After 11 years at the helm of the Monmouth University men’s and women’s swimming program, head coach Matt Nunnally has decided to retire from coaching. Nunally had led the program since the university reintroduced the sport to campus for the 2015-16 season.
Nunnally, a native of New Jersey’s Monmouth County, helped the program continually improve at the MAAC Championships as it built itself up. The team earned its first individual conference championship titles from a pair of freshmen, Callan Smith and Cameryn McHugh, in 2019.
The pair continued to excel for the rest of their collegiate career. They, along with Georgia Watkins, earned the most outstanding swimmer honors at the 2022 MAAC Championships. That was the last MAAC Championship for Monmouth before transitioning to the Coastal Athletic Conference (CAA) and it was the most successful in the team’s young history. In addition to the end-of-meet awards, the Monmouth men and women earned program-best fifth place finishes at a conference championship meet and won a record eight golds.
The team continued to improve once it joined the CAA in the 2022-23 season; Smith quickly earned the team’s first CAA title in the 100 backstroke at the 2023 conference championships. This past season, Nunnally’s swimmers broke 11 program records at the CAA Championships.
Nunnally arrived at Monmouth after 15 seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, La Salle University. As a swimmer, he helped La Salle win four-straight MAAC team championships, winning individual titles in the 200 and 500 freestyle as well as multiple relay titles. Nunnally began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Seton Hall.
Monmouth University stated a “national search” for the team’s new head coach “will begin immediately.”
Wonder if they can bring someone in to elevate or if they’ll just perpetually sit at the bottom of the conference
Wow. Monmouth must pay pretty well – able to retire at 55?
State school????
Private