’s and women’s programs finished in the top eight at NCAAs for the first time in program history.

Medals Breakdown Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics:

• SEC Championships
  • Total: 13 (8 women, 5 men)
  • Individual: 7 (4 women, 3 men)
  • Relay: 6 (4 women, 2 men)
• SEC Medals
  • Total: 39 (13 Gold, 16 Silver, 10 Bronze)
  • Individual: 15 (7 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze)
  • Relay: 24 (6 Gold, 12 Silver, 6 Bronze)
• All-Americans
  • Total: 51 (34 First Team, 17 Second Team)
  • Individual: 23 (18 First Team, 5 Second Team)
  • Relay: 28 (16 First Team, 12 Second Team)

So, given his track record coaching sprint stars like Crooks, Gui Caribe, and Erika Brown, it’s a safe bet Huger will continue his work with the sprint groups at Cal. The Golden Bears’ sprinting prowess turned heads on the men’s side of 2023 U.S. Trials. Jack Alexy and Destin Lasco both qualified for Worlds in the 4x100m freestyle relay, with Alexy earning an individual berth in both the 100 and 50m freestyle.

The 2022-23 season was the first year of Cal’s combined men’s and women’s program, led by Dave Durden. The Cal men are two-time defending NCAA champions and the women finished 11th this season.

Huger’s relay knowledge will also be an asset to Cal. Though the men won the NCAA title, they didn’t win a single relay. They finished second to Florida in both the 200 free and 400 free relays, losing the latter by just one hundredth. That was clearly a sticking point for them–it came up in their post-win interview.

Prior to his time at Tennessee, Huger spent four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, then William & Mary.

Huger earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from IUP in 2011 and his master’s degree in 2012.

Tennessee still has two associate head coaches on staff: Rich Murphy and Ashley Jahn.