Last College: Newport WPF

The men's water polo program at UC-Irvine has won three NCAA Championships, sent more than a dozen athletes to the Olympic Games, and helped establish Orange County as a water polo mecca. The name that is most synonymous with all those accomplishments is Edward Newland. The Head Coach for the Anteaters from 1966 to 2005, Newland piled up 714 victories, was named National Coach of the Year three times, Conference Coach of the Year eight times and had his players win medals in multiple Olympic Games. A former goalkeeper in his playing days at Occidental, the "Old Man" as he is referred to, believed hard work could overcome everything and lived by that example. His personal workouts are the stuff of legend as he lifted weights for hours before practice began and would then crush a group of college kids in sit-up and push-up competitions. He preached fundamentals in an approach that allowed UC-Irvine to be the fifth member of the vaunted big four over several decades. The first water polo coach in the history of two scholastic juggernauts, Newport Harbor High School and Corona del Mar High School, Newland was a longtime swim coach at UC-Irvine guiding his squads to multiple NCAA crowns. Creator of the Newport Water Polo Foundation, Newland advocated for additional playing opportunities for his athletes to take on the best domestic competition available. Recruiter of the oft-overlooked or undervalued, he built a reputation on developing great players and better people. His tenure inspired a legion of grown men that look upon him as a father figure, willing to do anything for their beloved "old man."