The University of Utah has announced the hiring of Jordan Taylor to join the men’s and women’s swimming & diving coaching staff. Taylor spent the last 7 seasons as the head coach of NCAA Division II program Carson-Newman University in Johnson City, Tennessee, until last year, where he was a volunteer assistant with the Utes.
He was due to become an assistant for Utah last season, but complications with immigration meant that he wound up spending the season as a volunteer assistant instead.
Jonas Persson, the Utes’ head coach, touted Taylor’s head coaching experience as a big asset to the program.
“I’m very fortunate to have an experienced coach like Jordan on the staff,” said Persson “He has proven himself as a coach, as a recruiter and as a mentor to swimmers and young people. He made a huge impact at Carson Newman and made the team into a nationally recognized program.
“Having an assistant coach with head coaching experience is very valuable to me as the head coach at Utah and he will be a great sounding board for decisions moving forward. I am very confident that our male and female swimmers will respect him and enjoy being coached by him.”
Swimming under interim head coach Ben Young, the Carson-Newman women finished 7th at last year’s NCAA D2 Championships, while the men finished 16th. The women’s effort included two NCAA titles from senior Manon Compagner: in the 100 free (48.97) and the 100 fly (52.45). Both times, incidentally, would’ve been the fastest on Utah’s roster last season by a significant margin (49.79 in the 100 free, 55.80 in the 100 fly).
The Eagles had three top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championships during Taylor’s tenure, more than 100 All-Americans, and more than 50 First Team All-Americans.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue working with the awesome student athletes on the men’s and women’s swim team here at the University of Utah!” said Taylor. “Head coach Jonas has a great vision for the future of the program and I am excited to be able to assist in making that a reality, alongside an enthusiastic and knowledgeable coaching staff. Since my arrival, the Utah swimmers and staff have made me feel right at home and I know we will continue to accomplish great things together! Go UTES!”
Prior to his time at Carson-Newman, Taylor was the lead coach of Warrender Bath Clubs, one of the biggest clubs in Scotland. There, he coached a squad of 19 domestic and international swimmers.
Competitively, Taylor garnered Scottish national titles in multiple events. He also swam for the Scottish national team during his career and was ranked the third-best swimmer in Britain in his main events as an age group swimmer. During his time at University of Edinburgh, the school’s swimming program won the British university/collegiate team title at the national championship in 2010.
He earned his college degree at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with honors and with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Applied Sports Science.
Utah is entering its second season under Persson as a head coach, though person served as an assistant for 8 seasons at Utah across two different stints.
The Utah men finished 6th out of 6 teams at last year’s Pac-12 Championships. They were within striking distance of 5th place USC (14 points) and 4th place Arizona (22.5 points) though. The Utah women were 7th out of 8 teams, placing 13 points behind 6th-place Arizona.
The Utah men sent four swimmers, including individuals Andrei Ungur and Jaek Horner, and some divers to last year’s NCAA Championships. Ungur’s 5th-place finish in the 100 back scored 14 points, which ranked the Utes 27th at the meet. Horner was a senior last season and Ungur was a 5th year.
Andrei Ungur and his brother Paul, also an NCAA qualifier, both started their careers at Carson-Newman before transferring to Utah.
The Utah women picked up 2 points from diver Holly Waxman on 1-meter to finish tied for 39th at the meet.
I also think there are some badly incorrect versions of his coaching experience in Scotland in the above article. He was never the lead coach at Warrender and only ever coached a group of children within the club. None of whom would have been older than 13 (possibly younger) and was nowhere near coaching any of the national or international standard athletes. Credit where it’s due for getting the job, but the man coached nobody in Scotland and it shouldn’t be cliamed that he did.
Coach Taylor is a great leader and I have the privilege to coach by his side and learn from his knowledge! He is a great mentor and friend!
Get ready to lose to byu
That’s funny
Was Taylor there in a volunteer role for the year? CN had his previous assistant named interim HC in the fall and officially HC in February.
https://www.cneagles.com/sports/m-swimonly/2022-23/releases/20220803hmf91j
Hmmm you’re right. Something doesn’t add up (because Utah says he was there for 7 years, and he was made HC in 2016, and his Linkedin says he was there until this month).
I’ll reach out and figure it out.
He did NOT coach at CN this year, interim head coach was named in August.
Worth noting that both Ungur brothers started at Carson-Newman before transferring to Utah
Ooooh good note, I had forgotten about that. Added it above, thanks.