Western Illinois Hires Naumann to Ressurect Program

They're called the Leathernecks, but you may as well call Western Illinois the Phoenix.  Just weeks after cutting their men's and women's teams, WIU reinstated the programs, and now they've found the man they believe can return them to glory.  Greg Naumann will become the new head coach at Western following a year as an assistant at Truman State.

No stranger to the Quad Cities swimming community, Naumann seeks to return Western to the era when he was a WIU swimmer and coach and the Leathernecks were winning four Mid Continent Championships.

"I think every coach kind of imagines getting a chance to return to their old stomping grounds," he explained.  The past several weeks haven't been easy ones for Western swimmers, but Naumann adds, "all of the pieces are in place to bring stability back to the program."

Key among those pieces is Naumann's connection to the alumni base.  "Everyone's excited," adds Naumann who explains that he's spent hours on the phone with alums in just the past couple of days. 

Naumann returns to Macomb after a year at Truman State.  While there he helped the Bulldog women to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championship meet and a largely scholarshipless men's team to a 20th place finish.  He also helped build an impressive recruiting class.

At Western, he'll have even more scholarships than his previous stop, along with a pair of assistants to work with. 

Prior to his arrival at Truman, Naumann the head swimming coach at Division III Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.  The Davenport, Iowa native also helped develop a handful of Division I swimmers while head coach at the Davenport Metro Swim team.  Prior to that, he led the McDonough County YMCA and also coached the Macomb High School teams.