Eastern Illinois has announced the hiring of Scott Teeters as the new head coach of its varsity swimming program, making him the Panthers’ 4th head coach in 4 seasons.
Teeters is a veteran coach who has previous NCAA Division I stops at Eastern Michigan and Oakland Universities in Michigan as an assistant coach; as the head coach at Gardner-Webb in the 2018-2019 season.
He also led NAIA power Olivet Nazarene to three national championships. The team won back-to-back men’s championships in 2016 and 2017 and a women’s title in 2017. His women’s team also had the highest GPA in NAIA swimming at 3.63 in 2017. During his championship run at Olivet Nazarene, the NAIA side had faster times than EIU’s NCAA Division I side did in most events.
Teeters built the ONU program from scratch, becoming its first head coach in 2011.
Since leaving Gardner Webb, Teeters spent the last five years teaching and coaching high school swim in Kankakee, Illinois. Under his direction, Teeters’ girls team went undefeated in 2019, while his boys team scored the most points in a sectional in 22 years.
Kankakee High and Olivet Nazarene are both located about 2 hours north of the EIU campus.
Teeters also has three years of experience at Novi High School in Novi, Michigan, where he produced 12 High School All-Americans.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Teeters as the head swim coach of the Panthers program,” said athletic director Tom Michael. “Scott brings with him an accomplished background developing championship swimmers both in, and out of the pool. I look forward to him providing some stability and leadership for the young men and women who are EIU swimmers.”
“I would like to thank Dr. Jay Gatrell and Tom Michael for this exciting opportunity”, said Coach Teeters. “Their leadership goals for the EIU swim program align perfectly with my vision for transforming Panthers swimming into a life changing endeavor. I want to create a place where our athletes can come back in 10 years and still feel like they belong”.
The EIU men’s and women’s team both finished last out of 8 teams at the 2024 Summit League Championships.
Good choice!
I hired Scott as an age group coach in 1980, and he was the most innovative coach I’ve ever met. In just one year his age groupers were state champions. His ability to teach technique is amazing and I wish him the best in his new role.