The Dayton Raiders have made a change in their head coaching position, with Paul Murphy out after a short stint and Andrew Kramer being named the interim head coach.
Murphy, who was hired last August, left the program in early March. Neither the club nor Murphy responded to a request for comment about the split.
The change in the head coaching position, even on an interim basis, is a dramatic shift in resumes. Murphy, an ASCA Level 5 coach, has coached 70+ Olympic Trials qualifiers, 5 Olympians, more than 40 High School All-Americans, several state champions, and swimmers who went on to achieve 35 CSCAA All-America awards.
Kramer, meanwhile, is a level 1 ASCA and is a teacher at nearby Alter High School. His previous coaching stops included as an assistant coach at the Columbus School for Girls, a volunteer assistant for Versailles High School, and as the head coach at the Miami Valley School in Dayton. He also participated in an internship with Ritter Sports Performance.
Kramer may be relatively-new in his coaching career when compared to Murphy, but he does appear to be an engaged and enthusiastic student of the sport.
“His coaching philosophy is a mixture of physiology, technique, hard work, and fun competition, and he is guilty of owning nearly every swim coaching book available,” Kramer’s official bio reads.
He is supported by a number of veteran coaches, including head age group coach Brent Peaden, who has been with the program for more than 20 years, and Kevin Weldon, the program’s former head coach who is now serving in an assistant role.
Among the club’s top active swimmers is Luke Sullivan, who was 5th in the 100 free at the Ohio High School State Championships in February; Tristan Prizler, who was 3rd in the 500 free and 4th in the 200 IM at the D2 meet, and Caleb Manning, who was 4th in the 500 free at the D1 meet.
Ritter Sports Performance is a SwimSwam partner, but was not involved in the reporting of this story.
Hiring Paul Murphy was a terrible decision by the Dayton Raiders. Was Murphy’s employment history and accuracy of his resume even vetted? I sincerely hope the Raiders process in this important hire is examined and people that made this choice are not involved in future important decisions within the club.
Congratulations to Andrew, who has worked under Coach Kevin for some time. You’re well prepared! *One question for the author Braden Keith: can we add some of DR’s young women in the “among the club’s active swimmers” list at the end of your article? Let’s encourage Dayton’s girls by naming them! 🙂
Does anyone actually care about ASCA levels anymore? I’ve interviewed successfully for both colleges and high level clubs and ASCA levels have never even been mentioned, let alone used as a criteria in the hiring process. Your resume and body of work speaks for itself regardless of your ASCA level.
ASCA levels are for sure overrated, especially with how resume-padding in swim coaching goes.
But the difference between an ASCA level 1 and ASCA level 5 is certainly significant.
Fair enough, that is a pretty significant difference. Though a program like the Dayton Raiders hiring a level 1 coach shows how little it matters these days. Like you said, it’s just too easy to pad. I know for a fact that many head coaches pad their resume by taking credit for their assistants’ swimmers. That’s why the latest ASCA “top 50 age group coaches” list featured a bunch of guys who don’t even coach age groupers.
Andrew has been with the Raiders for several years so I don’t think this really qualifies as a “hire” in the context you laid out. More like ” as we look for a new head coach, Andrew will fill that role in the meantime.”
So glad for Andrew!
He was really helpful and soaked up a lot of knowledge. I know he’ll have lots of help since he’s an active member in the Swim Coach Academy and specifically the Coaching Mentorship Group led by Paul Yetter.
Good luck Andrew!
That was quick!
Paul Murphy seems like he is with a different team every year
I think as many as 5 teams in St. Louis before leaving town.
At least 5 in Northern California, I think more.