Canisius Vice President and Director of Athletics Bill Maher announced today (April 17) that Tiffany Swoffard has been named the 11th head coach in women’s basketball program history.
A long-time assistant coach with 14 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience at both the Power 5 and mid-major levels, Swoffard takes over the Golden Griffin program after spending the 2023-24 campaign as a member of the Penn State women’s basketball coaching staff.
“I am excited to announce that Tiffany Swoffard will join the Canisius University community as our next head women’s basketball coach,” Maher said. “Tiffany has spent 19 years preparing to be a head coach and she shared a compelling vision to continue the ascent of our women’s basketball program in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). I am thrilled that her first head coaching opportunity will come at Canisius, and I look forward to working with her to reach our championship goals.”
“I am extremely thankful and excited to be named the head women’s basketball coach at Canisius University,” Swoffard said. “I want to thank President Steve Stoute, athletic director Bill Maher and deputy athletic director Lisa Liotta for trusting me with this tremendous opportunity. I chose to become a college coach with the belief that I can add value to young women’s lives through the game of basketball. I am passionate about people, academic excellence, service to the local community and winning. I will work tirelessly to elevate the Canisius program and I cannot wait to get started.”
In her one season on staff at Penn State, Swoffard helped lead the Nittany Lions to their first 20-win season since 2016-17, which resulted in a WBIT berth and an appearance in the tournament’s semifinal round. Swoffard oversaw the development of the Penn State post players and served as the team’s rebounding coordinator, as the Nittany Lions finished the year in the top half of the Big Ten in both rebounds per game and rebounding margin.
Before joining the staff at Penn State, Swoffard spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). From 2019-23, six RedHawks earned All-MAC accolades, while 20 student-athletes earned All-MAC Academic honors. In addition to her role as recruiting coordinator, Swoffard was the team’s offensive coordinator in 2022-23, where Miami (Ohio) ranked fourth in the MAC in league scoring average, as the RedHawks posted an average of 72.1 points per game against conference rivals.
Swoffard joined the RedHawks’ staff after spending four years as an assistant coach at Toledo, where she played an integral role in all aspects of the program, including perimeter-player development, recruiting, academic support and opponent scouting. She served as Toledo’s recruiting coordinator and worked with both the guards and post players.
During her time with the Rockets, Swoffard helped lead Toledo to an 81-49 overall record and a 43-29 mark in MAC play, including a pair of 20-win seasons in 2016-17 and 2018-19. Swoffard was in her second year as an assistant coach with the Rockets when the team won the MAC Tournament following the 2016-17 season. During her tenure, Toledo garnered 12 All-MAC selections, made an NCAA Tournament appearance and earned two WNIT berths.
Prior to Toledo, Swoffard spent five seasons at Mercer, where she handled recruiting, on-court development, academic support and in-office administration and worked with both the guards and post players. She mentored five all-conference athletes and 17 academic all-conference recipients. Swoffard helped lead Mercer to its first 20-win season in two decades in 2012-13, and its first appearance in a postseason tournament since 1985.
Before her stint at Mercer, Swoffard spent four seasons (2007-10) as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. There, she was responsible for arranging team travel, updating game statistics, scouting opponents, organizing film exchange, ordering equipment, scheduling community service projects and assisting with scheduling. Swoffard also coordinated recruiting visits, identified possible recruits, facilitated camps and served as the program’s recruiting coordinator. While on staff there, Arkansas – Fort Smith finished third at the 2008 NJCAA National Tournament and she also assisted with the program’s transition to the NCAA Division II level.
Swoffard started her collegiate coaching career at NCAA Division III Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., where she was a graduate assistant coach from 2005-07. Before that, she spent two seasons as the junior team head coach of the Georgia Metros Nike Elite AAU Basketball program.
A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Swoffard was a four-year letterwinner at Austin Peay from 1998-2002, including two consecutive years in which the Lady Governors captured the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and went on to play in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament (2000-01 and 2001-02).
An active member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), Swoffard earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Austin Peay in 2002. She went on to earn her master’s degree in business administration from Rowan in 2007.
Swoffard replaces former head coach Sahar Nusseibeh, who resigned from her position at Canisius to take the head coaching role at Eastern Michigan on March 28.
Canisius will formally introduce Swoffard at an introductory press conference at the Koessler Athletic Center at noon on Wednesday, April 24. The event is open to the Canisius community, and it will also be streamed live on the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network through GoGriffs.com.
