UNLV has given former top assistant Bobby Folan a half-step promotion and named him the interim head coach, the school announced on Friday. He takes over for Jim Reitz, who announced his retirement three weeks ago after 35 years at the helm of the Rebel swimming program.
“After an evaluation of the program following Jim’s retirement we felt that naming Bobby as an interim coach was the best direction at this time to help keep the team performing at the high levels they have been at,” said UNLV Director of Athletics Tina Kunzer-Murphy.
Reitz has spent three seasons as UNLV’s top assistant after coming from four years spent coaching in Australia, including as the head coach of the University of Sydney.
Folan’s time at UNLV has been met with success, including three consecutive conference championships (one in the MPSF, two in the WAC) for the men’s team and a program-best 19th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships.
He’ll also take over the regins of the women’s program, which, while it’s had some bright moments during Folan’s time, was only 5th at the Mountain West Conference Championships last season.
As an athlete Folan was a four-time Big East Academic All-Star selection while swimming at UConn from 2001-2005, and then went on to the University of Texas where he received a master’s of education degree and served as a volunteer assistant for the Texas men’s team.
Congrats Bobby! I am sure you, your staff and the team will work together to take the Rebels to the next level!
Best of luck!
That’s great news! Bobby is the best coach we ever had in this program! This team is ready to take the next step! I hope he find himself a better assistant and recruiter than the actual one.