Ryan Mallam will be making a big move up the swim coaching ladder later this year, as he has accepted the position of associate head coach at Arizona State University.
Mallam, who had spent two years as associate head coach for the Texas A&M men’s team, will work with the combined men’s and women’s teams under head coach Bob Bowman’s guidance. The 37-year-old has experience working with blended programs such as Arizona State’s. He was head men’s and women’s coach at Indian River State College, the perennial junior college national champions, from 2010 to 2013. Before that, he first dipped his toes into collegiate coaching with one season at Limestone College.
“I was starstruck when Bob called me,” Mallam said. “He did his homework on me.”
Mallam said he believes a presentation he made on freestyle at a clinic last year made an impression on Bowman, who was in attendance. “If it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have been in the ballpark,” Mallam said.
Mallam has worked with some talented sprinters in his short career as coach. He helped mold Brad Tandy during the South African’s two years at Indian River and worked to get the Texas A&M Aggies higher in the rankings at the NCAA championships and perform well at the conference level. Now, he’ll help Bowman build the Sun Devil program to the same heights as the program looks to return to national-level prominence.
Dan Kessler, who had been working as interim head coach in the weeks since Dorsey Tierney-Walker was fired, will stay on the staff as an assistant coach.
Arizona State confirmed the hire with a press release:
Arizona State swimming head coach Bob Bowman has named former Texas A&M associate head coach Ryan Mallam as the associate head coach of Sun Devil swimming, Bowman announced Wednesday.
“Ryan Mallam is a rising star in the coaching ranks and I am thrilled he has chosen to join us at Arizona State,” said Bowman. “His expertise in technique teaching and sprint coaching will be key elements to the success of our program. The depth of his resume and his previous experience as a head coach at the collegiate level will be a tremendous asset as we move the program forward.”
Spending the past two seasons as the associate head coach of Texas A&M men’s swimming program, Mallam coached the two fastest sprinters in school history. In his first season with the Aggies, Mallam coached sprinter Kyle Troskot to a new Texas A&M school record in the 50 free with a time of 19:32 in 2014. In addition to Troskot, Mallam’s athletes broke seven school records in his first year on staff.
“I am honored Bob [Bowman] asked me to join him at Arizona State,” said Mallam. He has established and executed leadership qualities that many successful coaches have modeled and implemented within their own programs. This will be a monumental shift for the Sun Devil Swimming and Diving program and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Prior to A&M, Mallam served as the head coach of perennial NJCAA powerhouse Indian River State College from 2010-13, where he led both the women’s and men’s teams to three NJCAA National Championships (2011, 2012, 2013). Mallam also had athletes set 19 National records and was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year for both the women and men’s programs in 2012 and 2013.
In 2012, Mallam’s swimmer, Brad Tandy, became the fastest swimmer in the country with a time of 19.06 in the 50 free, the first time an NJCAA athlete set the top time in the country. Tandy won the NJCAA Championship in the 50 and 100 free and was named the NJCAA Male Swimmer of the Year in 2012.
As an athlete, Mallam was a four-year letterman for South Carolina where he qualified for the US Open. In his career, Mallam was a junior national champion, a senior regional champion, and a Georgia state champion.
Mallam is joined at Arizona State by his wife Ashley and son Levi.
This is a huge, huge hire. Impressive work by Bowman. Looks like he is a little more serious about the ASU program than the peanut gallery thought.
Congratulations to Coach Mallam!
Well deserved, Ryan. Congratulations and all our best wishes to both you and your entire family.
Linda Brem