Multi-Year Contract Extensions Announced for Trio of Head Coaches

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida Athletics announces multi-year contract extensions for a trio of its successful head coaches in Catherine Dunagan of women's tennis, Ian Coffey of women's swimming and Jeff Pigg of track and field and cross country.

Ian Coffey | Women's Swimming
Coffey receives a three-year extension through June 30, 2025 after finishing up his eighth season as the head coach of the UNF women's swimming program. As just the second head coach in the program's history, Coffey has served a critical role in growing the program in the pool and in the classroom since taking over in 2014.

"I am grateful and honored to continue being the head swimming coach at the University of North Florida," Coffey said. "Having our Director of Athletics, Nick Morrow, believe in where this program is going as well as his faith in me, is special. I look forward to working hard to improve our program each season in the pool and classroom."

The 2015 Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Swimming Coach of the Year has seen 46 school records broken during his time in Jacksonville. Coffey has fostered the development of four CCSA Swimmers of the Week, the 2015-16 UNF Female Athlete of the Year, the ASUN SAAC Secretary and UNF SAAC President.

"The UNF swimming program has persevered through the fact that they had no on-campus pool and still broke school records and achieved academic success," Director of Athletics Nick Morrow said. "With a new on-campus swimming complex that includes offices and a locker room, I look forward to seeing Coach Coffey elevate the profile of the UNF swimming program over the next several years."

Since his arrival, North Florida's roster has nearly doubled in size as he has expanded his recruiting reach from Florida all the way to the west coast. UNF swimming has consistently seen success in the classroom, having achieved College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team status. This past semester the program tallied a 3.55 team grade point average.

An exciting time for UNF swimming, North Florida opened the UNF Aquatic Center on the campus of North Florida. The Ospreys hosted their first-ever meet at the pristine facility Sept. 25, 2021.

A native of Pennsylvania, Coffey holds degrees from La Salle University and Virginia Tech as well as roughly two decades of collegiate coaching experience. Coffey has had previous coaching stops at Radford, Villanova, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and as the head coach at Mansfield University.

Catherine Dunagan | Women's Tennis
Head women's tennis coach Catherine Dunagan just completed her second full year at the helm and third year overall after being named head coach in August of 2019. Dunagan receives a four-year extension through June 30, 2026.

"It's such a privilege to be an Osprey," Dunagan said. "I am very humbled for Nick Morrow and UNF leadership expressing their confidence in me to lead this program. We have strong ambitions to achieve our goals and I am certain that our current and future student-athletes will work hard to put UNF women's tennis on a national stage."

Since taking over in 2019, Dunagan has posted a 43-18 record, the 2021 ASUN Tournament Title, two regular season ASUN crowns, ASUN Coach of the Year laurels and the program's first-ever NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship appearance during the school's Division I era.

"Catherine has done an incredible job in her first two seasons as the head coach of UNF women's tennis," Morrow said. "She has led her team to multiple championships and an NCAA Tournament win while also emphasizing the importance of academic success. I could not be happier to have Catherine as our head coach for many years to come."

Arguably the most notable achievement during her tenure in Jacksonville is the NCAA Regionals First Round win against No. 25 Ole Miss May 7, 2021. The win marked the program's first-ever victory at the NCAA Championships in the program's DI era.

Dunagan posted a perfect run through ASUN play in 2021 and has gone 18-2 against ASUN foes. Her success extended to non-conference foes during the COVID shortened 2020 season as UNF went 10-1 in her first year at UNF. The Ospreys picked up notable wins against USF, South Alabama, FAU and Penn State during that stretch.

UNF has not only had team success, but record-breaking singles and doubles play achievements in the past season. Dunagan saw two-time ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Kit Gulihur, to the NCAA Singles Championships this past year. Gulihur was joined by teammate Ana Paula Melilo in the NCAA Doubles Championships. During the fall, the duo won the ITA Southeast Region Doubles Championship, helping the pair reach a No. 5 national ranking and a trip to ITA nationals.

The Ospreys have had five all-league picks, three all-freshman honors, two ASUN Player of the Year laurels, two ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year picks and two ASUN Doubles Pair of the Year awards under Dunagan. UNF has picked up three Power Five wins under her tutelage, earning victories against Penn State, Ole Miss and Missouri.

As a team, UNF women's tennis achieved an amazing 3.71 GPA this past semester, with six student-athletes making UNF dean's list honors and the whole team earning a spot on the ASUN Honor Roll. The program has earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic honors in each of her seasons at UNF. Academic history was made twice this past year by Gulihur after the 2021 and 2022 ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year became the school's first-ever NCAA Elite 90 honoree and College Sports Information Director's Academic All-American honors.

Jeff Pigg | Men's and Women's Cross Country & Track and Field
Head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach Jeff Pigg has amassed quite the resume in over a decade as the leader of those respective programs. The Osprey veteran receives an extension elapsing through June 30, 2025.

"I am thankful to director of athletics nick morrow and also coach moon for giving me this opportunity at the University of North Florida 10 years ago," Pigg said. "From then on, Ervin Lewis, Fred Burnett, Nancy Miller and Nick Morrow have been with me every step of the way, working tirelessly to take care of our programs and student-athletes. Fitting for the 50th anniversary of the university this past year, that group has combined to devote more than 50 years to this school, serving as a testament to the family environment and commitment to one another here."

Since 2012, Pigg has been named ASUN cross country coach of the year five times while guiding the men's and women's programs to five league crowns. Pigg's cross country teams have logged 21 first-place finishes as a team as well.

"Coach Pigg has done a tremendous job during his time as the Director of Cross Country and Track and Field," Morrow said. "The team has produced several cross country champions, runners of the year, and NCAA Track and Field finals appearances. I look forward to working with Coach Pigg to grow the track and field program and produce athletic and academic champions."

The team laurels have been created with the help of some of the greatest student-athletes to wear the Navy in Gray in any North Florida varsity sport. On the women's side, Jacksonville native Eden Meyer stayed close to home and extended the North Florida brand far past the First Coast thanks to a monumental career. Meyer qualified for the NCAA Championships and became the first NCAA Division I All-American in program history with second-team honors in 2017 for her performance in the 10,000m.

Bishop Kenny product, Nathan Jubran, has staked his claim as one of the greatest Ospreys on both the cross country and track and field sides. As an NCAA Championship qualifier, Jubran is a multi-CoSDA Academic All-District recipient and was named to the 2022 CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American squad. This past March he was recognized as the ASUN's Most Outstanding Men's Indoor Track and Field student-athlete.

With Pigg's guidance, UNF track and field has generated 25 NCAA prelims qualifiers and three NCAA Championship qualifiers. Between outdoor and indoor track and field, UNF has seen 258 ASUN All-Conference honorees during Pigg's tenure. Additionally, The Osprey programs have generated 83 ASUN All-Academic selections and 10 ASUN Scholar-Athlete picks over the past 10 years.

"UNF is a great institution, in a great city and I get to work with so many amazing people here. There is no place I would rather be," Pigg said. "Over the past decade we have had some phenomenal student-athletes in our programs, and they, along with the coaching staff, have set a standard in the classroom and in competition. As a program we look to continue to have our tradition flourish, knowing that our standards and character are the backbone of the program."

Touting over 30 years of collegiate coaching experience, Pigg arrived at UNF after five years as the assistant cross country and track and field coach at Georgia. He also had a six-year tenure as the head cross country coach at Florida and 10 years as the head cross country and assistant track and field coach at Missouri. He got his start in the head coaching position with Illinois State, serving two years in Bloomington-Normal as the head men's and women's track and field coach.

Pigg graduated from Florida in 1988 and helped the Gators claim an SEC championship in cross country and track and field in 1987. He took eighth at the NCAA Championships in 1986 as a member of the Gators cross country team. A two-time SEC champion in the mile and three-time all-american, Pigg also earned to All-SEC honors in cross country. The standout runner helped lead UF to its first-ever SEC team title in cross country while also picking up the prestigious triple crown in 1986-87 after winning cross country, indoor and outdoor SEC titles.

Multi-Year Contract Extensions Announced for Trio of Head Coaches

Players Mentioned

Kit Gulihur

Nathan Jubran

Ana Paula Melilo

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