When Miffy Henley heard the news about her new coach, she said she was pretty excited – to say the least.

“I ran around the house frantically screaming,” Henley, a junior swimmer, said. “I live next door to two swimmers and I could hear them yelling, too. Everyone was so excited that we chose him to come here.”

On Aug. 29, Athletics Director Debbie Yow announced that Braden Holloway would be returning to N.C . State to lead the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. This will be Holloway’s first opportunity as a head coach after serving as the associate head coach for Virginia Tech.

Holloway and Henley have a bit of a past with each other. Back in 2009, Henley had narrowed her choice down to two colleges: Virginia Tech and State. She wanted to become a Hokie because of the young, exuberant associate head coach, but eventually chose to join the Wolfpack because of the campus and swimmers.

With Holloway moving to Raleigh to take over a program that Brooks Teal left in good shape, Henley said she gets the best of both worlds.

“When I was going through the recruiting process I kept thinking to myself, ‘Man, if Braden was at N.C . State I would literally have the perfect situation,'” Henley said. “So the fact that he ended up coming here gets me really excited for the things that we should be able to do while he’s here for my last two years.”

After graduating from State in 2001, Holloway’s time in the 100-meter backstroke from 2000 still stands as the school record. He also owns six more all-time top-10 marks and is a part of two top-three relay squads.

While Holloway acknowledges his record will not always stand as the top mark, he says it is comforting to know that he might be on deck to watch one of his swimmers claim the record for themselves.

“I only hold one record here now, and that’s the first one I want broken,” Holloway said. “It would mean a lot to coach someone to break that record. It helps create some excitement and I hope it reassures them that I know what I’m doing and I can help them to get where I was at.”

When the five-time All-American decided to hang it up after Olympic Trials, he didn’t wait long before he started coaching at the collegiate ranks. He began a short stint with the University of the South in Sewanee , Tenn ., from 2003 to 2004, which led to seven student-athletes winning individual titles and the team establishing four school records. Holloway then moved on to Virginia Tech where he would spend the next few years making his name known in several recruiting circles.

Last year, Holloway’s men’s class was ranked 20th overall, while the women’s class was ranked 14th. This year, the women’s class has been ranked 13th. The Hokies ‘ program has consistently improved under Holloway’s guidance, combining to set more than 30 school records, more than 20 All-Americans and more than 15 ACC champions throughout his tenure.

Holloway said he plans on bringing that recruiting energy to State and he has already reached out to the community to let people know about the program, but the list of chores to do so far has been a bit overwhelming for the first time head coach.

“I’ve been trying to assess where the program stands right now, basically looking at the nuts and bolts of what we have here and trying to use that as a recruiting tool,” Holloway said. “One thing that I plan on doing is to reach out to the club coaches and let them know that this will be a great, viable option for in-state swimmers. Then I plan on moving on to the out-of-state coaches and letting them know the same thing.

“There’s a laundry list of things to do, so I have to pace myself. But the most important part is putting together my staff.”

And once he does that, Holloway says he’ll put his strongest asset — recruiting — to work to build a winning program.

With recruiting being one of his strongest assets that he brings to the University because it is a vital part of building a winning program.

“My youth helps me relate to a lot of the student-athletes and I like to have fun but I know when to be serious,” Holloway said. “I can’t change who I am, and the last couple of years that has been working for me.”

And that’s evident from his frequent moves up the coaching ranks. But this latest relocation to Raleigh isn’t an issue for his wife.

Though moving around for a family may not always be a comforting experience, Holloway’s wife seems to have no problem with moving to Raleigh. Mary Holloway, formerly known as Mary Mittendorf , was also a former swimmer for State who still holds four top-10 marks with the program.

Holloway said she was relieved to hear the family’s next move would be back to a place that she called home for a long time.

“Moving back to Raleigh is definitely a comforting experience for me,” Mary Holloway said. “My brother lives in Durham and I have a lot of friends who still live in the area. We also got to meet back up with friends that we met in Chicago that have recently moved back who were members of the N.C . State Alumni Association.”

Holloway went on to explain that the opportunity for her husband meant as much to him as it did for Henley.

“This truly is his dream job, who actually gets their dream job?” Holloway said with a chuckle. “Ever since he graduated and became a coach, he kept saying he wanted to come back to State where we both swam. He gets to finally live that dream, and not many people get that opportunity.”