Hall of Fame Player Merrill Moses Promoted to Pepperdine Water Polo Head Coach
Merrill Moses, a Hall of Fame player and the associate head coach of Pepperdine men’s water polo program, has been promoted to the top job.
Moses will replace his mentor, Terry Schroeder, who will transition to an associate head coach role in 2024, his 32nd season with the program.
Moses is a three-time Olympian goalkeeper who played for Schroeder with the Waves, where he was an All-American and a member of the 1997 national championship team. Moses, 46, was on the U.S. Olympic teams in 2008, 2012 and 2016, winning a silver medal at the former.
“I am extremely honored and excited to be named the head coach for the Pepperdine men’s water polo,” Moses said in a university statement. “I would like to thank President Gash, Tim Perrin, Steve Potts and coach Terry Schroeder for believing in me and giving me this opportunity to lead one of the top Division I water polo programs in the country. It was always a dream of mine to come back to my alma mater and coach the program that meant so much to me and made me the man I am today. I plan to continue to coach the program with the core values we have in place and have our athletes continue to excel and be successful in the pool and in the classroom.”
Moses returned to Pepperdine in 2012 to join the coaching staff. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2017. Moses was inducted to the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
The Waves have gone 179-138 with Moses on staff. He served as the interim head coach in an 11-13 season in 2012.
Schroeder this year crossed 500 career victories. He has a career record of 508-345, including 340-220 over his first 20 seasons. The 1997 national coach of the year was a five-time conference coach of the year across three different leagues, most recently in the Golden Coast Conference in 2019.
Schroeder is a 2002 inductee to the International Swimming Hall of Fame and joined the U.S. Water Polo Hall in 1998.
“First of all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to Pepperdine for giving me the incredible opportunity to be the head coach for the past three decades,” Schroeder said. “It has been a huge honor and I have loved working with so many great coaches, athletes and administrators. I am excited for a new chapter of Pepperdine water polo. I had the opportunity to coach Merrill at Pepperdine in the 90’s and then with our Olympic team in 2008 and 2012. Merrill was a great leader in the pool and over the past 12 years he has been my associate head coach. I have watched him grow as a man and a coach and now it is his time to take over this program and lead Pepperdine to a new level of success. Merrill has a great vision of where he wants to lead the program and I am 100% behind him. I am here to support him in any way that I can as he takes over as the new head coach”.
Moses played professionally in Croatia, Italy and Spain. The native of Rancho Palos Verdes won Pan Am Games gold medals in 2007, 2011 and 2015. He helped the U.S. finish in the top five of the FINA World Super League Finals on eight occasions.