Wheels keep turning on Josh Brooks' coaching hires

Good morning. The Georgia sports year for the 2021-2022 academic year is winding down with Georgia men's and women's track and field teams the last still competing.

Another change to the Bulldogs head coaching roster came this week with legendary swim coach Jack Bauerle retiring after 43 seasons.

Bauerle turned 70 in February and it seemed a matter of when he would walk away, whether it was now or in the next few years. The wheels had been in motion for weeks because the school was ready hours later to announce its next steps to fill his shoes.

It’s another program with a change of leadership under athletic director Josh Brooks who hasn’t even been in his position for a year and a half yet.

That makes six head coaching changes during that time.

Here’s a refresher on each and the move Brooks made as replacements.

Track and field: Petros Kyprianou and Georgia parted ways after seeing differently on major facility upgrades the national championship winning coach wanted. Brooks plucked Southern Cal national title coach Caryl Smith Gilbert away.

Softball: Longtime coach Lu Harris-Champer retired after a trip to the Women’s College World Series. Top assistant Tony Baldwin was promoted. His first Georgia team reached the NCAA tournament but didn’t make it out of the regionals.

Soccer: Billy Lesesne was dismissed after seven seasons after failing to reach the NCAA tournament once. Brooks again went to USC to hire Keidane McAlpine. His first season is months away, but he added some splashy transfers this spring from Washington, Florida State, UCLA, Florida and Wisconsin.

Men’s basketball: Tom Crean was fired after four seasons, the last a miserable 6-26. Brooks made a surprise hire, bringing in Mike White from Florida. He’s rebuilt the roster again with seven newcomers.

Women’s basketball: Popular coach Joni Taylor jumped to another SEC school when she left for Texas A&M. Former Georgia player Katie Abrahamson-Henderson came from UCF and so did several key pieces from that program.

Swimming: Bauerle retired after seven women’s national titles and producing a slew of Olympians and medal winners on both the women’s and men’s side. Stefanie Williams Moreno takes over the women’s program while Neil Versfeld will coach the men. They are both accomplished former Georgia swimmers who were associate head coaches on staff.

“I think Josh relied heavily on Jack’s expertise and guidance about his retirement and what that looked like for the future of Georgia swimming,” Moreno told me on Thursday afternoon. “I’m biased because I feel like Neil and I are the best fit for the University of Georgia because I don’t think you can find anybody who loves this university, bleed red and black. We’re Bulldogs through and through so we couldn’t be (more) thrilled for this opportunity.”

“We definitely jumped at the opportunity to get into the pool and fight for this position,” Versfeld said.

Brooks is headed Friday to Oregon to watch the men’s track and field team—and one of his coaching hires--with a chance to finish near or at the top.

Follow me on Twitter @marcweiszer and email me at mweiszer@onlineathens.com

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Wheels keep turning on Josh Brooks' coaching hires