Wild Speculation: Who Might Take Over the Head Swim Coach Position at Notre Dame?

With head coach Chris Lindauer departing for Stanford, the Notre Dame swimming and diving teams are back in search of a new head coach for the second time in the last three years.

This job is one at an interesting place. The men’s team were suspended last year after an investigation into gambling and other team culture issues, and it’s entirely unclear who among them is going to be back after their star Chris Guiliano popped up midseason at Texas.

The women, meanwhile, scored zero points at the NCAA Championships, and while there is some talent there, it’s a total rebuild.

That being said, Notre Dame is a huge national brand, and the first American pope taking the throne will put the country’s most visible Catholic university into the spotlight.

So who is a good fit for this job?

Well, there’s a cheat sheet in that we know have a sense of who were heavy in the running for the Wisconsin and Stanford jobs, given similar geography. There are two Notre Dame alums who hold associate head coaching positions in top programs: Reed Fujan of Louisville and Rich Murphy of Tennessee

Notre Dame’s current staff has reportedly been told that they are not in the running for the job, which eliminates a few choices.

Obvious Alum is Obvious

Reed Fujan, Associate Head Coach, Louisville – Notre Dame dipped into Louisville’s coffers last time they were looking for a hire (and for basically the entire staff), could they do so again? If we assume Steph Juncker isn’t leaving Louisville (too many jobs that she would have been a perfect fit for have come and gone without her being mentioned as a finalist), then Fujan is next in line. Fujan is reportedly a finalist for the Wisconsin job as well. He’s pretty young for a position of this level, but he’s getting a lot of attention anyway.

Rich Murphy, Associate Head Coach, Tennessee – Murphy, who has been leading the men’s effort at Tennessee, comes up in a lot of conversations for head coaching positions given the Volunteers’ recent run – but this one is his alma mater, and so might be the best chance. He has previous head coaching experience, though it was a short-lived stint at Houston that saw him leave mid-season.

The In-State Guy (If He Doesn’t Go to Wisconsin)

Cory Chitwood, Associate Head Coach, Indiana – Chitwood has emerged as the favorite for the Wisconsin job, but if that falls through, he would probably become the odds-on favorite for this gig as well. This would be about a three hour move north for Chitwood, and Indiana’s recent success plus someone already familiar with the state’s rich recruiting grounds (though Notre Dame has a national recruiting profile) would be a plus. Chitwood also seems like the kind of personality who could bring some alums who feel burned after the men’s team suspension back into the fold.

Prodigal Son Returned

Aaron Bell, Associate Head Coach, Michigan – Rumored to be a finalist for Wisconsin, this would be a return for a coach who was an associate at Notre Dame from 2016 through 2022. There were some culture issues during that time too (maybe the root of the more recent culture issues), but stops at Louisville and now Michigan, two programs having a lot of success, might have been enough to clear the air since then. Notre Dame hired a new AD last year, so some of that memory might be gone.

The Peoples’ Favorite

Brian Peresie, Head Coach, Akron – Every time an opening comes up, especially an opening in the Midwest, the most texts I get are about Peresie. His success with the Akron women has been hard to ignore, regularly qualifying swimmers to the NCAA Championships, and he feels like a guy who has earned a shot at a bigger job. His women have outscored Notre Dame’s many times in recent years (though to be fair, Akron probably has the nicer pool). Given the situation the program is in, bringing in someone with head coaching experience feels like a huge plus, because there’s not a lot of room to learn on the job with regards to culture setting and leading from the front.

ACC Associates

No conference loves poaching each others’ swim coaches as much as the ACC does. Besides Fujan:

Dan Kesler, Associate Head Coach, NC State – Kesler has head coaching experience from Utah Tech, where he was the WAC Coach of the Year. After two years of seasoning at NC State, which has had a lot of success on both the men’s and women’s side, it could be time for him to return to the top. He has a few other things going for him as well: he was an assistant at Florida State (so more ACC ties), and he was an assistant at Arizona State when Bob Bowman was hired – and Bowman decided to keep him around, a rarity in college swimming. Notre Dame’s AD has a background working at NBC before moving into college athletics two years ago, so a call to Bowman might be a thought he has, and given Bowman’s current pedestal in swimming, Kesler could be up next.

Dr. Jack Brown, Associate Head Coach, UNC – This job is coming open just at the right time for Dr. Brown, after the UNC men had a breakthrough year and led all of the traditional ACC programs through 3 days of competition. That’s a spot that Notre Dame would love to be in. Brown also has a PhD in Sport Psychology – which seems like it could be really useful at Notre Dame right now.

Other Random Names

Cincinnati Head Coach Mandi Commons-DiSalle got an interview for the Stanford job, which means she will likely get an interview for this job. Remember that Cincinnati is now a Power 4 program. Mitch Dalton from Texas has been interviewing for head coaching jobs, and could get a look here. Tennessee associate head coach Sarah Collins is a Purdue graduate and was an All-Big Ten swimmer there. Her boss Matt Kredich is a culture king, so she’s been mentored by one of the best in that department.

Brandt Nigro’s building work at Army has been spectacular, and from a culture-rebuild perspective, bringing in the head coach from West Point would be an interesting choice. He hasn’t come up in a ton of big-time coaching searches yet, but this one feels like a good fit.