Courtesy of Trevor Ziegler
Brent MacDonald, Head Coach Xavier University (courtesy of Xavier Athletics)
Welcome back to yet another installment of Coach Confidential! This time around, I got a chance to speak with Xavier University Head Coach Brent MacDonald. Xavier is a recent addition to the Big East Conference and is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Coach MacDonald is in his sixth season as Head Coach of the Musketeers. Switching conferences alone is no small feat, yet in his inaugural 2013-2014 Big East campaign, Coach Brent MacDonald led his men’s program to a conference title. In addition, he was named Coach of the Year after just his first season of competition in the conference. With this honor, Coach MacDonald has been named Coach of the year in both the Atlantic 10 and the Big East.
Coach MacDonald was a 4-year swimmer at Valparaiso University, where he earned a degree in Sports Administration. Before joining Xavier as an assistant coach in 2006, Coach MacDonald held positions at various high schools and club programs. He was named interim head coach at Xavier during the 2008-2009 season. Coach MacDonald also currently serves as the head coach of the Cincinnati Marlins club swim team.
Here’s a look at Xavier head coach Brent MacDonald in this edition of Coach Confidential:
First dual meet opponent as a head coach?
It was a quad meet against Saint Louis, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and IUPUI
What was your major in college?
Sports Administration
What has been your most memorable swimming moment as a head coach?
I love team accomplishments, so probably our Men’s BIG EAST Championship last season. It was great to see all of the guys really come together and swim fast towards a collective goal.
What is your favorite set to give your swimmers?
We do an underwater kick set of 8 x 50, 4 x 75, 2 x 100 and 1 x 200 all halfway underwater off each wall. I probably have my swimmers do that one once a week.
Most embarrassing coaching moment?
During dryland one day our assistant coach had the team doing handstands against the wall. Several people were struggling to muster up the courage to do it. As I watched failed attempts over and over I was determined that it was easier than they were making it look, so I decided I’d show them how it was done. I sent my feet up too aggressively and ended up falling on my head.
What has been the most valuable piece of information you’ve learned from coaching?
To be as adaptable as possible – no 2 seasons or athletes are the same so you have to be able to adjust to a variety of outside factors, injury, illness, academic constraints, etc. Every road block can be overcome if you find the most positive way to go over, under, or around it.
Describe your relationship with swimming growing up:
Hanging around the neighborhood pool everyday over the summers was a big part of my life, but I didn’t really get serious about competitive swimming until High School.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a coach?
I have a brother 5 years younger than me and in the summers growing up, I would go to different sports’ camps. At the end of each day, I would come home and be so excited to teach him what I learned that day, since he wasn’t yet old enough to attend. I think that’s when I realized how much I enjoyed the teaching component of coaching.
Describe your coaching philosophy in 3 words:
Enjoy The Process
As a spectator (or coach), who has been your favorite swimmer to watch (any level)?
Being in Cincinnati, I’ve had the opportunity to watch Josh Schneider swim quite a few times and it is always fast and entertaining.
Are there any individuals who have directly-influenced your coaching style?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had some great coaches as an athlete and worked with some great ones as a coach.
Todd Tobolski-Clay HS(South Bend, IN)
Tom Johnson-Concord Swim Club(Concord, IN)
Rich Wolfred-Noblesville Swim Club/HS
Chris Wolford-Cincinnati Marlins
Dr. Dan Carl who was my college coach at Valparaiso University was by far my biggest influence and a true mentor on a professional and personal level. He is an absolutely brilliant mind in the sport, but was great at showing me how to handle both professional and family life. I’m sure I do something everyday that is in some way an emulation of his style.
Where would you be if you hadn’t become a coach?
I would have wanted to work in professional sports
What are you commonly doing when you are not fulfilling your coaching duties?
Spending time with my Wife Krista, Son Teague(1½), and Daughters Carys(3) and Everly(2 months)
What has been the hardest you have ever laughed as a coach?
We have a Senior on our current team, Carly Davis who is somewhat of a lightning rod for entertaining moments. Her best was as a freshman she completely forgot to bring her luggage with her to the airport as we were heading out on our 10 day training trip. The best part is she DID remember this giant candy cane container filled with licorice. The nonstop jokes that came out of that situation were probably my favorite.
What would you consider to be the key to becoming a successful student-athlete?
Discipline, planning and sacrifice.
What are/were you most excited for in the upcoming season?
Our men’s team received a lot of attention with their Conference victory last year and the defense of that will be both a big challenge and an exciting journey. I also feel our Women’s team has the opportunity to be pretty special this season. It will be fun to see the rest of the year play out.
Favorite dryland activity?
We do reaction a time drill were we put a water bottle between a set of partners and on go they have to be the first one to knock the water bottle away. It gets pretty competitive.
What would you consider a “fun” practice?
I’m sure there is a large discrepancy between what I think is fun and what our team thinks is fun. But anything that is different in our mundane sport can be fun. Whether it’s just swimming a stroke you don’t normally do, drills that are awkward, or creating a game that puts the direction of practice in their hands.
Do you follow any sports other than swimming?
I would say that I’m a pretty big sports fan and follow both pro and college football and basketball, as well as pro baseball pretty consistently. Although I’m a Cubs fan so baseball season is usually over by May for me.
Favorite facility to compete?
Our pool (O’Connor Sports Center) at Xavier has it’s challenges, but I think it truly provides a home pool advantage, which is a neat thing in our sport.
Do you go into a season knowing the type of team atmosphere you want to cultivate, or do you take a more adaptive approach in creating team culture?
I certainly go in each year with basic principles that are the staples of our program. But each team will undoubtedly be different and each season presents its own challenges.
What has been your favorite “toy” to use with your swimmers during practice (useful or dud)?
We’ve been fortunate to get a few more power towers(buckets) lately and I would say I enjoy using those quite a bit.
Trevor Ziegler is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where he also swam for the Minutemen. In addition to being well-immersed in the swimming world, Trevor is also a self-proclaimed pop culture aficionado. He spends most of his time brainstorming how he can write about both his favorite bands/tv shows and swimming in one coherent article.