American Idle: Hipsher Back in Saddle at UTPA Following Nine-Year Hiatus

New Texas-Pan American coach Dan Hipsher hopes it's like riding a bike and won't have to shed head coaching cobwebs. Time will tell if Hipsher is rusty, but he was hired by the Broncs after not being a head coach for nine seasons.

Keith Dambrot had been away from NCAA Division I head coaching for 11 years when he succeeded Hipsher as coach at Akron in 2004. Dambrot and Hipsher are among the following six active head coaches who served in non-college head coaching capacities at least nine years before returning to a DI program as bench boss:

Active Head Coach Current School Years Away Previous DI Position (Tenure)
Larry Brown Southern Methodist 24 Kansas (1984-88)
Paul Cormier Dartmouth 13 Fairfield (1992-98)
Keith Dambrot Akron 11 Central Michigan (1991 and 1992)
Todd Bozeman Morgan State 10 California (1993-96)
James Dickey Houston nine Texas Tech (1992-2001)
Dan Hipsher Texas-Pan American nine Akron (1996-2004)