Arizona Parts Ways with Head Coach Augie Busch
The University of Arizona announced late Friday that Augie Busch will not return as head coach next season.
Busch was hired as head coach in 2017. He had been an assistant coach in Tucson from 2003-11 before head coaching stints at the University of Houston and the University of Virginia.
“We thank Coach Busch for his service to Arizona and wish him well in the future,” athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a university statement. “Our Swimming and Diving program has a championship legacy, an outstanding home facility in the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center and incredible support, and we are confident that we will attract elite candidates. We will work quickly to find a new head coach who is the best fit to continue building our championship culture.”
The Wildcats finished fourth in the men’s standings at the final Pac-12 Championships. The women were seventh out of eight teams.
Arizona’s men’s team tied for 19th place at NCAAs, with scorers in diving and honorable mention All-American relay teams in the 400 medley and 200 medley. The women’s team did not score at NCAAs.
Busch graduated from Arizona in 1998. He started his coaching career in 1996 as an assistant for Hillenbrand Aquatics (now Ford Aquatics). He was a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona from 1998-01.
I bet Amanda Beard is named the new Head Coach.