Jeff DiNicola

Jeff DiNicola enters his second season as Nebraska's head diving coach.

Now with a year under his belt, DiNicola is looking to build on his many successes from his first season at Nebraska.

"I am looking forward to Amie Buoy having a standout year. The team has a great attitude and work ethic. I think it will pay off not only for Buoy, but for the rest of the team this year."

DiNicola came to Nebraska from New Mexico where he led the Lobos diving corps for three seasons. Under his guidance, New Mexico sent at least one diver to the NCAA Zone Diving Championships each season, including two his final year. He continued that streak when Buoy qualified for the NCAA Zone meet last year, giving him at least one qualifier for the meet every year he has coached. He looks at that accomplishment as a step on the way to the NCAA's.

"I feel that NU will be able to send a diver to the NCAA's on a regular basis. With the strong history in all the sports here and great support that this university is able to offer to the student-athlete, I see this as an achievable goal for this program. With the new attitude that the diving athletes have in the program this year, not having a coach transition at the start of the season, I feel that this program will take that next step of training and commitment it will take to get to the next level of NCAA's."

At New Mexico, DiNicola was named Mountain West Conference Diving Coach of the Year in 2003 while coaching Becca Barras (one meter) and Tracey Berghian (three meter) to league titles and conference co-divers-of-the-year honors.

DiNicola accomplished all of this while reviving a program in 2000 that had been discontinued since 1994.

Prior to arriving in Albuquerque, DiNicola spent one season at his alma mater, Southwest Missouri State. While at SMS from 1999 to 2000, DiNicola earned the Missouri Valley Conference Diving Coach-of-the-Year honor in 2000, coaching a diver of the year and helping another to runner-up conference honors on both springboards. DiNicola coached all six men and three of four women to top-10 finishes at the conference meet.

A three-time Missouri Valley Conference selection at Southwest Missouri State, DiNicola was also a two-time conference diver of the year at SMS.

This past summer, DiNicola ran his first diving camp at Nebraska after helping at the University of Texas summer camp for three years. His first camp at NU was a quality, high-level camp equal to the other long-established summer camp programs around the country.

DiNicola received his degree from SMS in drafting and design with options in architectural/civil and mechanical engineering with a minor in construction.

DiNicola is married to the former Vanessa Hunt.