Updated 1/27: The Travis County prosecutor has rejected the charges in this case.
Chris Collier, the former head coach of The Woodlands Swim Team in Houston, Texas, was arrested on accusations of two offenses stemming from the night of Dec. 8, 2021, in Austin.
Collier was arrested on accusations of “Assault – Causes Bodily Injury – Family Violence,” as well as criminal mischief of between $750 and $2,500, according to court records.
As of Thursday morning, a hearing was still listed on the Travis County Docket for March 10; however, other court records accessed by SwimSwam on Thursday afternoon note that a March 10 hearing in the case was on the docket in error.
Collier was released on $5000 bond on December 9, but on January 13, the prosecutor filed paperwork to reject the charges. A week later, the bond was exonerated.
The date of Collier’s arrest coincides with USA Swimming’s Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West, which took place in Austin from Dec. 8-11. The Woodlands Swim Team sent seven swimmers to the meet.
A few days after the arrest, on Dec. 14, Jarrod Murphy was named the club’s interim head coach, with the team’s board not providing any additional information regarding Collier’s departure other than saying he was “no longer with the team” and thanking him for his contributions.
Collier has since taken a new job with Blue Tide Aquatics.
Earlier this week, The Woodlands Swim Team removed the interim tag and named Murphy the club’s new head coach.
Collier joined The Woodlands in August of 2019 after spending time as a collegiate coach at both Alabama and Wisconsin. The program saw steady improvement during Collier’s tenure, moving from 110th nationally in USA Swimming’s Virtual Club Championships rankings the season before his arrival, to 77th in his first season and 61st in his second.
SwimSwam has reached out to both Collier directly and his attorney. His attorney hasn’t responded other than to deny the story.
The TWST board members should all be fired. They knew all along Collier was trouble, he treated the female swimmers poorly, some have left or quit all together, despite all the complaints the board did absolutely nothing.
Come out to Austin, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.
First Coley, then Chris. Whoeverr hires for the swim program must be dealt with. I lost my spot on the team because of these coaches and it’s great to see them caught finally. Justice has been served without us even us Bama swimmers having to tell the truth! These coaches sucked and should never be allowed to coach again, period
Maybe you should have made yourself indispensable to the team? Sounds like you kinda sucked.
It all started in Delaware!
Surprised he hasn’t been suspended by SafeSport. An arrest for domestic violence should result in a temp suspension.
Arrested but not charged by the prosecuter makes a whole helluva lotta difference.
Would you know this because of your own personal experience?
For criminal charges, absolutely, Longhorn is right …. “not charged by the prosecutor” certainly bodes well for staying out of The Big House.
An arrest for accusations of alleged assault/alleged bodily injury/alleged family violence, followed by an immediate announcement of his adios from Woodlands? Bodes not so well.
Lot of these comments not aging well.. https://staging.swimswam.com/the-woodlands-swim-team-hires-chris-collier-as-new-head-coach/
The TWST board has a history of making horrible coaching decisions. They’ve gone from being a staple in the top 3 at TAGS and a USA Swimming Gold Club to entirely avoiding TAGS this season and going years unranked despite one of the nicest facilities in the state (and lots of elite talent in the immediate area). It really is a shame what that parent board and a few bad hires can do.
It’s also somewhat humoring that this same board hired an Erik in the past and this same coach Collier fired him. Coincedence?
Yikes