Rowland is Ready: Gators Seek to Maintain Success under first-year coach
Thursday, January 7, 2016 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- You could say Jenny Rowland hit the jackpot. As first head coaching jobs go, Rowland paid her dues and then was handed keys to a Ferrari.
Hired to replace Rhonda Faehn, who left for a leadership position at USA Gymnastics, Rowland inherited a UF gymnastics program that has won three consecutive national titles.
This isn't a rebuilding job. It's a maintaining job.
Rowland understood the dynamics at work as she prepared to meet her new team last spring. The shock over Faehn's departure remained fresh.
The Gators were still basking in the program's three-peat when out walked Faehn and in strolled Rowland, who came to UF after five years as an assistant at Auburn and where she was named NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015.
On Wednesday, two days before her official debut with the Gators in the 2016 season opener Friday at Texas Woman's University, Rowland flashed back to her initial meeting with the team.
"It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy for anybody,'' she said. "Cross your arms. Switch it over. That's how it's going to feel right now."
Now fast forward eight months.
There were no arms crossed or suspicious eyes Wednesday as the 41-year-old Rowland and the Gators kicked off practice with Van Halen's "Right Now" blasting from the speakers at their training studio.
Other than the facts of recent history saying otherwise, it seemed as if little had changed since the Gators posed for photos in Fort Worth, Texas, after claiming a third consecutive national title.
The bubbliness often present at a gymnastics practice was in full bloom. Rowland and the Gators laughed together, joked together and then got down to business together.
"She's done a really great job of keeping the energy very light,'' senior Bridget Sloan said. "She is always uplifting. She comes in with a smile and is ready to go. That makes us ready to go."
Besides the obvious -- the person she sees in the mirror each morning -- Rowland has minimized changes in the program. She hired assistant coach Owen Field away from Nebraska, but veteran Florida assistant Adrian Burde remains to help navigate the way.
The roster includes five freshmen who are starting their UF journey the same as Rowland, but is minus Kytra Hunter, one of the most accomplished gymnasts in school history. Hunter played a key role in the program's rise to the top the last three years.
But as further proof of Rowland's good fortune, she inherits a team that features Sloan, arguably the most talented gymnast in the nation.
Sloan is a 21-time All-American, the 2009 all-around World Champion and a former Olympian.
Sloan has seen and done it all in the sport but this year has a different vibe. Rowland is the reason. Still, whatever concerns existed prior to that first meeting have been erased according to the Gators.
"I think we've made a great transition with Jenny,'' sophomore Alex McMurtry said. "Everything is smooth sailing right now. The freshmen are doing well. The new coaches are doing well. Everyone is excited to start."
Sloan agreed, calling the ramp up to the season opener an "incredible preseason for us."
"I think every single person on the team transitioned a little bit different,'' Sloan continued. "But at the same time, she has also had a transition. I think once everyone realized that it's not just us, that it's a group effort, we all have a role. Jenny has been so understanding."
While Rowland has never been in charge of her own program, she has a long history in the sport. She competed for Arizona State, served as an assistant at Oklahoma and Auburn, and worked as a judge at international events.
McMurtry noticed early on Rowland's ability to transition from relationship builder to technical critiquer.
"Her communication style is very different [from Faehn],'' McMurtry said. "She is very straight-forward. If I'm on bars, and she sees that my feet are not pointed, she'll tell me my feet aren't pointed. It's definitely changed my gymnastics."
Little by little, Rowland continues to make her impact on a program that once again is expected to compete for a national title. Only two programs -- Utah and Georgia -- have won four consecutive titles.
The Gators hope to join the exclusive club.
Rowland's primary mission in her first months on the job was to build relationships and gain trust. She apparently can check that off her to-do list.
"I have to say it's probably been one of the most rewarding semesters of my entire life,'' she said. "To see all these athletes embrace challenge and a change and handle themselves with poise and grace, it has just been overwhelming for me to see. Just really excited to get out on the competition floor."
So are the Gators. They want to show they may have a new coach, but they have the same goals.
"It's a new year, it's a new era,'' Sloan said. "I think everyone is going to be surprised at what Jenny is capable of as a head coach. She's got this incredible staff, she's got this incredible team, and we're all here for her and she's all here for us."
