After decades of coaching stability and very little change, FGCU Athletics is going through some changes. Four head coaches in the last three months have left or announced their future departures from the nest.
“Change is always different," FGCU Athletic Director Colin Hargis said. “Hopefully, this wave is behind us, and we can move on and build.”
Despite all of the movement, the Eagles are eager for this new era. Hargis says the department is excited about who they have been able to bring in and is confident that the school's winning ways will continue.
“There’s a new excitement," Hargis said. "There’s a new energy level brought to FGCU Athletics.”
The change started in November when women's basketball's founder, Karl Smesko, left to become the new head coach of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. In his spot rose longtime assistant coach Chelsea Lyles. The former FGCU player turned assistant coach, turned head coach is 15-1 through her first 16 games at the helm.
“I’m just really grateful to have a team that has accepted me as their head coach and our staff as well," Lyles said.
In December, men's soccer changed leadership from Jesse Cormier to Oliver Twelvetrees. Coach Trees, as he is known, is the third head coach in the program's history and brings an abundance of success from the Division II level.
“I worked hard for this moment in my career to be a Division I head coach," Twelvetrees said. "I’m raring to get going."
Just a few weeks after that, volleyball's Matt Botsford left for the opportunity to become the new head coach at the University of Central Florida. The bump up to a Power 4 conference was well deserved after Botsford led the Eagles to four straight ASUN titles.
With Botsford out, FGCU hit another homerun. Hargis and his staff tabbed Florida Southwestern's Thais Baziquetto-Allen as their new head coach. The former Buccaneer won three consecutive NJCAA national championships right down the road from her new gig.
“You look at FGCU and you say, 'this is a place people want to be, this is a place where we can be successful,'" Hargis said.
Most recently, softball's founding father, David Deiros, announced his plans to retire from coaching at the end of the 2025 season. After a two-decade coaching career, Deiros will move into an administrative role within the FGCU Athletic department.
“Being able to represent this whole university and this whole athletic department, and not just our individual team, was just too good to pass up," Deiros said.
It is a new era for FGCU, but Hargis and the Eagles are determined to carry on the school's impact and legacy.
“We have a rich history here," Hargis said. "Now we’re just adding some new pieces to it. I look at that and say, 'There’s a new level we can get to as we continue to build this.'”