As Penn athletics gears up for another year, several teams are welcoming new coaches and assistants to the helms of their programs.
The Daily Pennsylvanian broke down the new hires and what this leadership could mean for several teams that are looking to turn around their success in the upcoming seasons.
Fran McCaffery — men’s basketball
Heading this group of new leaders is Fran McCaffery, the new coach of Penn men’s basketball. His hiring, which was announced in March, marks a homecoming for the Philadelphia native and 1982 Wharton graduate, who played for the Quakers from 1979-1982. McCaffery also served as an assistant coach for the Red and Blue during the 1982-83 season.
After assistant and head coaching stints at various Division I programs, McCaffery landed at Iowa, where he led the Hawkeyes to seven trips to March Madness in 15 seasons — though the team never advanced past the Round of 32. He coached five All-Americans during his time at Iowa, including 2020 National Player of the Year Luka Garza and 2022 first team All-American and fourth overall 2022 NBA draft pick Keegan Murray.
McCaffery’s 12 career NCAA tournament appearances are the most of any Ivy League basketball coach at the time of their hiring in history.
McCaffery takes the helm of a men’s basketball program that is far from its glory days. After winning 23 Ivy league titles from 1970 to 2006 — including two during McCaffery’s collegiate playing career — the Quakers’ last three coaches have led the program to a combined two conference championships. Last season, the Quakers finished seventh in the Ivy League for the second straight year.
In an introductory press conference in April, McCaffery solidified the team’s commitment to contending at the national level, even amid changes in collegiate athletics and the lack of “pay-for-play” opportunities in the Ivy League.
McCaffery will be joined on the bench by a trio of new assistant coaches — including Tristan Spurlock, his former assistant coach at Iowa.
Taylor Wray — men’s lacrosse
After the dismissal of Mike Murphy — the all-time winningest coach of Penn men’s lacrosse — earlier this summer, another school’s all-time winningest coach is taking the reins of the Quakers.
Taylor Wray joins the Red and Blue from intercity rival Saint Joseph’s, where he led the Hawks to a 127-79 record over 14 seasons and set the program record for wins. Before Wray’s tenure, the Hawks had a 97-181 losing record across 19 seasons.
Wray has also had success on the national stage: He led the Hawks to their first two NCAA tournament appearances in 2022 and 2024 and also coached Team Canada from 2010-2023. Wray is joining one of Penn’s strongest overall athletics programs, but the team has been declining in recent years.
Penn men’s lacrosse has appeared in the NCAA tournament 14 times — 10 of which came during Murphy’s tenure — and won the Ivy League tournament three times, with its most recent title coming in 2022. However, the Quakers finished last season with a 4-10 overall record — their worst since 2012 — and in seventh place in the Ivy League, notching only one win in conference play.
Wray will look to turn the men’s lacrosse program around when the team takes the field again in the spring.
Tyler Hagstrom — volleyball
A program on the rise is getting some new support.
After former Penn volleyball coach Meredith Schamun resigned earlier this summer to take a coaching job at Illinois, 2024 Patriot League Coach of the Year Tyler Hagstrom is set to lead the Quakers starting this season. Hagstrom comes to Penn from Bucknell, where he led the volleyball program to a huge improvement.
In his second season as Bucknell volleyball’s coach in 2022, Hagstrom led the Bisons to a 15-11 overall record — the program’s first winning campaign since 2006 — and to a Patriot League Tournament berth for the first time in more than a decade. After notching the same record in 2023, the Bisons improved to 21-5 last season.
Hagstrom’s 2024 team led the Patriot League in points, assists, kills, opponent hitting percentage, and digs, and he departed the program as the only coach with a winning record. Hagstrom also has previous experience in the Ivy League: Before Bucknell, he spent four seasons at Princeton as an assistant coach, helping the Tigers to three league titles and three NCAA championship appearances.
Penn volleyball has looked promising in recent seasons. After a disappointing 4-20 conference record in 2023, the Quakers improved to 13-10 a year later. Last season, the Red and Blue earned historic victories against Princeton and Brown — the Quakers’ first wins against the programs since 2015 and 2019, respectively.
Alyssa Bert is joining the Penn volleyball coaching staff as an assistant coach this season. She has previously worked with the Syracuse Volleyball Club.
Scott Tupper — field hockey
After serving as an associate head coach at Maryland, Scott Tupper rounds out Penn Athletics’ new coaching hires as he takes the helm of Penn field hockey.
At Maryland, Tupper led the Terrapins to four NCAA appearances, two Final Fours, and a Big Ten championship. He is also highly experienced with recruiting: Tupper has helped sign five players ranked in the top 10 of their recruiting classes and a total of 12 in the top 30 prospects over the past three seasons, according to Penn Athletics. He is also an assistant coach for the USA Field Hockey Under-16 National Team.
As a former member of the Canadian senior men’s national team, Tupper competed at three Olympic Games during his 16 seasons as a player. He scored five goals at the 2016 Summer Olympics, which remains a Canadian record.
Tupper’s diverse experience — from playing, to coaching, to recruiting — will be helpful in Penn field hockey’s quest for improvement. The Red and Blue netted a 7-10 overall record in 2022 and 2023, but last season was a stark decline. The team finished with a 4-12 overall record and a 2-5 record in conference play, good for seventh in the Ivy League — the team’s worst finish since 2011.
Erin Smoot is also joining the coaching staff this year as Tupper’s assistant coach along with Charlotte Vaziri, who was retained for Tupper’s staff after coming to Penn in 2024. Smoot joins the Red and Blue after spending four seasons at Michigan State.
