SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges sat down with Ben Loorz, the new head coach of swimming & diving at the University of Arizona. Loorz breaks down why this was the right move for both him and his family at this time as well as how he plans to start carrying out his vision for UofA in these first few weeks.
Loorz is coming from UNLV, where he was the head coach for 8 seasons and produced NCAA qualifiers in all of them.
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In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges, Garrett McCaffrey, and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
Congratulations to Ben and his family on the hire and move to Tucson!
We all need to get over the idea that an opening is the job everyone will leave their current one for. Everyone thinks their job is the best. Texas may have more resources than anywhere else, and they heard no a few times. That is true whether Bob was the top choice not. There are people who won’t leave their current job for something the masses think is a better job because it’s not the right fit or not the right time, and sometimes they just really like where they are at. There are jobs that come up and you immediately think of one candidate but not someone else with very similar experience because of connections. So many factors play… Read more »
Comes across as a great guy, he however is not a top 5 coach and highly unlikely to produce at any high level.
Is Arizona a top 5 program? Were you expecting them to pull a top 5 coach?
Braden, this will end up being a “sneaky” good hire!
When AZ hired Frank Busch, they wanted Sam Freas and when Sam turned down the job, he suggested Frank…Frank wasn’t even on their radar! And that turned out to be a great hire.
ASU wasn’t a top 5 program and brought in Bowman and Behm.
Fair point. Although Bowman was a bit of a unique case, and there aren’t many Bowmans floating around out there.
Who do you think is a top 5 coach and would have taken the job? I don’t blame the AD for wanting to turn the page from the Busch coaching tree. So what outsider is there?
Behm was an ASU alum, so maybe Loorz can bring in one of the many Arizona alums as an associate head coach and try to capture some of that energy.
Was Dave Salo a unique case floating around out there? lol
ASU also didn’t have Top 5 resources until Bowman was hired. And it took 7-9 years to become that Top 5 program.
Ben may very well be a “top 5 coach” and He is now at a program that has the resources and history to attract top athletes. It will take time, but there is rich tradition. Don’t forget he coached Kasia Wilk during his time at UNLV.
U of A needs whatever they can get right now. They are nowhere close to a top 5 program at the moment. Did you think they’d go get someone like Braden Holloway or Anthony Nesty? If they wanna return to any sort of success like they used to have they needed to take it slow and steady.
How do you expect people to BECOME top 5 coaches? He may not be considered a top 5 coach yet(what mid-major coach would be?), but that doesn’t mean he can’t become one.
Unlv placed athletes at NCAA’s before Ben. Im not sure, but i dont recall seeing unlv score a single point at ncaa’s while he was at unlv. My point is that im not sure Ben is the turnaround guy people are hoping for.
Arizona is the type of place where stability and good leadership will go a long way towards getting it back on track. Ben can provide that.