When Ben Lortz received an email from Arizona State Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois asking if he was interested in becoming the open swimming and diving coach for the Wildcats, there was no hesitation.
As he said Monday morning during his induction press conference at the McKale Center, “Of course, swimming and diving is at the University of Arizona. How can you say 'no' to an invitation like that?”
Lolts, who most recently coached UNLV's men's and women's teams, said yes again to Reed-Francois when asked if he would be Arizona's new head coach after less than two weeks of searching. I had no choice but to answer. .
“I think so many great divers have visited this place over the past few decades, and it's an honor to be standing here,” Lolts said.
Lorz replaces Augie Busch, who was fired May 3 after seven seasons at the helm of UA's men's and women's programs. Busch previously served as an assistant coach for her father, UA coaching legend Frank Busch, who led the storied program to the men's and women's national championships in 2008. .
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Lolts comes to Tucson after leading UNLV's men's and women's teams to five conference championships in eight years. He was also named WAC Coach of the Year (men's team) for the fourth consecutive year and was named Mountain West Women's Coach of the Year this season. UNLV's men's and women's teams compete in two different leagues.
After introducing Rooltz Monday morning, Reed-Francois stood aside and smiled at his first Arizona hire. She found the perfect person to take over the program. He checked all the boxes, including putting the athlete first. Before she began interviewing candidates for this position, she spoke with all of her UA swimmers to understand what she wanted from her next coach.
Reid-Francois watched Lortz up close while he was the AD at UNLV from 2017 to 2021. Reid-Francois and Lortz formed a strong bond during that time.
“Desiree led the athletic department and I led the team during the pandemic,” Roortz said. “Swimming, like any sport, has been tough. A lot of pools were closed. We couldn't do much. We had to keep our student-athletes motivated and during that period, this was worth it. It took a lot of time to get them to understand that.
“I know Desiree worked really hard, and I worked really hard. By understanding what it takes to lay it all out for our student-athletes, we I think we were able to deepen our bond.”
Lolts added that he likes her leadership style.
“Her expectations are high, which is a good fit for me. I like how student-athlete-centric and focused she is.”
One of his former swimmers came to the pool last week to say goodbye and said he had stopped by Reed-François' office several times when he was a high school senior, and she always came to talk to him. He told me a story about how he had stopped what he was doing. .
“It meant a lot to me,” the former swimmer said. “He was the only athletic director in my career who did it that way.”
Lortz said the key to his coaching philosophy is teaching.
“I believe that all of our student-athletes need to be well-educated, well-trained and well-coached,” Roortz said. “There are a lot of Division I programs out there, and they're just recruiting people to train people. It works up to a point, but I don't think it comes close to the true potential of an athletic program. .
“We're going to teach our athletes not only technique, but also time,” he added. “It's just how to make a living and do business better. Taking the time to coach them means taking care of them, the whole human being, and we're going to train them hard.” ”
Roorz will have several weeks to assemble his staff, as the recruiting period begins June 15, which coincidentally coincides with the U.S. Olympic trials for the Paris Games, which begin at the end of July. .
Current staff will remain in place to continue coaching the UA Olympic candidates and maintain stability. At this point, it's unclear whether Roorz will retain any of them.
Roeltz has been strict with his staff, saying he wants people who are well-rounded in character, in line with Reid Francois' new UA standards of being “hungry, humble, smart and hardworking.”
“We need people who can see around the corner and are willing to put in the time seriously,” Roortz said. “When I was at UNLV, just a little anecdote, we had the most diverse staff in swimming and diving in the NCAA. And that's important to me. Diversity in every sense of the word, not necessarily racially, Not only are the coaches different in terms of ethnicity, but they are also different in age, gender, and personality.
“I think student-athletes need that,” he said. “We have a diverse staff and every member of our team can find someone to connect with.”
As the first hire of the Reed-Francois era, she did not take this hire lightly, even though the search seemed to be done quickly. She was less than two weeks old. First, she started by talking to all the swimmers to get their input on what qualities she would look for in her next coach as she created a candidate profile. Then a committee that included her, former UA softball coach and former interim AD Mike Candrea, and current assistant swimming coach Amanda Beard got to work.
Former UA standout Beard, an NCAA champion and seven-time Olympic medalist, reached out to people she knew in the swimming world to get to know Roortz.
“I couldn't find anyone who had a bad thing to say about him,” Beard said.
“When I told him that today, he was like, 'Well, there's people in there.' He's like, 'Well, we haven't found them yet.' The people that I've reached out to to sort out who he is, his coaching style, his personality, etc., have great things to say about him, and they're very well-respected (and) in the swimming community. I have been here for 30 years. It takes years,” she said. “I trusted their feedback. The time I got to talk to him was great, he was positive, he cared about the student-athletes, and that's going to be great for these kids.”
Contact sports reporter PJ Brown at pjbrown@tucson.com. X(Twitter): @PJBrown09