Keith Dawley is in his fourth season (2021-22) as assistant coach for the men’s swimming & diving team.
SMU returned to the top of the conference for the first time since 2013, winning the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championship, and sent a swimmer to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2017. Dawley helped mentor 10 swimmers to 19 NCAA B cuts and 16 times on SMU's all-time top 10 lists, while four individuals won seven total conference championships and four of five relays took home top honors.
Connor Dalbo, Colin Feehery, Caleb Rhodenbaugh and Brayden Rudd all posted U.S. Olympic Trials cuts, while Justin Baker posted a Canadian Trials cut.
During the 2019-20 season, the Mustangs produced 14 individual NCAA B cuts, and eight individuals posted 14 times on SMU's all-time top 10 performer lists. Two swimmers won three total conference championships, while three individual swimmers and four relays earned eight total all-conference honors.
In the classroom SMU earned CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honors and seven swimmers were named to the SMU honor roll.
Dawley joined the SMU staff after being the Associate Head Coach/Interim Head Coach at TCU for a year. He was in charge of leading the longer/distance group practices while also assisting with shorter/sprint group, and helped nearly 85% of the team set personal best times. In his time at TCU, the women’s team moved up nearly 100 points in the overall standings at the Big 12 Championships. They also were runners-up in the 200 medley relay, set ten school records, had 31 All-Big 12 performers, and 15 NCAA “B” cuts.
During the 2016-17 school year, Dawley was an assistant swim coach at Miami University (OH). In his time there, the team excelled and Dawley played a pivotal role in the following accomplishments: one place improvement for both men’s and women’s teams at MAC Championships, set nine school records, had ten All-MAC performers, had the MAC Freshman of the year, and had 11 NCAA “B” cuts.
From 2015-16, Dawley was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Virginia. Helped coach the student-athletes to the following accomplishments: First No. 1 ranking by the CSCAA in school history, ninth consecutive ACC Women’s Championship, two NCAA records, six ACC Championship records, eight UVA school records, four Rio 2016 Olympic Qualifiers, ten ACC Champions, eight individual NCAA “A” cuts, 91 individual NCAA “B” cuts.
From 2014-15, he served as the Interim Head Coach at the University of Houston. He coached the team to a 112 point improvement from 2014 to the 2015 AAC Championships. Here he had one All-Conference performer and four Championship Final qualifiers. He also coached a student-athlete to their first ever spot on the Mexican National Team.
Prior to being the Interim Head Coach at Houston, he was an assistant coach/ recruiting coordinator there. In his time as an assistant here, he coached 85% of the team to personal bests.
From 2009-13, he served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at East Carolina University. While at ECU, he helped account for 20 school records, 96 All-Time Top Ten swims, and three AAC Championships. He also helped break 15 school records and they had 9 NCAA “B” cuts.
Dawley swam collegiately for both Indiana University and the University of South Carolina. He received his bachelor’s degree in Sport and Entertainment Management from the University of South Carolina in 2009.
