Anytime a new coach takes over a college program in any sport, one of their first tasks is to form a new staff. Regardless of the level of success of the previous staff, some assistants will be kept and some will be the unfortunate victims of overcrowding.
New Arizona Wildcats swim coach Eric Hansen has begun to form his staff. Unsurprisingly, the first two assistants he has named are Frank-Busch carryover Rick DeMont, who has been with the program for 23-years and, due to his involvement with Tucson Ford Aquatics, is basically handcuffed with the program (though, even under different circumstances, he would be a no-brainer pick to keep around). DeMont appears to retain his title of “Associate Head Coach”.
Hansen will also bring with him his top assistant from Wisconsin: Geoff Hanson. Another good pick, as Hanson was an All-American at Arizona in the mid-90’s. He will bring with him a familiarity with both Frank Busch’s and Eric Hansen’s programs, which will be invaluable transitional experience in the first few seasons of the new regime.
Neither of these is much of a shock, but the rest of the coaching staff has been wiped clean, with Hansen still deciding where to go with the rest of his assistants. My initial reaction is that other assistants from Busch’s time are weighing other coaching options along with probable offers from Hansen to hang around in Tucson. There’s no indication that any of the other Wisconsin assistants will be coming with him, though he might be trying to recruit another coach or two from “outside the program” as a way to put his own stamp on the program. Hansen will likely be allowed a much larger staff than he had at Wisconsin, which gives him plenty of options to build a complete staff.
