Doug Grooms To Retire After 24 Seasons As Missouri S&T Head Coach

Courtesy: Missouri S&T Athletics

ROLLA, Mo. – Doug Grooms, who has led Missouri S&T’s swimming program to three top-four finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships and who guided numerous swimmers to All-America honors during his 24 seasons as the Miners’ head coach, is retiring from the position effective April 30.

Since becoming head coach prior to the 1998-99 season, Grooms coached 14 teams to top 10 finishes at NCAA Division II championship meet, including a national runner-up finish in 2008, a third place finish in 2009 and a fourth place showing in 2007.  The Miners have also had two fifth place showings and two sixths at the national level under Grooms.

He has also coached Miner swimmers that have earned 370 All-America awards in the pool during his tenure – including all six national championship performances by S&T competitors in the history of the program – as well as numerous conference champions and academic award winners both on the team and individual levels. A total of 90 swimmers that have come through the program have won at least one All-America award since Grooms joined the staff as an assistant coach in 1992.

Prior to becoming the head swimming coach, Grooms served as an assistant for both the swimming and football programs for six seasons.

“When Jim Anderson and Mark Mullin gave me an opportunity to join the UMR staff in 1992, I never could have imagined that I would be announcing my retirement 30 years later from the Miner athletic department,” Grooms said.  “It has been such an amazing experience helping develop the men that have come through our program. Each year was a new challenge that led to conference champions, as well as NCAA champions.

“It was so much fun seeing what kind of crazy fast results we could accomplish year after year,” Grooms added.  “Thanks so much to all the men that gave me the unbelievable memories throughout my career in Rolla.”

“Doug is a highly respected coach in the swimming industry and at S&T,” said Missouri S&T director of athletics Melissa Ringhausen. “He knew how to recruit and retain the right type of student-athlete that was going to excel at S&T.  Under his leadership, the swimming team has had a rich tradition of success in both the pool and in the classroom.

“He has committed his life to developing young men and the impact goes way beyond any words expressed.  He will be greatly missed by the student-athletes, alumni, and his colleagues.  We wish him well as he enters this next phase of life,” Ringhausen added.

The success the Miners enjoyed in the pool throughout Grooms’ tenure also helped him win numerous coaching honors over the last 24 seasons, highlighted by being named as the College Swimming Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year for NCAA Division II following S&T’s second place finish at the 2008 national meet.

He earned a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Coach of the Year Award this past February, marking the sixth time he has been honored by the GLVC after winning seven straight Coach of the Year honors when S&T competed in the New South Intercollegiate Swimming Championships prior to the GLVC sponsoring a championship in swimming.

Grooms was also named Coach of the Year at the Mideast Swimming Championships in 1999 when the Miners won the first of nine conference titles, which included the 2001 Central States Swimming Championships and seven straight NSISC titles from 2007-13.  S&T has also recorded four second place finishes at the conference level as it currently competes in arguably the best swimming conference in NCAA Division II.

The Miners won their first national championship in school history in 2001 when the team of Dave Belleville, Sean O’Donnell, Josh Jolly and Mike Lach won the 200-yard freestyle relay.  The Miners repeated as champions in the 200-free relay the following year – with Bram Olson replacing the graduated Jolly on that relay team – and that quartet also won the 400-yard freestyle relay on the final day of the 2002 national meet.

Zlatan Hamzic captured the Miners’ first individual national title in 2009 when he won the 200-yard breaststroke, then Tim Samuelsen won a pair of national titles in 2018 when he won the 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events.  S&T swimmers also had six second place finishes and 18 third place efforts during the past 30 seasons.

Outside of the pool, the Miners have also been one of the most successful programs on the academic side as they have been consistently listed among the CSCAA’s Scholar All-America teams and have had 19 student-athletes named as Academic All-Americans, the second-most of any of S&T’s athletic programs.  Three individuals – Jack Pennuto, Bill Gaul and Keith Sponsler – have earned the Academic All-America of the Year award and in 2021, Andy Huffman (Lee’s Summit, MO/Lee’s Summit) became the first S&T student-athlete to win the NCAA Elite 90 Award.

Sponsler was also named as the recipient of the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award in 2016, which is presented to the top student-athlete in the GLVC.

“I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of our team in the classroom as well as in the pool. The faculty has been very supportive in allowing us to excel in both areas,” Grooms said.  “The swim lesson program that has served over 1,500 kids in the Rolla area has also been something that I am very proud of. Watching the guys connect with the youth is just such a cool sight to see!”