Staff Directory
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
Like fellow Michigan coach, Bryon Tansel, Bell comes to Ann Arbor after guiding the Louisville Cardinals women to their most points in school history (288) en route to a fourth-place finish, while the men placed 13th.
Â
Before Louisville, Bell spent five seasons at Notre Dame as an associate head coach and men's program recruiting coordinator. At ND, Bell worked with ACC distance champions Zach Yeadon (two-time ACC champion) and the 2021 ACC Championships Swimmer of the Meet Jack Hoagland. His work with the Irish men helped contribute to a 29-12 dual-meet record over his tenure, also helping the women to a 40-6 dual-meet record. Thirty-four Notre Dame swimmers earned outright All-America status during Bell's tenure.
Prior to Notre Dame, Bell served on staff at Virginia Tech (2011-16) and Buffalo (2007-11).
At Virginia Tech, Bell was the head assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2011-14 and the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator from 2014-16. The Hokies' men finished in the top four at the ACC Championships all five years, including an ACC team title in 2014 and a pair of runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013. Meanwhile, the women's team placed in the top five each year and posted a runner-up showing in 2013.
Between the two programs, 72 student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships and qualified 24 for the Olympic Trials. Katarina Filova (Slovakia) advanced to the 2012 London Olympics, while Michal Szuba (Poland) swam at the 2013 World University Games and 2015 World Championships.
A combined 79 school records and four ACC marks fell while Bell coached at Virginia Tech.
At the University of Buffalo, the men's team claimed four top-three finishes, including a MAC championship in 2011, while Bell coached 20 individual champions, 74 school records and four NCAA diving qualifiers.
Other previous coaching experiences include serving as both a graduate assistant (2004-06) and volunteer assistant (2007) at Ohio and serving as the head assistant coach at the University of Miami (2006).
Bell had a standout career at Clarion University in Clarion, Pa., earning 20 All-America scrolls at the Division II institution. He was a senior national qualifier in 2003 and 2004 and left school as the program record holder in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. In 1999, Bell earned the prestigious Kelly Cup Award, which goes to the Pennsylvania amateur athlete of the year. He is a member of USA Swimming and the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
Bell graduated from Clarion with a Bachelor of Science in liberal studies in May 2004. He then completed the coaching education program through Ohio's School of Recreation and Sport Sciences department in June 2007.
Bell and his wife, Courtney, have two sons, Brody and Landon, and a daughter, Lucy.
