Those who know about the immense history of success within the swimming and diving program at Texas likely also know the names of former men’s head coach Eddie Reese and women’s head coach Carol Capitani. However, beyond the swim and dive community, there is one name that doesn’t always receive the same recognition.
Men’s and women’s diving head coach Matt Scoggin has coached at Texas for over 30 years now, bolstering a strong program and developing many divers that have gone on to become Olympians.
Scoggin earned the title of College Swimming and Diving Coaches’ Association of America Division I Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year in March. Scoggin has now received the award six times on the women’s side and six times on the men’s side.
This year at the NCAA National Championships, the Texas women’s diving team led the field and accumulated 92 points as a team. On the men’s side, freshman Jacob Welsh finished 12th overall in the platform dive and earned All-American honors for his fourth overall finish in the 3-meter dive.
“I would venture to say I probably coached him (Welsh) maybe 62 days this season, when I coached everyone else about 144 days because he was dealing with a lot of injuries,” Scoggin said. “Then he goes to NCAAs, the meet of the season, and knocks it over the fence.”
Due to having a relatively small number of divers, Scoggin is able to connect to athletes on a more personal level and make sure that his athletes are accounted for both in the pool and out. One such athlete is freshman Alejandra Estudillo Torres, who is originally from Ixtacomitán, Chiapas, Mexico, and moved to Austin in January after being recruited by Texas.
As if joining a new program halfway through the season wasn’t challenging enough, Torres also had to adapt to taking classes that aren’t taught in Spanish, her first language. Scoggin noted that support from teammates, coaches and advisors helped her make the transition.
“What’s really fun for the team and myself and staff to see is that she’ll write down a goal, and then she’ll do the work to achieve it, and then when it doesn’t go well for whatever reason, she’ll just get right back to work,” he said.
Under Scoggins’ guidance, Torres went on to earn an NCAA title in her first national meet after recording a season best of 389.40 points, along with two second-place finishes in the 3-meter and platform events at the Southeastern Conference Championships.
Scoggin recognizes that the hours to get to that level of success aren’t easy, with morning practice two to three days a week and evening diving sessions, too. However, he notes that Texas athletes have access to the “very best” trainers, academic advisors and supervisors, money can buy, and that business isn’t always a bad thing.
“They’ll realize that the busier you are and the more focused you are on all your goals, and if you just get to work all day long, make sure you get appropriate sleep, then you are the most productive, and you can really reach your goal separately,” Scoggin said.
As a former Longhorn diver himself, Scoggin speaks from experience when it comes to sports-life balance. He served as team captain at Texas in 1983 and 1984, earned the title of U.S. 10-meter national champion four times and reached the finals in the 10-meter at the 1992 Olympics as a team captain.
Scoggin has spent over 30 years helping the next generations of divers reach the same heights as he did.
“As we neared the end of the season, NCAA zones, NCAAs, (my greatest joy) is just seeing these young men and women manage failures, successes and being relentless and optimistic about their next opportunity,” Scoggin said.
