Wolfpack Mourns the Loss of Hall of Fame Coach
1/14/2023 5:26:00 PM | Swimming
RALEIGH -- Don Easterling, a Hall of Fame coach and mentor to generations of athletes, died on Saturday at the age of 90.Â
Easterling served as the head coach at NC State for 24 years (1970-94), leading the Wolfpack to 17 ACC titles (15 men, 2 women). The men won 12 consecutive crowns under his leadership from 1971-82. He posted a career record of 328-118 and his teams went 162-64 vs. ACC competition.Â
He coached 40 All-America performances (24 men, 16 women), seven future Olympians, including five medalists and four Pan Am games medalists.
In 1973, Easterling's Wolfpack pulled off one of the most dominant accomplishments in the history of college swimming by winning each of the 17 events at the ACC championship meet. He also began the NC State women's swimming program and led it to back-to-back ACC titles in 1979-80.
Named the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Coach of the Year in 1993, Easterling was the 1984 and 1992 men's ACC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year and received that honor for the women in 1991. He was inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
Easterling was named head coach at NC State in 1970, taking over for Willis Casey.Â
"We will all miss the fiery, passionate, and unique coach, Don Easterling," said current Head Coach Braden Holloway. "There are so many stories that someone could say about him, and they still wouldn't do him justice. He was a pioneer of the sport, wore his heart on his sleeve, and influenced so many at NC State, the stories about him still echo today. He's been a big supporter of Wolfpack swimming and diving ever since he stepped away from coaching and he's always been a great mentor and friend of mine, always wearing his red."
Holloway shared that Easterling "was one of the all-time greats in NC State history for any sport. Coaching teams to 17 conference championships is an amazing feat, but better than that are the stories that you hear from the alumni about Coach Easterling and how he led this program with so much passion. One of my favorite pictures (seen below) of Don is after he jumped in at the end of a meet to celebrate with a young man after they won the last relay and that right there sums up Coach Don Easterling. We're all going to miss him."
