Francis joins the Hatters family with many years of coaching experience and was even a rower himself during his days at University of Central Florida. With stints at Penn State, Mercyhurst and most recently, Embry-Riddle, Francis comes to Stetson with a bevy of coaching and rowing knowledge. No matter where he was coaching, his goal first and foremost was the development of his athletes and to build programs that are set up for success in the present but also for the future.
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Francis comes to Stetson from neighboring NCAA Division II Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, where he served as the Eagles head coach for the last five years. Francis built the ERAU rowing program from the ground up and quickly developed it into a competitively successful program. In only its fourth year, Francis built a program that took fourth place at the 2021 NCAA National Championships. At the Sunshine State Conference Championship regatta the same year, the Women's Four took gold while as a team, ERAU took second overall. In 2018, the Eagle's women's team captured a state championship title in its first year as a varsity program under the direction of Francis. Under Francis' tutelage, ERAU boasted three Pocock All-Americans and 10 CRCA Scholar Athletes.Â
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Before becoming head coach at ERAU, Francis spent five years as a coach at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. While at Mercyhurst, Francis served as the assistant rowing coach from 2011 to 2015 before being named interim head coach for his last year with the Lakers. Before he led ERAU to second place at the national championships, Francis led Mercyhurst to a second-place finish at the NCAA National Championship Regatta on two occasions, once in 2011 and again in 2015. Over that span, Francis led Mercyhurst to a championship appearance every year duirng his Lakers tenure. In 2016, he led both the Lakers Men's Lightweight Four and the Women's Four to gold at the MACRA Regional Championships while also guiding the Men's Heavyweight Eight to silver. Under Francis, eight Lakers rowers were named All-American by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.Â
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Francis was the head rowing coach for Penn State for four years and while there, he was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Coach of the Year from the American Collegiate Rowing Association. Francis led the Penn State Women's Varsity Pair and the Men's Varsity Four both to gold medals at the ACRA National Championship. His Penn State teams also boasted 29 Academic All-American student-athletes, three All-Americans, and five Mid-Atlantic All-Region student athletes per the ACRA.Â
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Outside of his coaching career, Francis has been heavily involved in the world of collegiate rowing. He has held committee member positions within both the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) and the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA).Â
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Francis, an Orlando native, was a member of the men's rowing team at University of Central Florida where he graduated from in 2000 with a degree in business marketing. He then obtained his master's in organizational leadership in 2020 from Mercyhurst University.Â
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Francis currently resides in Port Orange with his wife Christine and their four children, Taylor, Alana, Natalie and Justin.Â
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