Rowing
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Dan Harrison was hired to join the Michigan Rowing staff in August, 2017, as a graduate assistant coach and was elevated to the full-time staff in September, 2018. That first year at U-M, Harrison assisted with varsity coaching and he has since transitioned into a full-time role coaching the novice rowers.
In addition to coaching and developing the novice boats, Harrison's position is also responsible recruiting and evaluating prospective student-athletes and coordinating with the athletic communications office. In Harrison's four years with the program, U-M has won two Big Ten titles (out of three) and finished top-10 at the NCAA Championships in each season including top-five twice.
During his first season with the team, Harrison helped U-M finish seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championships while working with the program's four All-American honorees. Since he began coaching the novice boats in 2019, Harrison has led the 1N8 to two gold medals (2019, '21) and the 2N8 to a bronze (2019) and a silver (2021). U-M won the Big Ten in both seasons with a program-record 191 points in 2021.
The Wolverines have finished top-five nationally twice with Harrison on staff: third in 2019 and fourth in 2021. Harrison was also part of the 2019 CRCA Region 4 Staff of the Year.
Harrison came to Ann Arbor after coaching as an assistant with the Oregon State program from fall, 2015 through February, 2017. In that role, his primary duties included working on the physical and technical proficiency of the Beavers' novice program. He had also been a volunteer coach with the team in 2013. In spring, 2017, Harrison was a volunteer coach with the Ohio State program, coaching the fours boats to a third-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
He had come to Corvallis after coaching with Boston University for the 2014-15 season. There, Harrison worked with the Terriers' developmental boats as a volunteer assistant coach. He was also an assistant to the varsity boys' program at the Wayland-Weston Rowing Association, helping to develop training plans to progress the athletes’ personal development in both fitness and technique.
Harrison rowed for four years at Seattle University as part of the club team. He was the club's president for three years, handling the full set of operations responsibilities, and was chosen as the 'Top Hawk' his senior year (2013) by his coaches, recognizing him as the club's highest performer.
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Harrison raced his way to consecutive Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in 2012-13 in the pair, and went on to win an American Collegiate Rowing Association national title in the pair in 2013.
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A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Harrison graduated from Seattle University in 2013 with a bachelor's of science in sport and exercise science. He also completed an intensive one-year coaching education program at the Institute for Rowing Leadership (IRL) in 2015. The program is designed to give IRL fellows the necessary theoretical framework and experiential learning opportunities to achieve the knowledge, skills and abilities required of a master rowing coach.
