Louisville head coaching position fit perfectly for Ryan Blagg

When Ryan Blagg went down a checklist of what a perfect head coaching job would be, Louisville men’s golf kept meeting the mark. Blagg, who was an assistant coach at Baylor for the past eight seasons, was announced as the new head coach for the Cardinals’ program with the retirement of Mark Crabtree.

Blagg, the 2017 national assistant coach of the year, wanted to take the step to head coach with particular values in mind.

“I have been looking for a place to land as a head coach that has a family atmosphere, but also winning at a high level,” Blagg said.

Blagg has some familiarity with the program.

Baylor competed in the NCAA Regional Championships at the Louisville Regional hosted at the University of Louisville Golf Club last May. Bragg spoke with Crabtree, who served as Louisville’s head coach for 21 seasons, while playing at Hurstbourne Country Club last year.

“I was looking around at the town and the facilities and the golf course, I just loved it,” Blagg said. “I had no idea that Mark Crabtree would be retiring anytime soon.”

Louisville Athletic Director Vince Tyra and a search committee had time to interview candidates this spring. Blagg had phone interviews with Tyra and the committee prior to the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting collegiate sports.

Tyra wanted a coach that had played a high level with skills in swing instruction and course strategy. Blagg played collegiately at Tyler Junior College and Arkansas.

He was an assistant coach of the 2018 United States Palmer Cup team and was named the 2017 Jan Strickland Award winner.

“We said if we weren’t going to hire a current head coach, it had to be an assistant at an elite level assistant at a Power 5 school,” Tyra said.

Tyra added that Blagg fits with the athletic department in terms of personality and integrity.

Blagg takes over a roster that might be the program’s best ever.

Five players were selected to the PING All-Region East Team while John Murphy and Matthias Schmid were named to the 2020 NCAA Division I Ping All-America Honorable Mention Team.

Murphy, Keegan de Lange and Trevor Johnson, seniors on the 2019-20 team, are expected to return next season after the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility for spring sports’ student athletes amid the cancellation of competition due to COVID-19.

Louisville’s 2019-20 team had the top stroke average nationally and had three tournament wins. Blagg is excited to have a talented roster heading into his first season.

“It’s important, but it’s icing on the cake,” Blagg said. “A lot of times when a job comes open at a Power 5 school like this, they’re usually not ranked in the top 20 of the country. We have the team that can compete for a national championship and hopefully get to nations and do some damage.”