Name: Kirk Swanner
Age: 30
Hometown: Weston, FL
Graduated: 2006 (undergraduate), 2012 (master’s)
Occupation: Civil Engineer
Hobbies: Coaching, traveling, playing various sports
Kirk first got into coaching while pursuing his master’s degree in engineering at Florida State University. After playing rugby as an undergraduate, he wanted to stay involved with it even after he passed the age of eligibility to play on the schools team; he decided to give coaching a try and he ended up loving it.
Her Campus (HC): So Kirk, when you aren’t working or coaching, what do you like to do with your time?
Kirk Swanner (KS): I have always loved sports, so I like to get outside and play pretty much anything whenever I can. I also love to travel and would love to have more time to see the world.
HC: I’m sure coaching is a big time commitment; does it influence your relationships with friends or women?
KS: Coaching can be time consuming but I enjoy it. I don’t have a girlfriend right now so no worries there.
HC: How do you feel about this coming season? What needs to happen for the team to be as successful as possible?
KS: Well, this is going to sound cliché, but I don’t care about winning and losing; I care about whether or not we play well. You can win a game and not play well and that’s worse than playing your best and losing.
So in order for the season to be a success, it will require the guys to show up and give it their best effort at every training session and to absorb the information and progress. Then, on the weekends, the results will take care of themselves.
Don’t get me wrong; I am a competitor and I like to win. But winning is a by-product of the environment of the team. In order for the team to be successful, they will need to create an environment of hard work, competition, and playing well. In order to do that, the players will need to show up and give it their best effort.
HC: What is your ultimate goal for the team?
KS: Our goal for the spring semester is to qualify for the conference finals. This will give us a chance to win the conference, and we think that’s important.