Truman Welcomes Two New Head Coaches
The Truman State University’s athletic department welcomed two new head coaches to the Bulldog family this year. The men’s and women’s swim teams added head coach Ethan Spencer, who was formerly an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast University and Old Dominion University. Former assistant coach, Jon Gooch, was hired for the head tennis coaching job. Both Spencer and Gooch are taking over as head coaches for the first time in their respective careers.
Spencer came to the University after serving as an assistant at two different Div. I schools. He also competed as a college athlete at DePauw University, graduating in 2023.
Spencer said he was enthusiastic about this opportunity to coach at Truman and shared what he wants to bring to the program.
“I hope to bring a blend of, what I would say is, intentional coaching with creativity, thinking out of the box, distinct by design, like Truman,” Spencer said. “I think that we are hoping that the individuals on our teams grow, learn, and achieve success as a process for the rest of their lives, and that’s the biggest thing that I hope to bring forward.”
Spencer said when it comes to joining a new team, he will be “leading with trust” as his motivation for coaching, and making sure the team is on top of communication.
The swim team has seen a lot of turnover in recent years, with Spencer taking over as the third head swim coach in five years. Junior men’s swimmer Will Henderson said Spencer’s impact has been stability within the program.
“[Spencer] offers a little bit more structure than our last coach did,” Henderson said. “That’ll be good for our team as well, especially last year having an assistant coach move up to the head coach position. There were a lot of loose ends that just weren’t really making a whole lot of sense. So it’s good to have a lot more structure this year.“
Henderson said Spencer has fit in well with the team, acknowledging that being such a young coach brings a high level of enthusiasm to each practice.
The tennis team recruited former assistant coach Jon Gooch. Gooch played on the men’s tennis team until the men’s program was cut in 2018. However, since serving as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs tennis team in 2019, Gooch has been able to work with the team for a while.
Junior tennis player Amelia Willing said the transition from longtime former coach, Steve Smith, has been good.
“I think the transition’s been good,” Willing said. “I mean, we all kind of knew what to expect. We were kind of hoping he would be the coach just because it wouldn’t be a big change. It made it a lot easier knowing that we already knew what the style of Coach Jon [Gooch] was, and he was similar to Steve [Smith]. We didn’t want things to change a bunch since we already kind of knew what we were walking into.”
Willing also said Gooch is very understanding and respectful of people’s opinions, something that is helping with the transition to the head coaching position.
Gooch offered a statement about coming in and taking over the head coach position.
“I am excited to be working with a great roster of motivated tennis players that compelled me to become a part of their athletic, academic and personal growth,” Gooch said. “I am thankful for the opportunity to represent my alma mater as the head coach and I can’t wait to see what this team accomplishes.”
The swim team’s first duel against Quincy University is at home Sept. 26, and tennis continues fall play with a home duel against Principia College Sept. 26.
