A&M's Byrne Hires Holmes, "We're Going to Give Jay a Chance"

By Larry Bowen
Bryan-College Station Eagle

Texas A&M has chosen a new head coach for men’s swimming, although it happened with considerably less splash than the hiring of A&M’s new track and field coach.

A&M director of athletics Bill Byrne said Tuesday he has hired longtime assistant coach Jay Holmes as head coach of the men’s swimming team.

Holmes replaces his former boss Mel Nash, who regretfully agreed to resign two weeks ago.

Byrne said Holmes will be given a year to prove himself.

“We’re going to give Jay a chance to see whether or not he can be the head swimming coach,” - Bill Byrne

“We’re going to give Jay a chance to see whether or not he can be the head swimming coach,” Byrne said. “We’ve named him the head swimming coach for at least the next year."

“A number of our swimmers have come to us and have very strongly supported Jay. We’re going to give him every opportunity to succeed.”

Holmes, 41, swam for the Aggies and spent the last 18 years as Nash’s assistant coach.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Holmes said. “Mel gave me a lot of freedom to do a lot of things. I’ve been trained for this job and I’m ready to go.”

There has been no formal announcement of Holmes’ hiring. There was a press conference Tuesday to introduce new track and field coach Pat Henry, who won 27 national championship at Louisiana State.

Byrne denied speculation that the ouster of Nash was a step toward dropping the men’s swimming program.

“I have no intention of dropping our men’s swimming program,” Byrne said. “We would like to win conference championships and national championships. We have not won either of those in the last 25 years.

“We’re spending almost $2 million a year on our swimming program.  With that kind of investment, I'd like to see some more success." - Bill Byrne

“We’re spending almost $2 million a year on our swimming program. With that kind of investment, I’d like to see more success.”

Nash’s last team finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, giving him nine consecutive Top 25 finishes and 11 overall. A&M’s top finish under Nash was 10th in 1999.

“I know exactly where Bill is coming from,” Holmes said. “I know there are expectations out there, steps that we need to do to continue to keep getting better.

“We’re a top 15 program right now. That is good, but we want to be better than that.”