Auburn Hires Duncan Sherrard as First Assistant on New Swimming Staff

Auburn announced on Monday that they had hired Duncan Sherrard as the first assistant coach of Gary Taylor’s new swimming coaching staff. Sherrard comes to Auburn after 3 years as an assistant at North Carolina.

“I am extremely humbled and excited that Gary reached out to me and has given me the opportunity to join his staff at Auburn,” Sherrard said. “Auburn is a top-tier program and I’m excited to be a part of such a rich tradition and legacy. I can’t wait to get to The Plains to start coaching.”

“Duncan stands out as being very professional, very hard working and he wants to be really successful,” Taylor said. “He brings energy and passion to the sport and he’ll bring a great dynamic to my staff at Auburn.”

Sherrard, prior to his 3 years at UNC, was the head coach at Division II Florida Southern College from 2009-2015, and for the 3 years prior to that was an assistant at top Junior College Indian River State College. He also served as an assistant on the 2017 U.S. World University Games staff, where North Carolina had two athletes competing: Caroline Baldwin and Hellen Moffitt. Baldwin won the 50 free and Moffitt won the 100 fly at that meet for university students around the world.

“Duncan has been a winner at every level he’s ever been on,” Taylor said. “He understands grit, determination and hard work. He knows what it takes to become a winner and that’s what I want to be surrounded by.”

The North Carolina women placed 4th out of 12 teams and the men were 8th out of 12 teams at last year’s ACC Championships. UNC broke school records in all 5 men’s relays, 4 out of 5 women’s relays, and both the 50 and 100 free while Sherrard is there. Caroline Baldwin, who Auburn’s press release credits Sherrard with coaching, also broke the ACC Conference Record in the 50 free and became the school’s first 50 free finalist in back-to-back seasons in 20 years.

UNC’s results during Sherrard’s tenure there:

Men’s ACCs Men’s NCAAs Women’s ACCs
Women’s NCAAs
2015-2016 3rd 26th 3rd 18th
2016-2017 7th 36th 4th 17th
2017-2018 8th 36th 4th 25th

At Florida Southern, Sherrard produced the school’s first-ever NCAA Championship qualifiers and won 4-straight Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year awards, including winning 3 conference championships. His teams produced 278 All-Americans, 12 NCAA event titles, and broke 5 NCAA Division II records during his tenure.

A 4-year varsity letter winner and 14-time NCAA All-American swimmer at Florida, Sherrard was a team captain during his senior year with the Gators. He also was head swim coach for Bucholz High School in Gainesville from 2004-2006 and an age group coach at the Gator Swim Club from 2002-2005, shortly after his graduation.

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Brad Flood
6 years ago

Congratulations Duncan! What a great hire for Auburn, adding a great coaching mind and an all-around good guy! We still gotta get together for that G’nT Duncan, My Treat!!!

DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

Congrats, Duncan!

Superfan
6 years ago

I thought UF might pick him up but you gotta move quickly sometimes,

SwimFL
6 years ago

Congrats Duncan! Hope the Tigers are a good fit for you. You deserve a D1 head coaching position some day.

Matt
6 years ago

Congrats Duncan! — Auburn is getting a fantastic coach, but an even better man/person. His passion and commitment are rare. I wish he and his Family all the best with their new opportunities!

Lakeland Matt

Auburn fan
6 years ago

Is Gideon Louw the next to join the auburn staff? Sprint coach would make a lot of sense and that’s what he is and a former all American for Auburn.

Johnny Bravo
6 years ago

UNC’s recent performance aside, Duncan is a great recruiter and a talented sprint coach who will bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to Auburn. Gary’s made a great hire in Coach Sherrard. Will be interesting to see how UNC deals with this… seems to only accelerate their downward spiral.

Crusty
Reply to  Johnny Bravo
6 years ago

Disagree. You can’t say recent performance aside! Three years. Oh who cares. UNC men sprinters are awful but put that aside. Apple made the right move

Johnny Bravo
Reply to  Crusty
6 years ago

I’m not suggesting Coach Sherrard’s performance at UNC doesn’t matter, but that UNC’s headline performance belies the caliber of coach that Duncan is. He certainly isn’t the reason for the program’s lack of success, and he may well have been one of the few things holding it together. We should know in short time.

JP input too short
6 years ago

Huh! I figured he would be up to get a spot on the new Florida staff.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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