The 2026 Offseason Coaching Carousel (7/10/2026)

We’ve already discussed a couple of coaching changes this week, but the new announcements keep popping up, so it seemed appropriate to have another “carousel” article.

Thursday afternoon, the University of Pennsylvania announced that they’ve hired Lucas Byrd as an assistant. There were some clues about this one, as the broadcast team at RAF 08 mentioned that Byrd was moving to Philadelphia during his bout with Darian Cruz. Cruz has stepped away from collegiate coaching to focus on his freestyle career.

Byrd was a four-time All-American and 2025 NCAA champion at 133 lbs for the University of Illinois. He was also a Big Ten champion that year. Byrd wrapped up his college career earlier this year, when he took eighth in the freshman-laden 133 lb weight class.

Earlier this week, we wrote about Eric Morrill coming back to Ohio. Morrill isn’t the only new addition to the Bobcat coaching staff. Two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil is also headed to Athens. Heil is an Ohio native who spent the last two seasons on staff at George Mason. Before Mason, Heil was a Director of Operations and assistant coach at Campbell.

Speaking of George Mason, the Patriots have two new faces on their coaching staff. Logan Messer and Gabe Willochell have both joined the GMU program, or in Messer’s case, continued in a different role. Messer was a 2026 MAC champion at 174 lbs for George Mason and went 1-2 in Cleveland. Willochell was a four-time national qualifier at Wyoming and Edinboro and advanced to the NCAA bloodround in 2026, as a senior.

First-year head coach Timmy McCall announced his first hire at The Citadel, as Kegan Calkins will come aboard as an assistant coach. Calkins wrestled at Oregon State and SIU Edwardsville and most recently assisted at Aurora University.

The other hire we mentioned this week was Kellen Russell, who returns to the Michigan staff.

As you can see from the openings below, there are additional high-profile jobs available, which might create more opportunities in the near future.

We’ll update this feature regularly throughout the summer (and potentially fall) as more positions are filled and others come open.
 

New Hires

Army West Point Associate Head Coach: Mike Macchiavello (Lehigh Valley WC Athlete)

Binghamton Assistant Coach: Luke Welch (The Citadel - Interim Head Coach)

Cal Poly Assistant Coach: Nelson Brands (Iowa City Regina HS Head Coach)

Cornell Assistant Coach: Yianni Diakomihalis (USA Wrestling - Athlete)

Davidson Assistant Coach: Avery Bassett (Lock Haven - Wrestler)

Edinboro Assistant Coach: Boomer Fechko (John Carroll - Associate Head Coach)

George Mason Assistant Coach: Logan Messer (George Mason - Athlete)

George Mason Assistant Coach: Gabe Willochell (Wyoming - Athlete)

Iowa Assistant Coach: Jacob Warner (Hawkeye Wrestling Club)

Iowa State Assistant Coach: Jaiver Maldonado (Little Rock - Assistant Coach)

Iowa State Head Coach: Brent Metcalf (Associate Head Coach)

Iowa State Assistant Coach: Drake Ayala (Iowa - Athlete)

Lehigh Head Coach: Brad Dillon (Lehigh - Associate Head Coach)

Maryland Assistant Coach: Gavin Hoffman (Lock Haven - Assistant Coach)

Mercyhurst Assistant Coach: Qian’te Wagner (Rio Grande - Assistant Coach)

Michigan Assistant Coach: Kellen Russell (Cornell - Associate Head Coach)

NC State Assistant Coach: Hayden Hidlay (Stanford - Assistant Coach)

Nebraska Assistant Coach: Robert Kokesh

Ohio Assistant Coach: Dean Heil (George Mason Assistant Coach)

Ohio Assistant Coach: Eric Morrill (California Baptist Assistant Coach)

Penn Assistant Coach: Lucas Byrd (Illinois - Athlete)

Pittsburgh Assistant Coach: Ethan Laird (Maryland - Assistant Coach)

Rider Assistant Coach: Tyler Klinsky (Rider - Athlete)

Rutgers Associate Head Coach: Anthony Ashnault (Princeton - Assistant Coach)

SIU Edwardsville Head Coach: Daryl Thomas (SIU Edwardsville - Associate Head Coach)

SIU Edwardsville Assistant Coach: Colton McKiernan (Fort Hays State - Assistant Coach)

The Citadel Head Coach: Timmy McCall (Utah Valley - Assistant Coach)

The Citadel Assistant Coach: Kegan Calkins (Aurora - Assistant Coach)

Virginia Tech Assistant Coach: James Green (Nebraska - Assistant Coach)

Virginia Tech Assistant Coach: Ty Walz (Brown - Assistant Coach)

West Virginia Assistant Coach: Peyton Hall (RTC Athlete)
 

RTC/Club

Pennsylvania RTC Head Coach: Pat Santoro (Lehigh - Head Coach)
 

Openings

Bloomsburg: Volunteer Assistant

Brown: Assistant Coach

Cornell: Assistant Coach

Gardner-Webb: Graduate Assistant

Hofstra: Assistant Coach

Illinois: Assistant Coach

Lehigh: Assistant Coach

Little Rock: Assistant Coach

Lock Haven: Assistant Coach

Merchyhurst: Volunteer Assistant

Navy: Assistant Coach

Oregon State: Assistant Coach

Princeton: Assistant Coach

Stanford: Assistant Coach

Utah Valley: Assistant Coach

Wisconsin: Assistant Coach