Coaches Who Prove You Do Not Have To Have Been a Standout Wrestler To Be a Standout Coach

 Without a doubt there are many  coaches in NCAA Division I wrestling today who are having outstanding coaching careers, who had stellar careers as wrestlers themselves.    Four time NCAA champion Cael Sanderson at Penn State and three time NCAA champion Tom Brands at the University of Iowa are more than proving that.   However,  it is most certainly not a prerequisite for coaching success.   There have been, there will be more and there currently are a multitude of coaches that had less than stellar careers as competitors themselves but either have or are making names for themselves as coaches.    Where we as the wrestling community got this inaccurate and funny idea in our head that an individual has to have been a tremendous wrestler in order to turn out as a tremendous coach, is anyone's guess.   All that is certain, is that it is not true. 

Here are a list of current NCAA coaches who are doing an outstanding job as coaches, who they themselves were not standout wrestlers.

Tom Borrelli
Central Michigan


If you look up Coach Borelli's collegiate credentials as a wrestler, you won't find a whole lot to talk about.   He was a varsity wrestler at the Citadel and had a respectable record, but he never won an NCAA title.  Matter of fact, he didn't even qualify for the NCAA championships.   Yet as a coach, he has won 14 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Titles, including 11 in a row.   He has coached 80 MAC champions and won MAC coach of the year honors 12 times.   During his tenure at Central Michigan University, Coach Borrelli's squad has owned the MAC all but the last two years.   With the addition of Missouri, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion to the conference, some adjustments are currently being made.   It'll only be a short period of time before Coach Borrelli has Central Michigan contending for the title again.    Now imagine if you will had he not been given the opportunity to Coach simply because of his lack of credentials as a wrestler?

Rob Hjerling
The Citadel

Coach Hjerling was a two time conference champion while in college, which is an outstanding achievement in its own right, but lets face the truth.  In the world of NCAA Division I wrestling, what fans care about and remember is who did what at the NCAA tournament.  Despite having never been an All American himself, Coach Hjerling was able to do something for The Citadel that had never happened before in program history.   In 2006 he helped lead Dan "Buddy" Thompson to All American honors, to become the schools first ever.   Since then, he's also lead Ugi Kishigynam, Odie Delaney and Turtogtokh Luvsandorj to All American status as well.  

Jay Weiss
Harvard

Coach Weiss quietly qualified for the NCAA tournament his last two years at Franklin and Marshall, and that about sums up his collegiate wrestling credentials.   Yet, when he took over the program at Harvard, he took a team that only had a total of 7 All Americans in 80 years and has since produced 19 All Americans, nearly at least one every year.    He has also coached 17 EIWA champions and been named EIWA coach of the year twice.

Brian Smith
Missouri

Amongst the coaches who contended for an NCAA championship last season and who will contend for an NCAA championship this season, Coach Smith has the least impressive accolades as a wrestler.  He never won an NCAA title as a wrestler.  He qualified for the tournament three times, but he never placed.   Yet, what he has done as a coach at the University of Missouri, is that of legend.  He took over the Syracuse program and left a sinking ship, that finally foundered in 2001.  When he arrived at Missouri, it looked as if he were about to face the same fate.  Administration at Missouri thought of dropping the Tiger wrestling program and if it had not been for Coach Smith, they most likely would have.   Coach Smith took a dying program and year by year built them into a national powerhouse.  Missouri has won the last four MAC conference championships and last year's National Duals title.   Missouri will most likely win a team title before Coach Smith retires.  Not bad for a guy who was never an All American himself.

Jason Borrelli
Stanford

Like father like son, Jason Borrelli is continuously building his resume as a coach at Stanford, the same way his father has built his as Central Michigan.   Considering that Borrelli's best finish in college was a R12 finish his senior year at the 2006, many fans thought that Stanford's hiring of him, was premature.  After all, he himself was never a standout wrestler, how could he coach others to be?  Individuals in the wrestling community often have a way of shutting mouths and proving people wrong, and that is exactly what Coach Borrelli has been doing since his arrival at Stanford.   In seven years as head coach, Borrelli has had 6 All Americans, and 9 PAC-12 champions.   Two time NCAA finalist Nick Amuchastegui was the first in school history.   The 11th place finish in 2011, was the highest in school history.   While Coach Borrelli has yet to upend Jim Zalesky and the Oregon State Beavers for a conference title, he has been right in the hunt.   It is only a matter of time before the Cardinal bring home a team title.

Pat Popolizio
North Carolina State

Much like Jason Borrelli, Coach Pat Popolizio's lack of wrestling credentials as a wrestler caused him to face an amplitude of doubters when he took over the head coaching position at Binghamton.  He quickly silenced them as he began breaking records at Binghamton left and right, including winning the 2010 CAA team title and being twice named the CAA head coach of the year.  If that weren't impressive enough, he took hold of the wrestler's academics and produced the highest GPA that the wrestling team had ever had.  Now, he is over at North Carolina State doing the exact same thing.    This past season he lead the Wolfpack to it's highest finish since 1993.  It's only a matter of time before North Carolina State more or less owns the Athletic Coast Conference.  Look for Coach Popolizio to win the 2016 Coach of the year.   Not bad for a guy who's best finish was a R12 his senior year in 2002.




THE FUTURE

Tony Ersland
Purdue

Ersland is still a rookie head coach at Purdue, so he hasn't quite had time to show off what he's made off, but it'll only be a matter of time before he does.  At one time the boilermakers contended with Indiana and Michigan State to see who slept in the basement of the BIG 10.  Under coach Ersland, look for Purdue to instead fight for top four finishes year in and year out.  While he himself fell short of All American honors, he'll coach plenty during his time as coach.

Sam Barber
Air Force

There's not a whole lot to say about Coach Barber's wrestling career.  He wrestled at Upper Iowa University and I do not believe he ever made All American during his time there.  However as a coach he's more than proven himself.   In Division III he coached Augsburg to a DIII NCAA title in 2007.  In 2006 he was named assistant coach of the year.   He's now trying his hand at coaching Division I, at Air Force.  Look for coach Barber to have many NCAA qualifiers in the years to come.

Kevin Ward
Army

Add to the list of those who were doubted, Coach Ward.   Another wrestler who only qualified for the NCAA championships twice, Coach Ward took the Ouachita Baptist to a tremendous showing from scratch.    He coached 10 All Americans and two NCAA DII finalist in just three years.  He was named the 2014 DII coach of the year.   Now, Coach Ward is taking his coaching talents to the Army.  Look for the Black Knights to likely have some of the best over all seasons, EIWA finishes and NCAA finishes they ever had.