Allyson Sweeney Named Head Coach of Georgia Southern
Allyson Sweeney has been named the head coach of Georgia Southern, just days before the Eagles begin their season.
It’s the first head coaching job for the Texas A&M graduate, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina.
“Thank you to Jared Benko and the Georgia Southern athletic department for entrusting to me the leadership of this program,” Sweeney said in a Georgia Southern press release. “To join a culture intent on cultivating growth and excellence across its student-athletes, coaches, and programs ignites a passion within me. I’d like to express my gratitude to the University of North Carolina & Mark Gangloff — as well as my vast network of mentors and peers, as well as my family and loved ones — for continuing to foster my potential. I’m a living mosaic of many life experiences — ever-growing and evolving. The opportunity to return to home roots in the state of Georgia and build upon the foundations set forth by the administration has me eager to dive in. Let’s get to work! Hail Southern!”
Sweeney comes from a large swimming family, one of six siblings to swim at the Division I level (a seventh played college football after swimming at a high level in high school.) The eldest of the Sweeney clan, she spent much of her childhood in the greater Atlanta area, swimming for Swim Atlanta under Chris Davis.
Sweeney won two Big 12 championships at Texas A&M. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees there, the latter while working as a volunteer assistant coach and strength & conditioning intern with the Aggies.
From Texas A&M, she returned to Swim Atlanta’s Midway training group in Georgia for two years as a head age-group coach. She spent the 2017-18 college season as an assistant coach at Florida Southern while working for Lakeland Area Swimming, then served as a volunteer assistant at Auburn in 2018-19.
“I am thrilled to have Allyson Sweeney join our talented group of head coaches here at Georgia Southern,” Georgia Southern director of athletics Jared Benko said. “As I spoke to coaches from across the nation, her name resonated frequently as one of the top assistant coaches in the country. Through her experiences as a student-athlete at Texas A&M, her coaching experiences with Swim Atlanta and Lakeland Area Swimming, along with her time as an assistant coach at North Carolina, Auburn, and Florida Southern, she has been uniquely prepared to excel in the position of Head Swimming and Diving coach at Georgia Southern University.”
Sweeney completes a Division I coaching edition musical chairs. Amanda Caldwell, who had been hired in 2018, left Georgia Southern earlier this month to take over the head coaching job at Tulane. That post was vacated when Leah Stancil left to become an assistant coach at LSU. Dave Genderalik had taken over Georgia Southern on an interim basis.
Congrats Allyson !! You’ve come a long ways and confident you’ll do a great job. Wonderful person & Sweeney family.