Cincinnati has named Joey Ferreri as its next head coach after Mandy Commons-DiSalle announced her retirement last month. Ferreri has spent 11 years on the coaching staff at Cincinnati.
“I’m honored to be named head coach of Cincinnati’s swimming and diving programs,” said Ferreri. “I’m incredibly grateful to Director of Athletics John Cunningham and Deputy AD Maggie McKinley for their trust and belief in me. I’ve spent more than a decade preparing for this opportunity, and I’m ready to build a program that is prepared, passionate and driven to compete at the highest level. I’m excited to lead our student-athletes as we chase success in the classroom, in the pool and on the national stage.”
Ferreri spent his collegiate career with the Bearcats from 2013-2015 and graduated with a bachelor’s in marketing in 2015. He served as a captain during his senior season with the program. He went on to earn a master’s in business administration from Cincinnati as well, graduating in 2018.
Ferreri has been on the Cincinnati coaching staff since his graduation and began as an assistant coach. He served as recruiting director from 2019-2021 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2021.
In addition to his experience at the collegiate level, Ferreri has also served as a coach at the 2016 (home coach) and 2018 (assistant coach) USA Open Water National Select Camp.
The Cincinnati women finished 4th out of 10 teams at the 2026 Big 12 Championships while the men’s team finished 6th out of seven programs. The women were led by senior Joleigh Crye who swam to a conference title in the 100 breast with a 58.02. Crye also defended her title in the process as she won the event in 2025. Her Big 12 win in 2025 marked Cincinnati’s first ever swimmer to win a Big 12 title. Crye made the NCAA Championships in all four seasons with the Bearcats.
Crye and teammate Lindi Worrell went on to compete at the 2026 NCAA Championships Crye was 8th in the 100 breast and Worrell was 21st in the 100 breast. Worrell just finished her junior season and will return as a senior during Ferreri’s first season as head coach.
Here are the facts… Mandy was tough, but did a great job under the circumstances. Yeah, there are complainers, and some didn’t like her, but athletes that knew how to stay out of the bars and handle their business were successful. The athletic department has been horrible to, and unsupportive of, the swimming program since Bill Keating Jr. passed away in 2018. The current athletic, John Cunningham, director is a joke. His Big 12 winning percentage in all UC sports is under .375. The UC women’s swim/dive 4th place finish was the highest finish of ANY sport during his tenure. Cunningham is a documented loser and treated coaches and alumni like crap. Joey is a 100% Bearcat and did a… Read more »
Great Hire by Cincinnati. CONGRATULATIONS on Joey!! I am VERY proud of you and always will be because of who he is as a person knowing him since he was at Wyoming.
This hire means one of three things:
1) John C and Maggie M are not aware of how toxic the team culture has been for past 15 years, or
2) They do not listen or
2) They do not care
After all the negative feedback provided by former swimmers, this hire makes ZERO sense.
My only recourse – cancel my $5k UCATS donation – cancel my season football tickets $5k and cancel my season basketball tickets $5k. I can’t continue to support this athletic program when they continue to make poor decisions.
As a test, please count the # of alumni at the Alumni Meet.
Totally disagree, you’re obviously just personally jaded. I’m going to donate $10k to UCATS, buy $10k football season tickets and $10k basketball season tickets. Go Cats!
This is gonna age like milk considering the number of alumni who mailed in letters of support
Is this why Mandy is leaving? All the negative feedback? I swam at uc before Mandy and I was hopeful the culture of the team changed. I see it has not. There was no culture of the team. Everyone hated each other. There was no support from the AD.
The Goat of swim.
Well deserved love this guy!
Great decision, nobody loves UC swimming more than Joey
Where’s the Gru 4 picture confused meme when I need it
1. Move to a Power 4 Conference
2. See the new college qualification landscape and have an opportunity within the Big 12
3. Hire same folks and don’t really put an emphasis on cashing in on the aforementioned opportunities
4. Winning?
No one cares about UC swimming more than Joey, this is far from a complacency hire