Ron Jirsa

Ronald Howard Jirsa (born December 21, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at UNC Greensboro. He was previously the head coach at Georgia and Marshall.

Ron Jirsa
Jirsa in 2009 as Minnesota assistant coach.
Current position
TitleAssistant coach
TeamUNC Greensboro
ConferenceSoCon
Biographical details
Born (1959-12-21) December 21, 1959
New London, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materGettysburg College (B.A., 1981)
University of Tulsa (M.A., 1987)
Playing career
1977–1981Gettysburg
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1981–1983Connecticut College (asst.)
1983–1984Delaware (asst.)
1984–1985VCU (grad. asst.)
1985–1988Tulsa (asst.)
1988–1989Belmont Abbey (asst.)
1990–1991Gardner-Webb (asst.)
1991–1994Tulsa (asst.)
1994–1995Tulsa (assoc. HC)
1995–1997Georgia (assoc. HC)
1997–1999Georgia
1999–2003Dayton (asst.)
2003–2007Marshall
2007–2013Minnesota (asst.)
2013–2014Bethel (MN) (RC)
2014–2015Tennessee Tech (asst.)
2015–2021Radford (asst.)
2021–presentUNC Greensboro (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall78–104

Early life and education

Jirsa was born in New London, Connecticut and grew up in nearby Ledyard.[1] After graduating from Ledyard High School in 1977, Jirsa attended Gettysburg College.[2] A member of the basketball team, Jirsa graduated from Gettysburg in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology.[1]

Coaching career

Jirsa bounced around as an assistant coach, but had two significant stints at the University of Tulsa, first under J. D. Barnett from 1985 to 1988 and second under Tubby Smith from 1991 to 1993. Jirsa completed his Master of Arts degree in athletic administration at Tulsa in 1987 while an assistant coach there.[1] Smith promoted Jirsa to associate head coach in 1994, and Jirsa followed Smith to the University of Georgia.

When Smith departed for the University of Kentucky in 1997, Jirsa remained at Georgia and became head coach. Although Jirsa led Georgia to third place in the 1998 National Invitation Tournament title in his first season, he was fired in 1999 after going 35–30.[3]

Jirsa moved to Dayton and was an assistant for four seasons there. In June 2003, he was hired to coach Marshall.[4] Jirsa was fired after four seasons at Marshall, going 43–74.[5] Most recently, he served under Tubby Smith as an assistant at the University of Minnesota. On March 25, 2013, it was announced that Smith, along with his entire staff had been relieved as coaches at Minnesota.[6]

In the 2013–14 season, Jirsa was recruiting coordinator at Division III Bethel University in Minnesota. The following season, Jirsa joined Steve Payne's coaching staff as an assistant at Tennessee Tech. In 2015, Jirsa made yet another move, this time as an assistant at Radford under Mike Jones,[7] following Jones to UNCG when Jones was named head coach there in 2021.[8]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1997–1999)
1997–98 Georgia 20–157–9T–4th (East)NIT Third Place
1998–99 Georgia 15–156–104th (East)NIT First Round
Georgia: 35–3013–19
Marshall Thundering Herd (Mid-American Conference) (2003–2005)
2003–04 Marshall 12–178–104th (East)
2004–05 Marshall 6–223–156th (East)
Marshall Thundering Herd (Conference USA) (2005–2007)
2005–06 Marshall 12–165–99th
2006–07 Marshall 13–197–9T–8th
Marshall: 43–7423–43
Total:78–104

References
  1. "Ron Jirsa". Georgia Bulldogs. Archived from the original on February 11, 1998. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  2. "Ron Jirsa ready to unveil his style of Old School Basketball at Marshall". Huntington Quarterly. Autumn 2003. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  3. Kendall, Josh (March 13, 1999). "Jirsa takes dismissal hard". Savannah Morning News. Archived from the original on September 20, 2002. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  4. "Ron Jirsa named head coach at Marshall". The Times Herald. June 17, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Associated Press. "Jirsa out at Marshall after 13–19 season." ESPN.com, Mar. 12, 2007.
  6. Tubby Smith out at Minnesota. cbssports.com (2013-03-25). Retrieved on 2013-03-25.
  7. "Ron Jirsa". Radford. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  8. "Jirsa Joins Men's Basketball Staff". 7 May 2021.
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