University of Illinois assistant swim coach Elliott McGill has announced that he will step away from coaching, ending a 12-year career on deck at various stops around the country.
McGill reflected on his decision in a post on Twitter late Monday evening.
“I’ve been incredibly blessed to live out a dream and to coach for my hometown club team (CCYMCA Heat), my college Alma Mater (EIU), one of the best clubs in the country (Nitro), and my hometown University (U of I).
“How many coaches can say that over an entire career? I got to do it in 12.”
See you in the stands!! 💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/Og3p1YYpIh
— Elliott McGill (@coachmcgILLINI) May 25, 2021
McGill thanks his wife, Emily, and children for “sacrificing so much” to allow him to pursue his career, but also says that they are “so glad to have mornings, evenings and weekends back to better share” their life together.
McGill spent 4 seasons assisting Sue Novitsky at the University of Illinois, which sponsors only a women’s swimming & diving program. In 2018, Illinois finished 12th out of 13 teams at the Big Ten Championships, ahead of Michigan State. In 2019 and 2020, Illinois fell to 13th place, but moved back up to 12th, ahead of Rutgers, last season, as the Scarlet Knights were extremely short-handed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to Illinois, he served as the head National Coach at the gold medal winning Nitro Swim Club in Texas. There, he was a member of the USA Swimming National/Junior National Team Coaching lists in both 2016 and 2017, and was named the 2015 South Texas Age Group Coach of the Year and a 2015 Fitter & Faster National Age Group Coach of the Year finalist.
McGill’s first club job came at Eastern Illinois University. When he was hired there in 2011, he was the youngest NCAA Division I head coach in the country at just 25 years old. He coached there from 2011-2014. In 3 seasons, the program scored 34 school records, 150 All-Time Top Ten EIU Performances, 15 All-Summit League Athletic honors, and 43 All-Summit League Academic honors.
Prior to EIU, he spent just over a year as an assistant senior coach at the Champaign Family YMCA in Champaign, Illinois.
McGill attended Eastern Illinois University, where he was a member of the varsity swim team. Other than his stint at Nitro, McGill has spent most of his life in Central Illinois, and specifically Champaign, where the University of Illinois is located. He graduated from Champaign Central High School in 2006 – as did his siblings Colin, Sarah, and Tyler – a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team who won a gold medal on the 400 medley relay.
McGill will stay in the area and take on a job with the insurance company Insure Champaign.
McGill concludes his post with this:
“Can proudly say I spent 12 years as one of the ‘Men in the Arena,’ and can now excitedly say…see you in the stands!”
I’m a former Illini swimmer (2016) and I had an overall positive experience on the team, not to mention a fantastic experience at one of the best universities in the country (I-L-L)! I could seriously talk for hours about how much I love Illinois. I also know that just because I had a good experience doesn’t mean that others did too. I know alumni who loved their experience and I know other alumni who hated it. I can only speak to my experience. There were definitely ups and downs but I’m pretty confident you’d experience that on any team and at any university. The advice I’d give to recruits is to do your own research and base your decision off… Read more »
2x Illinois alumna (18’ & 20’) and former Illini swimmer here. I want to share my experience as an athlete and member of the Illinois swim and dive team. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be on a team of amazing women and had the great privilege of representing the U of IL as an athlete and swimmer.
I had the beneficial experience of being coached by 3 different coaches while I was on the team- Sue, Alec, and Elliott. Each coach was great and each inspired me in different ways to become a better swimmer, athlete, teammate, and person.
My teammates are now still my best friends- illinois truly recruits some amazing young… Read more »
To the girls currently on the team. No one has said anything that wasn’t true. Just because you didn’t experience Elliott or Sue saying or doing these things doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. If you have had a great experience good for you. Many of us haven’t. Many of us saw our swimming careers crumble and suffer at the hands of these two. It’s not fair to dismiss them. The team had been investigated several times. The team does finish last almost every year with very few points that don’t come from relays not getting dqed. The statics of best times is abysmal. These are undeniable facts. The team deserves better than what they are getting right now. The team… Read more »
Former Illini, I completely agree. To the girls on the team- just because you did not experience it yourself does not make our experiences invalid. I know what it was like to swim under Alec, Sue, and Elliot. The fact that a lot of the alumni are still upset about the way we were treated should tell you something… I really hope you never experience the things we experienced. I would not wish that treatment on my worst enemy.
You have every right to speak on your experiences as an athlete at the university. It’s disrespectful, however, to spread negativity in regards to our program and the changes we are implementing without seeing it yourself. There will always be people who speak ill of us, but we know the effort we put in and the motivation we have to get better throughout our college careers. Regardless if you are an alumni or not, if you really want what is best for the Illini you will not blindly spread hate towards a program doing its best.
It’s not disrespectful in the slightest. These are all facts. We have finished at the bottom of the big ten. The team has been investigated multiple times. Times tend not to improve. Elliott and Sue have said and done these terrible things to some girls on that team. It’s disrespectful to negate our experiences. The only reason any of us are commenting is because it is the only way for us to be heard in any way. It’s disrespectful to say our experiences are invalid, not true and we aren’t free to comment our thoughts and feelings. If you don’t agree or don’t like them, maybe re-examine your own experiences or don’t read or engage with us.
An Illini swimmer, I would like to report that I cannot echo any of the negative comments about the coaches or program that’s posted on this thread.
Contrary to the reputation that some of these comments are giving her, I’ve only seen Sue be a champion for our team’s mental health. She knows how to empathize with individuals, pushes us to healthily balance priorities, and truly cares for each of us. I’ve witnessed her waking up to a phone call in the middle of the night to help out a struggling student-athlete. I can say with certainty that my emotional and mental health is validated and invested in by Sue, and I know many of my teammates would confidently… Read more »
Let’s keep negative comments off of this post. If you have any constructive criticism to say you should send it to the AD. If you really care about the future of the program, you would have realized the impact these comments have on the current team members and future recruits. Congrats coach Elliot, I wish you the best of luck and thanks for everything you’ve done for the orange and blue. I-L-L
Everyone has a right to speak to their own experiences. Several swimmers have gone to the AD and they will not listen. I want nothing more than the best for the program, but I have been in therapy for several years as a result of Novitsky’s treatment. The program can do better.
I have gone to the AD personally he has swept my complaints under the rug.
Talking to the AD got us now where. I hope I scare future recruits. This place is a pit hole for hopes and dreams.
Literally if you are not on our team, stop speaking for us.
I do not think these commenters are speaking for the team. It seems commenters are only speaking for themselves. Other commenters are just restating facts about placing at big tens. Obviously everyone here wants the best for illinois’s program.
To the people speaking for our team and our teammates without the slightest knowledge of our team culture and our road to improving ourselves should not have a say in how “successful” this team is.
Elliott has been nothing but supportive in every way towards our goals and has pushed us every single day to overcome obstacles that we never believed we could. He has led this team to have some of the most lifetime bests in any conference, and he has done it with a positive attitude and endless passion.
With Sue, working with her personally for 2 years has allowed me to appreciate her leadership, dedication, and admiration for everything we do. She is by far… Read more »
You personally do not have to accept anything. However there is no need to dismiss/ invalidate other people’s personal experiences. It is undeniable that several internal investigations have been conducted do to concerning aspects of the program.
Girl calm down, we are just trying to have a good time as college swimmers. why are you bringing all this bad energy.
I do not appreciate you assuming my gender.
First and foremost I am a current Illini swimmer. I have only been here for a year, but this year has been one of the best I’ve had in my swimming career, due to both my amazing teammates and coaches. Elliot was my main coach and he helped me achieve 5 best times in my top events and my goal of scoring at Big 10s in not just one, but two events. These are outcomes I earned as a result of these coaches. His passion and dedication to the sport helped inspire me each and every day in the pool. While truly sad he has left the program, I am incredibly proud to be able to say I swam with… Read more »
I completely agree with you Cara, as a current member of the Illini Swim and Dive Team, I have had nothing but amazing experiences with Sue and Elliot. Even though I’m a diver and have never been coached by them, they are the most passionate and determined people I have seen. I am incredibly grateful for both of them as they have stuck with me throughout one of the hardest years of my life and I am so incredibly thankful. This team is one of a kind, and I am so proud to be an Illini.
-Cacia Kaupp
Another current Illini swimmer here. I also had Elliott as my primary coach and can definitely speak to his positive qualities as a coach. Both he and Sue are extremely invested in their swimmers’ wellbeing and I have seen more development as a swimmer in the past two years on this team than at any other time in the past six years. We have a developing and improving team culture that many of us have worked hard to create and that I personally am proud of; most of the negative comments in this article are written anonymously so I think that speaks for itself. We are all thankful to have had Elliott as a coach and I am excited to… Read more »