Auburn University's head diving coach Jeffrey Shaffer's outstanding reputation precedes him.
Having been named the NCAA Division I Men's Diving Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2007, Shaffer is legendary for receiving the SEC Coach of the Year award five times, as well as being the inaugural recipient of the USOC National Developmental Coach of the Year in 1996 for all Olympic sports.
"Jeff Shaffer is a great coach," said senior diver Kelly Marx. "He has so much experience at all levels of the sport and that definitely shows through his success here at Auburn. He has so much knowledge in what he does and knows how to adjust to every athlete's needs."
Shaffer guided the diving team to numerous victories throughout his 11 years coaching at Auburn University. He improved the diving program in Olympic-size proportions, according to the Auburn Athletics Web site.
"Throughout my years here at Auburn, we have developed the diving program to complement the success of the swimming program," Shaffer said. "We have been developing our athletes to be better."
Although Shaffer changed the program tremendously, he tries to be modest.
"I'm not big on bragging rights, but I guess I could say that one of my strengths has been teaching athletes how to become better divers," Shaffer said. "But I don't mean taking a great diver and maintaining them, I mean I have been working to develop divers to be the best they can be from the start."
In his time at Auburn, Shaffer helped the powerful swimming and diving program progress into an unstoppable dynasty. Shaffer "contributed immensely to the team's overall success," Marx said.
"I have been helping them find a sense of pride in getting the team title," Shaffer said. "They have great pride in the fact we are going to continue to push the envelope and be better individually with the whole purpose of being better as a team."
The Auburn men took first place and collected their record 14th straight SEC conference title at the University of Georgia Feb. 20. Shaffer's divers have attained an impressive total of 14 SEC titles and nine NCAA titles.
Through Shaffer's support, each of Auburn's divers Thad Ellis, Adam Godzinski, Kelly Marx and Dan Mazzaferro have made it to the championship round on all three boards-- the one-meter spring board, the three-meter spring board and the tower.
"Starting this year, we wanted to continue to change the record boards," Shaffer said. "Last year on the men's side we wanted to switch out the team records, we were able to do that in every event. Kelly Marx was able to best his one-meter record this year he also did his personal best on platform."
Shaffer said one of Auburn's main philosophies is that no one point is more important than the other in winning team titles, as long as the team continues to develop.
"If we are able to set new records on a yearly basis like this, then we are moving forward," Shaffer said.
Marx said he has full trust in Shaffer, which has allowed him to be able to reach his full potential.
"The diver's NCAA zone meet will be held on the weekend of March 12, 13 and 14 at Georgia Tech," Shaffer said. "The women's NCAA championships are the 18th through the 20th at Purdue University. The men's are the 25th through the 27th at Ohio State University."
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