North Texas has completed its staff rebuild under new head coach Brendon Bray by hiring Brittany Sayler from Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is credited in part for the success of the most successful swimmer in program history, two-time All-American breaststroker Emily McClellan.
The previous battery of head coach Joe Dykstra and Michele Lowry both moved on this off-season to take over the program at Utah.
The full press release from UNT is posted below.
North Texas swimming & diving head coach Brendon Bray announced the hiring of Brittany Sayler as the new Mean Green assistant coach.
“As we went through this search process we had some outstanding candidates and Brittany really stood out as the best of the bunch, and we are so happy to have been able to hire our top candidate,” Bray said.
As an assistant for three years at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Sayler helped rewrite the record books, including several school, league and freshman records. She coached Emily McClellan, Milwaukee’s lone NCAA Championships qualifier, who registered Milwaukee’s first ‘A’ cut time in 2012 and finished 18th in the 200 breaststroke. In 2013, Sayler oversaw her continued growth in the championship event as she came in 12th and received her second All-American honor.
“Brittany has experience coaching at the Olympic trial and NCAA Championship levels and those are the kind of levels that we plan to elevate our team to at North Texas,” Bray said. “She is highly recommended from some of the best coaches in college swimming. Her enthusiasm, passion and dedication to bringing high level performance to North Texas will be an incredible asset, and I can’t wait to get started working with her.”
Before her time with the Panthers, Sayler started a satellite program over her final two seasons with the USA Swimming club. As the head coach, she worked with athletes ranging in age from six-to-21, from beginning swimmers to national-qualifying athletes.
“I am so excited about joining the North Texas Athletic Department, and continuing the tradition of excellence,” Sayler said. “I am looking forward to working with Coach Bray and implementing his vision to really make North Texas known on the national stage. I am eager to get to work with the Mean Green swimmers and divers, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for each of these student-athletes.”
In 2007, Sayler served as assistant coach for both the boys and girls swimming and diving programs at Frankfort High School in Frankfort, Ind. She helped the boys to a first-place showing in conference that initial season and was hired on as the head coach following her graduation from Ball State University. During her time, multiple records were broken and, in February of 2010, she was named Coach of the Year for the West Lafayette Boys Sectional.
Sayler was a four-year swimmer at Ball State, where she qualified for the 2006 U.S. Open in the 100 and 200 backstroke. As team co-captain her senior year, she twice earned Mid-American Conference Academic All-Team honors and was nominated MAC Senior of the Year. In addition to claiming all-league second-team honors on two occasions, she broke school records in both backstroke events and was named the team’s Most Outstanding Freshman her first season. Once her four years of eligibility had passed, she worked a season as the student assistant at Ball State.
Congratulations, Brittany! Very excited for you!!