MacPherson Adds Connor McCool to Coaching Staff as an Assistant Coach
8/9/2025 1:45:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
PITTSBURGH – Head Coach Casey Jo MacPherson and the Pitt gymnastics team are pleased to announce the addition of Connor McCool to the staff as an assistant coach. McCool comes to Pittsburgh after spending a season with the men's gymnastics team at the University of Illinois.
"We are thrilled to have Connor join our staff and program," says MacPherson. "His passion and dedication shine through in his approach to developing student-athletes. He understands the importance of daily commitment, building relationships, and a strong team culture. Connor has the drive and technical knowledge to help take Pitt gymnastics to new heights, and we can't wait to get him started!"
McCool helped guide Illinois to the NCAA Finals this past season and a fourth place finish at the Big Ten Championship. He trained athletes to four All-America honors as the Fighting Illini completed the 2025 season ranked number one on vault. McCool accompanied 2025 Big Ten Specialist of the Year and Senior National Team member Brandon Dang to the Cairo World Cup last season and oversaw operations and recruiting.
McCool also competed at Illinois from 2020-2024, earning 22 individual event titles in floor exercise, placing him at second in school history. The 2023 College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Specialist of the Year and two-time Big Ten Floor Champion also earned five regular season All-America honors (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and three NCAA postseason All-America honors (2021, 2023, 2024). Illinois and McCool advanced to four NCAA Finals during his athletic career and were crowned Big Ten Regular Season Champions in 2024.
He was named a team captain for four of his five years with the Fighting Illini (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and received the team's Hayasaki Consistency Award all five years. The Ocean City, N.J., native is also a four-time Academic All-Big Ten awardee (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2022, 2023).
McCool earned his undergraduate degree in marketing in 2023 before returning for a fifth year to complete a master's degree in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism with a Sports Management emphasis, graduating in 2024.
"I'm incredibly honored to join Pitt gymnastics as an assistant coach," says McCool. "It was immediately clear to me that this program has all of the resources to become a championship-caliber team— a coaching staff with an ambitious vision for their program, the visible buy-in from the student-athletes, and with the completion of Victory Heights on the horizon, a world-class investment in gymnastics that is going to transform the way the student-athletes practice and compete. It's evident the athletic department is just as excited as I am for the future of this team. I am so thankful to Casey Jo for trusting me in this role, and I'm so ready to get to work. Hail to Pitt!"