IRVINE, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine Athletics ushered in a new era this week with the hiring of alum Justin Johnson as the school's next men's water polo head coach.

Johnson is a UCLA graduate and former Bruins student-athlete in the pool who also served as a water polo graduate assistant at CUI about a decade ago. He also was a member of the US National Team from 2003 to 2011.

Since that time, Johnson has had great success building relationships with young student-athletes while coaching at multiple local high schools and club teams. 

Johnson has coached at both El Toro High School and Santa Margarita High School, grooming young student-athletes to reach their full potential.

"College coaching has always been a dream of mine and based on my family situation I wasn't sure I would get that chance and have the ability to stay local," said Johnson, who earned his MBA from Concordia in 2014. "When I was here about a decade ago, we had a lot of success. What brought me back is the opportunity to coach at the college level and to be right in our backyard."

Johnson has worked at Santa Margarita since 2017 and took over as the head of the boys water polo program there in 2019.  His ties throughout Southern California kept him in the region and with an eye on his alma mater.

"All the great things that are happening at CUI since I was a grad student are extremely exciting," added Johnson. "The water polo community is a very small community and I have connections and friends from all over the country and many different generations."

At El Toro, he was named Orange County Register Coach of the Year in 2016 and the girls team was CIF runner-up.  His El Toro teams were CIF champions from 2014-2017. In addition, he has contributed to the success of the Saddleback El Toro (SET) Water Polo Club.

"We are very excited to have someone of Justin's caliber on our staff," said CUI director of athletics Crystal Rosenthal. "It was clear in the interview process he was the best fit for not only our student-athletes, but our institution.  Justin is a great addition to our department and I am very excited about the future of our men's water polo program."

"Great leaders they walk the walk," explained Johnson. "I also think great coaches invest time in their people. Not just in the X's and O's but outside the pool deck.  Water polo is one of the most intense games from a physicality aspect as a sport – and it gives you a chance to work towards goals.  I'm very excited to get going. I want to do a good job not only for myself but for our student-athletes."

This next season marks another big change for Concordia men's water polo in terms of opponents.  The Golden Eagles will see a big shift in conference alignment in the WWPA as four universities from the East Coast (McKendree, Gannon, Mercyhurst and Salem) will join Concordia, Biola and Fresno Pacific in the league.  The new-look seven-team conference will continue to have the winner of its conference tournament earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.