Robbie Shaffer was announced as the new head swimming and diving coach at Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.
He steps into the role after his father Bill Shaffer, the former head coach, died in mid-December due to a heart attack.
Bill Shaffer served as the swimming and diving coach at Jesuit for 29 years, joining the program in 1996, and spent the past 17 years as the head swimming coach for the Academy of the Holy Names. Over the course of his career, he led each team to three state championship titles apiece, the most for any swimming program in Hillsborough County history.
The younger Shaffer will now step into the position of head coach for both the Jesuit and the Academy of the Holy Names swimming and diving programs after serving as the assistant coach alongside his father during the 2024 season.
“I was grateful to be able to coach this past high school season with my dad,” Robbie Shaffer said. “He built the program to what it is now, and I’m excited for the opportunity to continue to build the program, as my dad and the rest of the coaching staff have over the past couple of decades.”
Robbie Shaffer himself attended Jesuit Tampa, graduating in 2019, and was a two-time state champion swimmer for the Tigers. He went on to swim for Loyola University New Orleans before coming back to assist his father with the Jesuit and Academy of the Holy Names high school teams, as well as the Academy Aquatic Club.
Robbie Shaffer and the Jesuit program look to build on Bill Shaffer’s legacy and continue fostering an environment that encourages excellence in and out of the pool.
That is pretty cool to replace your father as head coach. I know of at least two times this happened in college basketball (Texas Tech Bobby Knights’ son, and at DePaul Meyer’s son). I am sure that this has happen many other times in other sports but still pretty neat.