AUBURN, Alabama, June 23. PENN State head coach John Hargis has accepted the position of associate head coach with the Auburn swimming program according to a report by Onward State. Hargis replaces Frank Bradley, who left the Tigers earlier this year to become the head coach at Florida State.
Hargis is coming back home with the move, having swum with Auburn in the late 90s. He is also leaving a strong head coaching position to move into an assistant position, having headed up the Penn State program since 2008. He's also spent time coaching at UALR and UNLV with a stint as an assistant with the Nittany Lions in between.
Hargis has had success at Penn State, having mentored Patrick Schirk to the World University Games, and leading Penn State to strong finishes at the 2013 NCAA Championships with the men finishing 20th overall, while the women cracked the top 30 with a 29th-place finish.
With just a few months to do it, Penn State will need to work hard to replace Hargis heading into next season. PSU, however, has had a lot of practice lately with Hargis now its third head coach to resign in the last month.