Nine years ago, the University of Evansville set out to rebuild a volleyball program and entrusted the process to an experienced coach who had proven he knew how to win. In the years following the hire, Mike Swan has built Evansville into a Missouri Valley Conference contender and established himself as one of the sport’s top coaches.
Swan has put together a nucleus of players that are in position to compete at the highest level in the MVC. In 2013, the Aces will return junior Ashley Ring, who was named to the All-Freshman Team in 2011 before she garnered Scholar-Athlete Team honors as a sophomore.
While the performance Swan gets out of his players on the floor is top notch, their efforts in the classroom are also unmatched. For the seventh time in the last eight years, Swan's teams have received the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. His squad posted a 3.52 GPA last year.
It didn’t take long for Swan to see that the Evansville campus and community was a match for him as a professional and in his everyday life. The 2012 season marked Swan’s longest coaching tenure at one school.
“Evansville just proves to be a great fit for me,” Swan said. “It continues to improve, and I feel more confident that this is a great place to be in and the right fit for me. I consistently have great assistants to help challenge the players, which is also an extra bonus.
“With the small environment and the friendships I have made with the coaches and the community, I continue to love it here at Evansville,” Swan said. “It just has so much to offer for me personally.”
When first arriving at Evansville in January of 2003, Swan inherited a team that had just won five games the previous season. Although it would be a major obstacle in Swan’s career, he quickly turned the program in a new direction. After two seasons with the Aces, he more than doubled Evansville’s 2002 win total.
Before his time at UE, Swan had proven that he was a winner. While at Morehead State, Swan was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 and led the school to second-place OVC finishes in both 2001 and 2002. In his final three seasons with the Eagles, Swan’s teams were averaging over 20 wins per season and posted regional rankings during his last two campaigns at MSU.
Swan’s defensive mindset also played a tremendous role for Morehead State as the school was ranked among the nation’s leaders in digs per game in four out of Swan’s five seasons as head coach. Twice Swan took the Eagles as high as second in the nation in digs per game, including his final season when the team averaged 21.4 digs per game.
Prior to taking over the helm at Morehead State, Swan spent a season at NCAA Division II American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the Yellow Jackets recorded a 23-10 mark in 1997.
A native to the state of Indiana, Swan was called upon to resurrect a program that had fallen on hard times in his home state. Swan brought his golden touch to Manchester College and guided a school that had only won two matches one season before to its second-highest victory total ever after three seasons.
Swan also directed the teams at Huntington College to new heights during his eight-year tenure with the Foresters. As head coach, he guided Huntington to national prominence at the NAIA level. In 1993, Swan led the program to a 36-9 overall record, No. 11 national ranking and an appearance in the NAIA national championship tournament. Named conference “Coach of the Year” in seven out of his eight seasons at Huntington, Swan’s highest honor came after the 1993 campaign as he was named Mid-East Region Coach of the Year.
Swan’s head coaching career began at Southwood High School in Wabash, Indiana, where he led the Knights to a 115-37 mark in six seasons and helped Southwood reach the state semifinals in 1983.
A product of Lagro, Indiana, Swan graduated from Manchester College in 1979 with a degree in Secondary Education. He is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and has a Level II certification through the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA).
Career Highlights:
*2001 OVC Coach of the Year
*Ranks in the nation’s Top 40 in victories among active Division I coaches
*14 Post-season Tournament Appearances
*Seven Conference Championships
