This week's guest on Hawk Talk was Jon Egan '05, the head coach of the Roger Williams University wrestling team. He joined Bryce Johnson and they discussed what attracted him to Bristol first as a player and later as a coach, his coaching philosophy and the Downtown Showdown.

https://rwuhawktalk.podbean.com/e/hawk-talk-episode-21-jon-egan/

https://youtu.be/FGigBaAImgw 



Egan is in his tenth season as head coach for the Hawks with an overall record of 158-40 in duals meets. His 158 wins as a head coach is the second most in program history for a coach and he has led the team to 12 or more wins and a winning record in each season at the helm. A supporter of success on an off the mat, Egan has coached 45 Academic All-Americans, 24 NCAA Championship qualifiers, five All-Americans and one National Champion, David Welch in 2016.
 
Egan came to Bristol as co-head coach for the 2011-12 season and alongside Dave Kemmy, he steered the Hawks to a 12-5 record on the season and Pilgrim League runners-up. In addition, he was named Pilgrim League Coach of the Year.
 
He took over as the lone head coach the following season and saw the Hawks record rise to 17-7 and the team win its first of four consecutive Pilgrim League titles. He was also named Pilgrim League Coach of the Year for the second straight year.


In 2013-14, Roger Williams not only won the Pilgrim League but took home the New England Championship as nine Hawks earned All-League honors, seven received All-Region recognition and three earned NCAA Tournament berths. He was named Pilgrim League Coach of the Year once more while the team thrived off the mat. That fall, RWU had a team GPA of 3.487, ranking them sixth in the nation.
 
The next year, the Hawks repeated as New England and Pilgrim League Champions as Egan won Pilgrim League Coach of the Year for the fourth straight time. Meanwhile, RWU had a 3.35 team GPA ranking 21^st in the nation.
 
His best season came in 2015-16 as Roger Williams set a new single-season record for wins going 23-3. The team was ranked as high as second in the nation and placed third at the NWCA National Duals, the highest finish ever for a team from New England. Egan was named Pilgrim League and New England Coach of the Year while the team placed second in the Northeast Regional as nine wrestlers earned All-Region honors and six competed at the NCAA Championships, most notably David Welch who became the program's first ever NCAA National Champion in the 197-pound weight class.
 
In the four seasons since, RWU has featured a pair of All-Americans, seven NCAA Championship qualifiers and nine Academic All-Americans.
 
Prior to coaching the Hawks, Egan had a coaching stint at Milton Academy. Prior to that, Egan had a very successful career wrestling for Roger Williams. He was a three-time Academic All-American, four-time All-New England selection and was named the Roger Williams Male Athlete of the Year in 2005. He still ranks third in program history in career wins with a career record of 121-38 in addition to ranking in the top ten in multiple major statistical categories.