Steve Wagner

Steve Wagner is in his 25th year at Rutgers, serving as the Director of Rowing and Head Coach of the Men’s Crew for the past 21 years.  Under Steve's direction, the Rutgers Crew has excelled, producing many nationally ranked crews, Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship finalists, and many memorable regular season victories in Rutgers’ traditional “cup” races.  Most recently, Rutgers won the silver medal at the 2005 IRA in the Varsity 4, and the 2003 Rutgers Men’s Heavyweight Varsity 8 advanced all the way to the final of the Henley Royal Regatta in England, beating the heavily favored home town crew Leander Boat Club along the way.

Wagner’s coaching philosophy is simple:  teach basics, train the athletes with a well planned effective system, create competitive situations where the athletes can learn, and above all else, make sure the program is a great experience and fun to be part of.   His success in these areas is why so many Rutgers oarsmen have been successful, and why many have gone on to represent the United States at the World Championships and Olympic Games.  In fact, over the past 20 years, the Rutgers program has produced more members of the U. S. Olympic Rowing Team than any other university in the country, including 4 members of the 1992 Olympic team, 6 members of the 1996 Olympic team, and 4 members of the 2000 Olympic team.

Wagner is a 1976 graduate of Rutgers School of Engineering with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.  While at Rutgers, he rowed 4 years on the very successful lightweight crew, finishing 2nd at the EARC Sprint Championships and 2nd at the Head of the Charles Regatta, still the best all-time finishes for Rutgers.  He was crew captain his senior year.  In 1974, Wagner was awarded the Mason Gross Award for “contributing the most to the success of the varsity lightweight crew”.  

Upon graduation, Wagner began his coaching career while in graduate school at the Florida Institute of Technology, where he produced three consecutive undefeated Freshmen crews, and won the 1979 Dad Vail Regatta (small college National Championship) in the Freshmen 8 and Freshmen 4 events.  His next stop was Columbia University, where his freshmen crews turned the program around, defeating several league opponents for the first time in many years.

Wagner returned to Rutgers in the fall of ’83 to take over the women’s crew program.  His 1984 Women’s Varsity 8 was the most successful and highest ranked women’s crew Rutgers has ever produced, and their highest finish ever (5th) in the Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges.  For the next 3 years, Wagner served as the Freshmen Heavyweight Men’s Coach.  His 1986 Freshmen Crew finished 4th in the Grand Final of the IRA National Championships, and his 1987 Freshmen Crew finished the regular season undefeated, making the Grand Final of both the EARC Sprints and IRA Regattas.  Wagner became Head Coach in the fall of 1987 upon the retirement of Rutgers legendary coach of 27 years Bill Leavitt.

Wagner received a Masters Degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers in 1990. For several years, he served as a part time adjunct professor in the Science Department of Middlesex County College and Raritan Valley Community College.  He also coaches basketball for a local grammar school, and serves as an assistant coach for the local “Pop” Warner football team.

Wagner was the Director of the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont for 25 years, from 1979 – 2003.  He is co-founder and co-Director of the Raritan Valley Rowing Camp at Rutgers University, a summer rowing camp for high school students.  Established in 1991, it was the first, and remains the oldest, university affiliated rowing camp in the country.   Wagner is also founder and Director of Black Bear Sculling, a summer sculling program in Hanover, NH specializing in single sculling for all ages.  He has been involved with numerous rowing clinics over the years, and was selected to be a presenter at the 2006 “Joy of Sculling” Coaches’ Conference.

Steve and his wife Susan live in Piscataway, NJ, and have five children and two grandchildren. Daughters Colleen ’99, Jaclyn ’01, and Maureen ’07 are all 4 year members and three year varsity letter winners for the Rutgers Women’s Crew. Sons Stephen and Patrick are in high school.

Chris DeYoung ('04) starts his third season this year at Rutgers: his second as the Freshman coach.

In his first season as the freshman coach, DeYoung developed 22 novice rowers and coxswains into contributing members of Rutgers Crew. Their season was highlighted by a very impressive performance at the Knecht Cup, where they placed first overall and defeated teams such as Bucknell, Delaware, Drexel, LaSalle, and Virginia.

Prior to returning to Rutgers, DeYoung coached for 2 years at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken, NJ. During his time at Bishop Eustace, DeYoung coached both the girls and boys teams. His crews at Bishop Eustace won the New State Scholastic Championships, and medalled at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta and SRAA National Championships. Many of the rowers DeYoung coached have committed to row in DI collegiate programs.

Prior to coaching at Bishop Eustace, DeYoung served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Michigan while he completed his Graduate degree in Education. While at Michigan, DeYoung helped in all aspects of the program, working mainly with the freshman eights and varsity fours.

DeYoung rowed at Rutgers for 3 years before a back injury forced him to cut his career short. He was awarded the William T. Leavitt Outstanding Freshman/ Novice Award and was a member of a freshman crew that compiled an 8-1 record, finishing 5th at the 2001 Eastern Sprints and 7th at the 2001 IRA Championships.

DeYoung graduated from Rutgers College in 2004 with Double Major in History and Economics and is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. He also earned a Graduate degree from the University of Michigan in Secondary Education. He is a Level II US Rowing certified coach.

DeYoung currently teaches US History in the Princeton Regional Schools system.