It's back to business for the Penn women's squash team, and a new face will be heading up its organizational plan.
Jack Wyant, a former four-year letterwinner in squash at Princeton and a former assistant brand manager for Proctor and Gamble Co. in Cincinnati, has taken over for Jim Martel, who's contract was not renewed as of May 12.
Wyant credited the Penn Athletic Department for making him excited about the possibility of coaching at Penn.
"I found everyone in the Athletic Department to be very aggressive," Wyant said. "There are a lot of resources for coaches to use, such as access to [college media]. I always felt like [Penn] did a great job of supporting the sports and writing about the sports. So the communications and the PR department within the Athletic Department, I was very impressed by it."
Of course, Wyant's impression of Penn sports culture was observed from behind enemy lines as a student at Princeton. But the new coach made it very clear that he intends to show his alma mater no mercy when the Tigers play against his Penn squad.
"I want to kick their you-know-what, just like every other coach here does," Wyant said. "I am thrilled to have this opportunity here at Penn, and I can promise you, that despite my undergraduate education, that I am 110 percent committed towards beating Princeton as well as any other school that we play against."
Wyant explained that he got the itch to get back into squash from the coaching side while working in the business world.
Most of his time after college was spent at Proctor and Gamble in his hometown of Cincinnati, but Wyant also spent time working as an analyst, operations manager and sales representative for entrepreneurial ventures in New York and Cincinnati.
Wyant ended his career in business by taking the job as the squash professional at Milton Academy in Massachusetts and then subsequently at Penn.
But while Wyant has moved away from the world of business, he hopes to apply his business strategies toward creating a working plan for the continuous improvement of the Penn women's squash program.
"My P&G; experience, I believe will be helpful in all aspects of this job," Wyant said.
"I'm putting together a marketing plan for this year just the way that I did when I was at P&G.; Having a job in a sales position I think will be great when it comes to recruiting. As coaches, when we go out and recruit the best athletes, we're trying to sell Penn- There are a lot of similarities."
Another quality that Wyant picked up during his time away from squash is a clearly recognizable sense of confidence. He believes very strongly that he can help the Quakers improve from their No. 5 national ranking at the end of last year.
Perhaps more importantly, Wyant believes that the team can make a smooth transition after the abrupt resignation of Martel, a successful and popular coach whose departure stunned many in the Penn community.
"This summer, I've reached out and spoken to or e-mailed every single person on the team," Wyant said. "Their reaction has been positive.
Sophomore "Annie Barrett said to me that she was a big fan of Jim's and was sad to see him go, but given that I was her coach now, she was excited about that. The thing that I've tried to do is look forward and not worry about what's gone on in the past. I can't do anything about that."
