Ford McLiney will step into the position of head diving coach for the Nebraska swimming and diving team, as announced by Head Coach Pablo Morales on Monday afternoon.
"I am excited to announce the hiring of Ford McLiney as the next head diving coach at Nebraska," Morales said. "Ford brings a combination of a personal high-level diving background, learning from some of the most outstanding people in the dive coaching world, a track record of coaching success at all levels of diving, and standout skills and experience in recruiting."
McLiney has spent the past two seasons as an assistant diving coach for the men’s and women’s teams at the University of Pittsburgh in Philadelphia.
Helping the women to the best finish in Pitt history, McLiney boosted three divers to the NCAA Championships, all with top-40 finishes. The men’s side had two qualifiers among the three boards, in addition.
While serving as a volunteer coach at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., he helped Caroline Knopke make program history as the first Rockhurst swimmer or diver to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships.
As a competitor, McLiney has been a U.S. National Team finalist in all three diving events and has qualified for the Olympics twice. He began his collegiate career at Florida State, where he earned a silver medal on the three-meter board and All-ACC honors at the 2012 ACC Championships.
He spent the remainder of college at Texas A&M and became a two-time SEC champion in his junior season, earning a pair of gold medals on the three-meter springboard and in the platform competition.
McLiney will lead a team of veterans in Abby Baxter, Jordyn Schmucker and Addy Farman, along with Eve Shrader as the newest addition to the squad of divers. McLiney will assume the duties of the head diving coach in hopes of bringing a young team to new heights.
"Ford has great energy, passion, and commitment toward developing not only performance champions but also outstanding people both in and out of the water. He is the ideal hire to continue the line of great diving coaches at Nebraska. I am very excited about the present and future of our diving program," said Morales.