"He is super nice in the beginning, but then his true colors show. He cannot control himself on the sideline, at times makes borderline inappropriate comments. He knows the game a bit, but treats it like men's soccer so he does everything that the Premier League teams try to do. He can be nice, but it does not last too long. I do not recommend it at all. His only objective is to collect the paycheck and thats about it. "
"Molly is an exceptional coach and cares about her players, both as athletes and human beings. She motivates young women to be the best version of themselves. Her passion and knowledge of the game is top notch. She is honest and communicates in a way that is both empathetic and inspiring."
"Now that a new year is approaching and girls are heading back to school, I have been asked more than once about Coach Gina. My experience so far has been a good experience. I find that she is direct and knowledgeable. I also believe that she has high expectations of her players. Coaching youth and working at clinics for many years I have come to realize that preparing your young adult for the leap to any college level of play is the parent's responsibility. Getting there is only a small part of it. College level play is a full-time job. I have told many parents if you get the offer, prepare your player to work just as hard to keep it each year. Coaches change, new classes come EVERY year. Coach Gina has been fair to my daughter. Of course, I get the phone calls about how unfair things are at times and we discuss why that is. I encourage my daughter to talk to the coaches, get feedback. Not always easy and I have received a few phone calls after those meetings too. I also feel that there is balance in the coaching staff. Different personalities, different views provide a good mix and options for communication. I have never questioned a coach why my child was not on the field, I never ask my daughter that question, I leave that up to her father. Motivation comes in many forms. I believe that the desire to play is enough motivation for my daughter. Coach Gina was the ONLY D1 coach that we visited with that we could be honest about what my daughter wanted to study. Most players finish 4-year degree in 4 years. UC and the coaching staff want the team to accel academically. THIS is important when that academic 5th year is really expensive. I as a parent do not always understand choices made on gameday, just like other teams. I believe that UC and Coach Gina are a good fit for my daughter's first full-time job."
"I heard the warnings, but thought it would be better than all the previous ratings here. Mandy does not understand the definition of student-athlete. She is a bully who intimidates her swimmers with threats of removing their scholarship if they don’t improve. She is not able to show care and concern for swimmers facings challenges or hardship, only cares about the “numbers”. Most swimmers quit or transfer. Not sure how she keeps attracting talented swimmers. Please do not think Mandy will change and you will have a good experience here. So unfortunate that the Athletic Department will not address this bad situation at UC."
"Our daughter’s decision to attend UC and play lacrosse for Coach Gina has proven to be one of the best decisions she has made in her young life so far. As parents we recognized years ago that her lacrosse journey would eventually end like it does for 99.9% of Women’s Lacrosse Student Athletes, but our daughter’s development and lessons learned while playing in college would last a lifetime. We have found through our own interactions with Coach Gina and with what our daughter has shared with us that Gina is extremely knowledgeable, motivational, direct and genuinely cares about all her players and the team. Coach Gina and her staff helped our daughter recover from an accident (not lacrosse related) both physically and mentally. They helped teach our daughter life long lessons like over coming adversity, working hard and setting goals so much so that by the end of her career, she was in the best shape mentally and physically that she had ever been in. If ever asked, we would absolutely recommend a young student athlete to play for Coach Gina. Gina and her staff have had a positive and profound impact on our daughters life! "
"Unfortunately being a player under Tom is anything but wonderful. To say that “if you don’t have thick skin he’s not the coach for you” is an understatement. If you enjoy being ridiculed, lied to, made fun of in front of your teammates, turned against your teammates and struggling with mental health then he is definitely the coach for you. He might have “turned the program around” but it was short lived as playing in fear is not long lasting. And neither is the human body when put through unnecessarily demanding physical conditioning that only hurt more players than helped. Physically wrestling other players on the field with no objective but to shove them out of the circle resulted in many dislocated joints and concussions. Drilling soccer balls straight into girls faces resulted in many concussions, not to mention a record of 10 concussions in one season. I have to say we did play in the SEC where soccer was kickball against most teams like arkansas and mizzou for starters, but most of those concussions were earned in practice. Most girls enter college soccer knowing it wont be easy, the training will be physically tough, sacrifices are made, but no one should ever be expected to sit silently and accept treatment like we were forced to under this man's leadership."
"This is a coach who has a very difficult time preparing her team for games and even great difficulty making any kind of adjustments during the game. She is a poor communicator and stubborn to a fault. She demonstrated favoritism and communicated with only a select few members of the team and their families. She makes empty promises and does not hold all players to the same standards. Basically lacks the integrity, intelligence and communication skills to be an effective coach. If you actually break down her coaching record her wins are against teams that have losing records. Regret my decision to play for her, but taught me so much about how I will carry myself as I move into coaching this beautiful sport . "
"How does Mandy still have a job? Mandy creates an unhealthy/toxic team environment. She hand picks her team captains based upon who will not challenge doing what is right. She encourages her students to take easy majors and defer challenging classes. She threatens removing scholarships if you do not hit your goals. She pits team members against one another. Do not consider joining this team until this coach is no longer leading the Bearcats."
"Horrible team culture, divisive, berating, has favorites, divide and conquer leadership, has been sued i court several times due to her unbearable, brutish coaching style "
"Mandy recruits team members and then disposes of them quickly instead of nurturing them and coaching them to reach their true potential. She does not care about divers! She does not care about your commitment to the school for your education despite not having a scholarship. She does not care about the athlete but only their ability to perform but doesn't help the athlete attain their potential. She creates a toxic team culture because of all of the above. In the 2023/24 season half of the team was new and many team members were cut from the roster or lost their scholarship."
"I played 4 years under Gina and wouldn't change my college experience at all. As a division 1 athlete, I expected to be pushed to my highest potential every single day and that's exactly what she did. Gina was always direct and honest when it came to playing time and performance which I appreciated and made me a better player. Yes, we had "punishment workouts" aka EIs but they were to hold us accountable for things we were supposed to do (be on time, wear the correct practice clothes that day, etc.) so when those standards weren't met, we had a consequence just as you would for anything else in life. At the same time, we were also rewarded for things and did A TON of fun activities. Red/Black days where we competed in fun activities as a team, went to Disney World, cool restaurants on the road, etc. Gina is tough and hardcore but by no means a "bully" or inconsiderate to player's feelings or health. I sustained an injury during two seasons and was never expected to play hurt, come back too early or push myself to a point of anther injury. The coaching staff, strength and conditioning staff, and athletic training staff all worked together and were all more than supportive in my recovery and getting me back on the field. I feel as a head coach, Gina's leadership is top notch and she also focused on building us as young women preparing for the real world, not just lacrosse players. As a captain, we focused a lot on leadership techniques which I have very much so taken into the professional world and has helped me greatly in my career. I give a lot of credit to Gina and UC lacrosse when it comes to my success as an adult, being able to manage my time, and navigate the real world. I would 10/10 recommend Gina as a coach and like I said, wouldn’t change my college experience at all. I could go on and on, but I think there are people who expect to have their hand held in college athletics and while Gina won’t do that, she will push you to be the best version of yourself which will get you much further in life than being coddled. "
"(Just recently heard about this website.) I have known Gina for over 9 years through taking my daughters to camps/clinics/tournaments/games/etc. Loved her intensity and direct honesty with players and with me as a parent. As a member of the Bearcat Family i appreciated the honesty my daughters received from the coaching staff...may not have always been what they wanted to hear. Their experience may not have always been roses but they learned that life away from their parents is a time for them to grow up and be held responsible and accountable from someone else in a Leadership position. Was Gina "hard", "intense", "direct"...100% she was and that is what I expected from a Head Coach for my daughters. I have witnessed my girls mature and become accountable while they were at UC playing lacrosse. Playing time was different for both my girls, but in team sports there is competition and the best play. Understand that everyone's experiences may be different, but bottom line, would I send my daughters to UC again if I could do it all over again...absolutely!"
"Parents of athletes and athletes do your due diligence on coaches and programs. Having known Gina for over a decade from the recruiting process onwards I genuinely wish I went elsewhere. As a 15-17 year old kid… let me highlight that again a kid… it is very easy to be manipulated into her web. The recruiting process with her is all smiles, flashiness and high praise. Come on campus and it is not that what so ever.
Tommy Tuberville (University of Cincinnati Football Coach) only lasted 3 seasons at UC for poor performance and management, but Gina has been with the school for over a decade and little to write home about. Why? This is more about the establishment itself.
So here are some of the tales… in my tenure with the team she went through 4 athletic trainers and 3 strength trainers. A lot like the review above with a concussion I got a concussion as well. I was supposed to be resting but she had me out running still fully participating. This lead me to fear telling the staff about anything.
Her control of a room was through fear it was obvious. We would have 3 hour pow wows and “heart to hearts” as a team basically having her ask “Jane Doe what has Sally Doe done to you air your issues” and the two players would awkwardly fight in front of the team. She loved pinning players against each other and it is not shocking she is still losing with this mentality. Now let’s move onto picking captains… one season we had another pow wow where we had to write on a small piece of paper who we thought would be captain she said she would not look and it would be anonymous… as we were walking out the room as we handed her the papers she would open our folded papers and read who we put.
We lost a tight game in Detroit by a goal and when we got back to the team hotel with dinner next to us we had to sit in the very public lobby and be screamed at for over 1.5 hours with some hotel guests unaffiliated with us as the receptionists to call the cops on Gina for disorderly conduct and disturbance of piece. But some of the parents on the team told those folks to not call the cops it is very normal for her to pull this.
From a lacrosse IQ perspective we got out coached every game. She has no originality in her wheel house and her plays and systems are exposed and exploited constantly.
We did try to standup to her and protest and not practice but it was mishandled by the AD and UC. We for a week refused to practice and only for a season was she under intense scrutiny.
As a young athlete it was tough to play under her, she would tell us “you guys pay my salary” or “I could cut you all and the AD would not be mad”.
"
"Incredibly verbally abusive man. Berated players, humiliated and ostracized them too. On top of that, he hires an assistant coach that has had past affairs with players and has been fired from previous schools for it. He will manipulate you and your family into believing he has your best interests at heart. I can promise you, he does not. He has ruined careers and torn down self images. Do. Not. Play. For. Him. Ever. Under any circumstance. Terrible person."
"I was a freshman during Gina's second year at Cincinnati and quit after one year because it was so bad. I was recruited by Lellie and the differences between what I signed up for and what I got were immense. We had insane punishments and the overall mentality of the team was so toxic. The most dangerous thing I think Gina does is gaslight players about their injuries. I got a very serious concussion and Gina did not believe me and almost stopped me from taking the concussion test because she thought I was being dramatic. Many similar stories from teammates about injuries not being taken seriously and girls made to feel like they were being babies or lying about being hurt. Once season came around several players starting having panic attacks over fear of punishments. If we forgot literally anything the whole team would have a punishment workout. One time we played badly and Gina took away all of our issued gear and we had to walk home from the locker room in whatever we had..some girls did not have shoes and it was February. Worst coach ever, do not recommend. "
"Gina Oliver was one of the best lacrosse players to play the game. Unfortunately her playing ability did not translate well to coaching. She is a poor communicator, pits players against one another and always demonstrated favoritism. Gina consistently violated NCAA guidelines, exceeding the number of practice hours, and practice days allowed. I have no idea how she has gotten away with this and was not called into the compliance office for her violations. Her abuse resulted in a whole recruiting class, leaving and threatening to quit the team due to violations and mistreatment. This abuse led to many injuries from over training . Gina Oliver could not keep a conditioning coach. She treated them with no respect resulting in multiple conditioning coaches leaving in a four year period. Gina has done nothing for the program, as far as effort to create a positive culture and climate. Despite her extensive experience and knowledge of the game, she is a terrible coach. She has put together only one winning season and frankly I’m not sure how she still has a job. Gina is a bully, her assistant coaches were afraid of her and she did not allow them to have say in anything that went on with the team. They both quit in the same year. She has no interest or ability to read the needs of her players or awareness of their mental health. Overall a horrible experience. "
"Athletes beware. Gina will say all the right things during the recruiting process and then once you are there you will find out that she’s nothing like what was advertised. Frequent mind games and doesn’t communicate with players in an honest and open manner. Doesn’t value academics and penalizes players who prioritize academics. Is not approachable and you can’t come to her with issues without repercussions. Any HS girls considering UC should look elsewhere. "
"Turned a bunch of losers into winners. Change the culture and made us better than any of us thought we could be. Will do anything for his players Direct tough honest and cares for us as people more than players "
"Overall, great facilities for a swimmer. Olympic-sized pool in the center of campus, the team does not own the pool it is owned by the campus rec center but practice times are always reserved for us. 8-lanes LCM, and around 20 SCY so lanes are never crowded for practice. Huge weight room in the athletic center shared with all other sports, with only one working out at a time. Every athlete can get snacks, protein shakes, and Gatorade in the weight room as well. Each team has their own locker room on the same floor as the weight room, or shares with a smaller team. The athletic center has everything in one place right in the middle of campus, 3-min walk max from all other practice facilities: weight room, locker rooms, laundry, snacks, academic advisors, tutors, coaches/admin offices, and training room. Super convenient and a great way to meet other athletes. Only sport-specific complaint is that the pool locker room is very small and not very nice. It would have been nice to have a bigger locker room at our main practice location but was not a huge deal at the end of the day since we had the other nicer one at the athletic center."
"I played for Gina for four years- here is a brief summary of what I witnessed and went through:
Conditioning sessions where multiple people became physically exhausted and unable to continue- which they were berated in front of the team for for being “weak” or “soft”
Multiple girls being sent to the hospital due to Gina’s conditionings or practices
More than half of the team being injured during fall seasons due to Gina’s conditioning
Strength coaches being fired (repeatedly) for refusing to condition us as hard as Gina wanted them to
Gina did not visit several of her players in the hospital post surgery
One player was hospitalized for mental health due to treatment by Gina and Gina did not visit her or check up on her afterwards
Forcing players to incorrectly accept CARA logs through implied threats of punishment- practices being lengthened for reporting incorrect CARA logs
Told team multiple times that lacrosse should come before school
Gina said to the team “I don’t care if I’m the reason you have to go talk to someone about your mental health” one week after a player was hospitalized for mental health reasons
Routine physical punishments, which could and often did last up to 3 hours (the entire practice block)
Constantly pinning players against one another
Encouraged team not to receive covid shots during the 2021 season and punished those who were sick after receiving their shot
Physically and verbally intimidated players on the sidelines
Bullied players routinely about personal things during practice
Made a player cry after berating them for being injured (yes, really)
The list goes on and on. I have seen gina ruin and de rail the careers of many talented young women. Very few people who finish her program will say that Gina had any sort of positive impact on their lives- but many will tell you about the awful mental and physical abuse they suffered, and the mental consequences that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Not to mention she has had one winning season in her 10+ years at Cincinnati, which only occurred after Gina was put under heavy watch due to the entire team refusing to practice or play until she was held accountable for how she treated them. "
"If you are considering playing for Coach Carl I would reconsider. She made me fall out of love of the sport I grew up playing with my dad and friends. The culture is toxic and should have been fired years ago. Never should come to this program. "
"If you are considering joining this team, please do yourself a favor and reconsider. Mandy will make you hate the sport you love. She will belittle you to thinking you are not good enough to be on the team if you are not a record-holder. Most swimmers quit before they graduate because of the coaching staff. The culture of the team is toxic. It probably will get worse when they join the Big 12, because expectations will increase. Mandy will come across as pleasant during the recruiting process and then it will all change once you sign - makes zero sense to me as to why….."
"Shocked that Mandy still has a job coaching swimming at UC. Only reason she has not been released is due to the numerous AD’s and Compliance directors during her tenure. Most athletes either quit or are forced to quit. The coaching staff is abusive and knowingly breaks NCAA rules regarding practicing too many hours per week. There is no balance between academics and athletics. She only cares about times and her job and doesn’t care at all about the swimmers. I love the University and UC Athletics , but Mandy has ruined so many students’ college athletics and academic experiences."
"For the most part, Mandy is not a fan of the human race. She is dismissive, abrasive, abusive, and argumentative. The one thing she excels at is hiding her true personality. She will kill you with kindness and compliments until you step foot on the pool deck. From that point on you will spend every day wishing she had just killed you. The number of swimmers that have left or quit is insane. How this monster still has a job is the real question. Swimmers are built different - they are conditioned to be mentally and physically strong. She will break you. She will steal your passion for the sport you have spent your whole life loving. Choose wisely- avoid Mandy. "
Men's Swimming & Diving Assistant Coach / Director of Recruiting
University of Cincinnati
A Joke
Date: April 26, 2022
By Other
1.0
Would Recommend
Overall
Caring
Motivational
Knowledgeable
Honest
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
"A bipolar weasel who changes his personality constantly. Will tell you he has your back until you actual need help and then you are left alone. Don’t swim at UC"
"Joey knows about swimming which is great, however his complete lack of personal and people skills leave his knowledge useless as he often can’t work up the courage to come speak to most of the team to express that knowledge. Often he just doesn’t respond to people asking him questions. Very weird dude. "
"Yeo don't even get me started about Mandy fam. She seemed like a decent coach from our recruiting calls and meetings. The truth however arose rather quickly, when I first joined the team she did not say a word to me for weeks. Only when did I start rising in the team did she begin to notice and communicate with me. She only cares for swimmers who can win a championship as that means another bonus for her. Her and her coaching staff have a repetitive nature of meeting with swimmers and suggesting they stop swimming or transfer elsewhere. Even promising students that she will honor their scholarship, only to text them 10 days before the payments due to cancel on that promise. I recommend staying away from her, as she is a horrid disease hiding behind a smile. The only reason she is still a coach is because her daddy's company that her husband works for pays the school hella and the university wants to be seen as "diverse" for having a female head coach. Even tho Mandy hates anyone that is not white."
"Joey really loves swimming which makes him at least knowledgeable compared to the rest. However has little to no compassion or personable skills with athletes. Tends to make men and women same on the same intervals. Will probably overtrain you to the point of injury. Distance training that would only be suitable for crossing the English Channel. "
"Emotionally abusive and manipulative. While participating in sports for a university, you understand it is like a business. However your entire presence as a human person is diminished to something she can use. She treats you like an object. She made me hate the sport and the aspect of mental health doesn’t exist in her eyes. She is an awful person with no compassion…literally stay away."
"It was horrid. She is a toxic manipulator.She lies to all her swimmers. She doesn’t care about any of them. She gaslights everyone she comes in contact with. And you are seen as a machine. Not a human being. Very unpersonable. She doesn’t really know anything. She made a forgein swimmer do tongue twisters in front of the team as a punishment for him being late to practice, she knowingly allows and creates drama within her team, and she does not know really anything about swimming. "
"A robot. Don't even expect her to say happy birthday. You can expect her to cut you and half of the team every spring. Ask about their "rebuilding" year"
"Unfortunately, the experience was not what I was promised when I was recruited nor was her attitude towards her athletes. The team has only gone down hill, the continuously changing staff and numbers of athletes that have transferred out or been cut proves this. Before choosing a school, do your research and try to find other athletes that will give you an honest opinion on the school. "
"This has to be the most manipulative, narcissistic woman I have ever known. She would have girls crying everyday at practice, tell people to just leave the team because they weren't wanted. Countless people have given up on a dream because of her. I hope with leaving RU she never becomes a coach again bc she should never be around young woman again"
"The worst person I have ever had in charge of leading me. He is extremely degrading and will treat you as poorly as you let him. I don’t know how he got into the profession of leading young women but he claims that his goal is to bring them up and he does the opposite. You will not leave a better soccer player than you came in."
"She put on a front before we got there that she was a great coach & person,but turns out she was manipulative,played mind games,&created an extreme toxic environment that made everyone miserable.Countless people had anxiety &depression simply over the coach.She even told her team they were all horrible people&didn't care if anyone was on the team. "
"If you want every ounce of confidence you've ever had to be crushed and all of the joy to be sucked out of something you once loved, this is the program for you."
"Tabby definitely knows her stuff. She's very inspiring and wants every one of her athletes to do their best not only on their own, but completely as a team."
"One of the worst coaches I've ever come across in my athletic career. She has a very closed mind and is not fully committed to being the head coach of a collegiate program. "
"I had the honor of being coached by GIna in my time at cincinnati. In all honesty I was not the easiest player to coach. She never gave up on me. She knew my passion for the game and never let me give anything less than my best. Heading into college I had a lot going on in my head and brought a lot of baggage with me mentally. I was a broken soul, that wore her heart on her sleeve which at times was not what was best. Gina and Shannon both guided me with tough love as well as their own actions of grace and compassion. Their knowledge of the game, passion for what they do, and true care for their players is inspiring. While I ended up transferring after my sophomore year for personal reasons, they still remained in my corner and I am glad to share a career with the both of them. They have inspired me to become a college coach and I appreciate how much they taught me about life and lacrosse.
I will say, division 1 lacrosse is NO JOKE. Not many people realize how much you have to be willing to sacrifice to chase a dream. You have to be willing to run through a brick wall if your coach asks you to. That is what you sign up for. While it is a hard journey. it pays off and not only teaches you about hard work and determination. It also gives you a family that you can lean on for life. "
"In the 2 years I was at UC, 11 players quit or transferred (and several I played with during that time left later). The way she treated players led to significant long-lasting injuries. For instance, she made one player with stress fractures still complete run tests and participate in training. Within a semester, she developed compartment syndrome and needed surgery on both legs, resulting in her being in a wheelchair for weeks and on crutches for weeks after that. She consistently had pain for over a year and was forced to quit.
This wasn’t uncommon — when I was injured, she gaslit me, told me that I was just sore and being dramatic, and accused me of faking it. After 6 months of practicing with extreme pain (collapsing during workouts, shooting pain down my legs, constant discomfort even when lying down), she told me not to seek an opinion from another doctor because it would upset the team doc and it wouldn’t be covered by the school’s health insurance (it was). Once I was diagnosed, I was told that it would have only taken a few weeks for me to recover if I had rested when I originally injured it. Instead, I had about 4 more months of no exercise after my diagnosis, then about a year of PT until I fully recovered.
It was also common for girls with bronchitis or the stomach flu to still practice and condition. When an AT said a player was too sick to practice, Gina yelled at her and threatened to get her fired. The AT never again suggested a player couldn’t practice .
Gina also created an environment based entirely around fear. She gave punishment workouts known as “EIs” for things as trivial as leaving a pencil out in the weight room. She regularly threatened to cut girls or the entire team, which seemed very truthful because something similar happened with M. Soccer and baseball the year before. She said that we couldn’t make any complaints with the athletic department because they liked her and the AD would support her decision to cut us (which apparently is true because nothing happened when players finally did go to the AD).
She was also very unprofessional when dealing with internal conflict. For instance, rather than dealing with issues between players in private, we once had a 3 hour team meeting to discuss drama. A lot of these topics were really delicate and they weren’t handled well, resulting in several players crying. They deserved more support.
"
"Extremely old school coach. He is extremely intense, which has potential to create some results. However, if you do not have a thick skin, he is not the coach for you. He has also been known to lead players on in the recruiting process. "
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