Phillips and Wiest Named #GymDawgs Assistant Coaches
July 05, 2016 | Gymnastics
SEATTLE – The University of Washington gymnastics program has named Caleb Phillips and Chad Wiest as assistant coaches, head coach Elise Ray announced Tuesday. The pair come to the Huskies from Iowa and Illinois, respectively, and will start immediately here in Seattle.
"I'm incredibly happy and proud that Caleb and Chad are joining Washington Gymnastics," said Ray. "After a thorough search and interview process, it was clear these talented coaches would better our program as they both embody such passion for coaching and developing our young women. "
"Caleb brings years of experience in recruiting, contagious optimism, and a reputation for having one of the best bar teams in the country while Chad brings an elite athlete's perspective, knowledge and expectation," added Ray. "His vault and floor expertise has produced program records. We all share a strong vision and belief in the future of Husky Gymnastics and I'm very excited to welcome both them and their great families into the GymDawg family."
Phillips comes to Seattle after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa where he was most recently named the 2016 North Central Region Assistant Co-Coach of the Year. He helped the Hawkeyes post its best season ending ranking (No. 23) since 2004 last season and coached Mollie Drenth to All-American honors as she advanced to the NCAA Championships. Phillips also helped lead the team to a 10-win season and a No. 19 ranking, the program's first top 20 ranking since 2011.
"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Husky program and can hardly wait to get there and see what we can accomplish," said Phillips. "The Pac-12 is a great conference and to be able to be a part of it is so invigorating. I am very much looking forward to working with Elise and the rest of the Husky staff. My family and I are beyond excited to make our move to Seattle and get to work."
Phillips served as an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2008-13, before leaving to pursue a career outside of coaching, and relocating with his family to Utah. He returned to the program in the fall of 2014. Phillips was responsible for the uneven bars squad during his first stint at Iowa, which was consistently ranked in the top 20 in the country. The Hawkeyes received NCAA postseason berths every year he was on staff. Additionally, Phillips has helped coach three Hawkeye gymnasts, Houry Gebeshian, Drenth and Rebecca Simbhudas, to NCAA Championship appearances.
Prior to joining the Iowa staff, Phillips spent four years as an assistant coach at Southern Utah. He helped lead Southern Utah to two NCAA Regional appearances and helped send two competitors to NCAA Championships. Phillips has a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Southern Utah. He and his wife, Ashley, have two children -- Cable and Beck.
Wiest joins the Huskies following three years as an assistant at the University of Illinois where he was focused on coaching the vault and floor lineups. Most recently, Wiest helped freshman Lizzy LeDuc advance to the NCAA Championships after she claimed the floor title at the Salt Lake City Regional with her career-high score of 9.950, which also ranked third in Illinois history. During his time at Illinois, he helped coach vault and floor lineups that ranked in the top 30 nationally along with posting some of the best marks in program history. The Illini's 49.400 performance at the 2015 Big Ten Championships was the second-best vault score at Illinois.
"I want to thank head coach Elise Ray, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Stephanie Rempe, and Athletic Director, Jennifer Cohen, for the opportunity to join the University of Washington staff," said Wiest. "I am beyond grateful and ecstatic to be entering this program at such an exciting time. As a new era of the program begins, I have full confidence in Elise as a leader and the coaching staff's abilities to take this team to the next level."
Wiest, graduated from Illinois in 2011 with a Recreation, Sport and Tourism degree and then headed to Bowling Green where he spent two seasons as the vault and floor exercise coach at Bowling Green prior to joining Illinois in 2013. At Illinois, Wiest was a two-time All-American on floor (2007, 2010), finishing in third place at the NCAA Championships both times. In 2011, the Butler, Pa. native was First-Team All-Big Ten and the floor Big Ten Champion. In addition, Wiest was Academic All-Big Ten in his final two seasons. Wiest will reside in Seattle with his wife Jaclyn.
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