Morgan Bailey

Title

Head Coach

Morgan Bailey became Cal State Bakersfield's fifth head coach of men's swimming on September 12, 2006, and in doing so, became the first Roadrunner leader to have also competed at the Hillman Aquatics Center.

In addition to Bailey's extensive coaching background, he was also a former swimmer at Cal State Bakersfield from 1989-91 under Coach Ernie Maglischo. He was an NCAA Division II All-American in the 200 freestyle relay after the team placed second at nationals. He was also a three-event conference champion as a freshman before transferring to Oakland University.

When he left Bakersfield, he ranked No. 5 on the Roadrunners' all-time 100 backstroke list and No. 2 on the 200 freestyle relay list.

Bailey has most recently served two seasons as the associate head coach at LSU. He will become the fifth head coach of the Roadrunner men's program that won 13 NCAA Division II titles and is currently transitioning to the NCAA Division I level.

“Cal State Bakersfield has a long tradition of producing champions,” Bailey said. “Today, I am deeply honored as their coach to lead these young men into Division I and to build from the foundation laid by past coaches like Ernie Maglischo, Chuck Warner and Bob Steele.

“The future of Cal State Bakersfield men's swimming and diving is certain to be exciting and I look forward to the years ahead.”

Bakersfield Athletic Director Rudy Carvajal was thrilled to make the announcement.

"We're very excited to have hired someone the caliber of Morgan Bailey from such a respected program as LSU,” Carvajal said. “We are confident that Morgan will be able to take us to the NCAA Division I level with success."

Current LSU Head Coach Adam Schmitt is sad to see his associate head coach leave but is confident that Bailey will succeed at Bakersfield.

“I think Morgan's going to be an excellent coach,” Schmitt said. “He's a strong coach and he learned a lot in his two years here. He was instrumental in taking the program from where it was to where it is now. I know he's going to miss seeing where the program goes from here, but he'll take that knowledge into his work at Bakersfield and show that program some of the things he learned here.

“Morgan is a great leader and a great technician of the sport. I can only see great things happening from his hire.”

Bailey joined the LSU staff in the summer of 2004 after serving as the head senior coach at the Mecklenburg Aquatics Club in Charlotte, N.C. In all, Bailey has eight years of experience as an assistant in the collegiate ranks, and during his coaching stints, he accounted for six national championships as both a swimmer and coach.

As an assistant coach in charge of sprints at Georgia from 1999-2001, Bailey was part of a staff that led the women's team to consecutive SEC and NCAA Division I titles in 2000 and 2001. He was also instrumental in coaching Bulldog All-American Courtney Shealy to an appearance at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Shealy swam in the 100 backstroke and also joined her teammates in winning the gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Bailey also served as an assistant at Auburn from 1997-99 where the Tigers claimed both the men's SEC and NCAA Division I title in 1999. While at Auburn, he served as recruiting coordinator and brought in several of the nation's top swimmers. Prior to his stint with the Tigers, Bailey served as an assistant coach at UNLV from 1995-99.

An outstanding freestyle and backstroke swimmer himself, Bailey was a 23-time All-American at Oakland University and helped the school claim two national titles.

Bailey graduated with a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Oakland in 1995 and later earn his master's degree from Auburn in 1998. The Los Angeles native is married to Katie Bailey and the two have three children, Maxwell (7), John (5), and Mary Mae (1).