By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
We’re still a couple weeks out from championship season, but the coaching carousel has already started turning in advance of next season. Steve Bultman, the Aggie women’s head coach for the last 25 years, has announced his retirement.
The Texas A&M women have struggled on the national and conference level the last few seasons. But Bultman is credited for bringing into the national conversation in the first place. The Aggie women had never won a conference title before he arrived, and now they’ve won 4 in the Big-12 (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012) and 4 in the SEC (2016-2019). In 2017, they earned their program-best 3rd place finish at NCAAs after a four year run of 4th place finishes.
This job opening comes at a moment of transition for the Texas A&M athletic department. Their moss recent athletics director Ross Bjork just left for Ohio State, so, it’s unlikely that much resource allocation will change before they hire a new AD. As one of the biggest athletics departments in the United States, it’s a huge job, and that role’s first focus will be righting the ship with its football program, given that no program in history has ever spent so much money to achieve so little on-field success.
Ultimately, the nature of this hire might come down to whether the new AD treats this like a ‘top 5′ job or more like a top 20-25 job, which is where the Aggies have finished nationally the last few seasons. The fact that the University of Texas’ men’s head coaching job is coming open at the same time further complicates the search.
Given the options the new AD will have for how they choose to approach the hire, there are a number of people we could see being in the conversation for the job.
Already Aggies
If the athletic department want to hire from the inside, there are a couple routes to go. Texas A&M is a split program but for the sake of the exercise, we’re operating under the assumption that the women’s team will not get folded in with the men’s team under Jay Holmes.
- Jason Calanog, Men’s Associate Head Coach — Calanog has been at Texas A&M since 2015 and has brought a ton of energy into the program. His arrival coincided with the Aggies return to the top 25 at NCAAs. He’s been with the team through highs like breaking into the top-10 for the first time in 2021 and plummeting back down the standings the next year. The Aggie men have been rebuilding the last two years and look poised to make a run at returning to the top 10. That’s a lot of experience for Calanog during his tenure in College Station, who also coaches Beryl Gastaldello. All of that is a boost to his resume if he’s looking for his first head coaching gig.
- Caroline Stanek, Women’s Associate Head Coach — A Texas A&M alum, Stanek rejoined the Aggies in 2021. She was just promoted to associate head coach this season, which an AD may take as a sign she needs more experience before becoming a head coach. Prior to returning to Texas A&M, she spent three seasons as an assistant coach at LSU and another three at Miami.
- Tracy Slusser, a former longtime Bultman assistant who most recently was an associate head at Stanford, seems like an obvious choice, but after leaving Stanford last season without another job, it appears as though she’s taking a break from coaching right now. If she was seeking a head coaching job, she probably would have had one by now, and her husband has a fairly high-ranking career in the auto industry in California.
Head Coaches
- Tanica Jamison, Houston — Would Jamison return to Texas A&M? She worked with Bultman for 10 years during the height of the program, first as an assistant head coach and then as an associate head coach. Since 2021, she’s helmed the Houston women’s team. She’s led them to three AAC conference titles (2021-23), continuing their winning streak which began in 2016. Jamison knows how to win, and she knows how to do it at Texas A&M, which makes her a strong candidate if she wants to return to College Station and help rebuild.
- Brian Peresie, Akron — Much like Bultman did at Texas A&M, Peresie has built the Akron women into a Division I mid-major powerhouse. They’re one of the top mid-major programs in the country and routinely send swimmers to NCAAs. They’ve won the MAC conference title in nine of Peresie’s 10 seasons. Peresie is now in his 11th season at Akron; he’s been there a while so it could turn out that he’s either not interested in moving or is ready for a change. If it’s the latter, then Peresie has the kind of record that would make him a serious candidate.
- Matt Leach, Washington State University — Leach has had lots of success at WSU since being hired in 2018. The Cougars have continued to build. During Leach’s tenure, they’ve earned their program’s highest points total 2021), their first PAC-12 champion (2021), and had freshmen qualify for NCAAs for the first time in program history (2023). The PAC-12 has crumbled, and this could be an opportunity for Leach to coach in a competitive conference.
A Top Tier Assistant
- Mitch Dalton, Texas Women’s Associate Head Coach — Dalton is well-liked and has deep recruiting connections from his stint as the USA National Junior Team coach. He’s been in Austin for four season now, and has an additional seven years of experience from coaching at Princeton and George Washington. The Texas women have built themselves into the #2 women’s program in the country. If Dalton is ready for a head coaching gig, then luring Dalton away from their in-state rival could be a good move for Texas A&M.
SwimSwam: Wild Speculation: Who Will Take Over For Steve Bultman With The Texas A&M Women?
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