Jay Seawell Position: Head Coach Experience: 8th Year at Alabama Alma Mater: South Carolina, 1988

Named the University of Alabama's head men's golf coach on July 26, 2002, Jay Seawell has rekindled the proud tradition of the Crimson Tide program and has quickly established Alabama as one of the elite programs in the country during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

In his eighth season at the helm of the Crimson Tide men's golf program, Seawell has his teams routinely ranked among the top 10 in the country while leading UA to six NCAA Tournament appearances and four NCAA Championships berths - including four of the last five.

The 2009 team added a program first to Seawell's resume with a victory at the NCAA Northeast Regional. It was the first regional title for the Crimson Tide's men's golf team and the club's second win of the season and the 14th in seven years under Seawell's guidance.

Seawell's last three teams have finished 15th, 13th and sixth, respectively, in the NCAA Championships while the 2008 team also captured the school's first Southeastern Conference Championship since 1979. UA success over the past several years has energized the Tide's alumni base and created an excitement for Alabama golf not seen in recent memory.

The 2008-09 team finished with two tournament titles with wins at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and the NCAA Northeast Regional. Seawell's five-man team almost always included at least three freshmen and finished with a 292.06-round average.

True freshman Bud Cauley garnered second-team PING All-America honors and first-team honors from Golfweek. He was also named first-team All-SEC and the SEC Freshman of the Year. He won medalist honors at the United State Collegiate Championship while Hunter Hamrick was the medalist at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Cauley was also a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award and selected to play for the Americans at the 2009 Walker Cup and the 2009 Palmer Cup.

Alabama's 2007-08 team finished the season ranked No. 3 in the final Golf World/NIKE Coaches poll and captured its first Southeastern Conference golf championship in 29 years. Seawell's success at Alabama has caught the attention and respect of his coaching peers who voted him the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year. His 2008 Tide team co-led the nation in team tournament championships with six wins. He has coached Alabama to 13 team tournament championships and five individual championships in seven years, including four medalists in 2007-08. The team also set the school's 54-hole record with the 810 it shot to win the 2007 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

His 2006-07 Alabama team made UA history, catapulting to the nation's No. 1 ranking in all three collegiate polls in September of 2006 and holding on to the top spot in the Coaches' poll from September through early February of 2007. The team won four tournaments and set school scoring records en route to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championship and a runner-up showing at the SEC Championships.

Seawell is producing headline-worthy men, on the course and in the classroom. His golfers are among the most active in the Tuscaloosa community, volunteering their time at schools and helping host athletic department sponsored events for kids. In 2007-08, the golf team won both of the UA Athletic Department's biggest awards, the Men's Team with the Highest GPA and the Men's Community Service Award.

Golf produced six Academic All-SEC award winners in 2008. Joseph Sykora, was a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and was voted by the league's golf coaches as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for an SEC record three times, winning in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Sykora won both the SEC's H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award (all sports, all males in the league) and the University's Bryant Award as its top male student-athlete of any sport.

Seawell has coached 11 All-Americans during his coaching career, including his latest, Michael Thompson in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 his Alabama golfers were nominated for the sport's highest national awards, including the Ben Hogan Award, the Jack Nicklaus Award and the Byron Nelson Award.

Seawell arrived at the Capstone for the 2002-03 season and quickly established a formula for success. His first Crimson Tide team finished sixth at the SEC Championships, after a ninth-place showing the year before. Alabama also qualified for the NCAA East Regional, only the second appearance in the previous six seasons for the Tide.

The 2003-04 season helped build the foundation for the coming years at Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished 11th at the SEC Championships, but captured its first tournament team title with a win at the Conrad Rehling Invitational and proved it was building for the future.

That future came quickly as the Crimson Tide qualified for not only the NCAA Regionals in 2005, but finished tied for 28th at the NCAA Championships. It was Alabama's first NCAA Championship appearance since the 1996 season. The Tide posted a sixth-place finish at the NCAA East Regional to qualify.

The Crimson Tide again qualified for NCAA regional play in 2006, finishing 14th at the NCAA West Regional. Alabama also recorded a third-place finish at the SEC Championships, its best at that time since a third-place showing in 1990.

He began his coaching career at Anderson College where he coached from 1991-96, winning five consecutive Region 10 championships. His work earned him five Region Coach of the Year Awards. After briefly leaving Anderson for another career pursuit, Seawell returned to coach Anderson again in 1997-98 then was hired by Augusta State as its head coach prior to the start of 1998-99 season.

He led ASU to four straight NCAA Regional appearances and three trips to the NCAA Championships. Seawell's 2001 team finished seventh at the NCAA Championships before turning in the best finish in school history the following year with a fifth-place showing. He coached three All-Americans during his tenure at ASU, including two-time All-American Jamie Elson and All-American and former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson.

Seawell is a 1988 graduate of the University of South Carolina. His degree is in hotel and restaurant management. He lettered on the Gamecocks' golf team and served as the president of USC's Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Seawell and his wife, Stephanie, have three children: Brooke, Jackson and Lauren.

JAY SEAWELL FILE
HIRED: July 26, 2002
BIRTHDATE: October 16, 1966
PERSONAL: Wife, Stephanie; three children, Brooke, Jackson and Lauren.
EDUCATION: University of South Carolina, 1988, bachelor of science in hotel and restaurant management.

COACHING EXPERIENCE:
Head Men's Golf Coach, Anderson College 1991-96; 1997-98
Head Men's Golf Coach, Augusta State, 1998-2002
Head Men's Golf Coach, Alabama, 2002-Present

COLLEGIATE PLAYING EXPERIENCE:
University of South Carolina, 1985-88

COACHING HONORS:
2008 SEC Coach of the Year
13 - All-Americans
23 - U.S. Amateur Participants (one finalist and one semi-finalist)
7 - Palmer Cup Team Members
3 - Walker Cup Team Members
1 - SEC Championship (2008)
1 - NCAA Regional Championship
10 NCAA Tournament Appearances (6 at UA, 4 at ASU)