Ed Datti - Associate Head Coach - Women's Gymnastics Coaches

Ed Datti

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
edmund.datti@unh.edu
Phone:
603-862-3834

The 2018-19 season was season No. 38 for Ed Datti with the gymnastics program and third year in the role of volunteer assistant coach. Datti is still active in all elements of every practice, serves as team spotter and is involved in technical coaching.

After 33 years as a full-time staff member, Datti retired from the role of associate head coach following the 2015-16 season and transitioned to his current role of volunteer assistant coach.

Datti has been one of the top assistants nationally for more than three-and-a-half decades. He has been honored as an NCAA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year 11 times in his career (1991, '94, '97, 2001, '03, '06, '08 and '10, ’12, ’14 and '19) and was tabbed the EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and ’12.

Datti, along with associate head coach Lindsey Bruck Ayotte and assistant coach Sunny Marchand, assisted his wife and 40^th-year head coach Gail Goodspeed to guide the Wildcats to the 2019 EAGL Championship and a trip to the NCAA Athens Regional Championship at the University of Georgia. UNH went 23-4 overall and 11-2 in league competition, which culminated with an EAGL Championship victory over league rivals George Washington, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Towson at the Whittemore Center on March 23. The 23 victories represented the most since 2003 and the second-most in program history (24 wins, 1982). Senior Danielle Mulligan won the EAGL uneven bar championship for an unprecedented third straight season to highlight 10 Wildcat gymnasts who totaled 17 All-EAGL awards. Led by all six seniors, a total of 17 Wildcats collected EAGL All-Scholastic Team distinction, the most of all EAGL schools for the second year in a row.

In 2018, Datti helped lead the Wildcats to a second-place finish at the EAGL Championship for the fourth consecutive year, scoring 196.300 at Towson. Earning the No. 6 seed at the NCAA University Park Regional (Penn State), UNH finished fourth. Junior Danielle Mulligan was the regular-season EAGL uneven-bar champion and became the first Wildcat and EAGL gymnast to achieve a score of 9.950 on the uneven-bars in the EAGL Championship meet since 2000 to win the league bar championship for the second straight year.

In 2017, the Wildcats finished runner-up at the EAGL Championship for the third straight year, scoring a 195.075 at N.C. State. UNH subsequently earned the No. 4 seed at the NCAA Gainesville Regional. Goodspeed earned her 600^th career victory Feb. 17, and the ‘Cats extended their home winning streak to 28 in a row dating back to March 8, 2014. Meghan Pflieger became the first Wildcat ever named the EAGL Senior Gymnast of the Year, and sophomore Danielle Mulligan finished the season as EAGL’s No. 1-ranked competitor on uneven bars for the second year in a row.

The 2016 Wildcats repeated as EAGL runner-up by scoring a 195.485 at EAGLs, hosted by Pittsburgh. The ‘Cats received a bid to the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional (Michigan). Freshman Danielle Doolin was named the EAGL Rookie of the Year and earned All-EAGL First Team on floor exercise and all-around. The ‘Cats boasted the league’s top performers on uneven bars (Danielle Mulligan) and balance beam (Casey Lauter), and had a balance beam lineup ranked nationally in the Top-10 for most of the season.

Despite losing three key seniors from the 2014 EAGL championship team, the 2015 Wildcats registered the top RQS (195.860) among all EAGL teams and an 18-8 record, which included a perfect 7-0 at home. Five key freshmen joined the lineup, including EAGL Rookie of the Year candidate Casey Lauter, and the ‘Cats advanced to the NCAA Morgantown Regional (West Virginia). Datti helped mentor sophomore Meghan Pflieger to the EAGL Gymnast of the Year award, an honor last won by a Wildcat in 2005 (Amanda Hall), and the all-around championship at EAGLs.

In 2014, Datti helped guided the Wildcats to the second EAGL Championship in school history and a berth in the NCAA University Park Regional (Penn State). UNH scored a 196.375 to capture the 19^th annual tournament inside the Whittemore Center Arena on the UNH campus. Senior co-captain Erin Machado led the way by winning the individual floor exercise championship. Datti and assistant coach Ali Carr were recognized as the Northeast Region Assistant Coaches of the Year. It was Datti’s 10^th such honor.

In 2012, he was named the EAGL Assistant Coach of the Year (with assistant coach Jess Kelley) for the second time in his career and the NCAA Northeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year (with Kelley) for the ninth time.

Datti is highly respected by his colleagues for his skills as a strong technical coach and outstanding spotter. UNH head coach Gail Goodspeed states: “Obviously, I am a little biased, but Ed is one of the best spotters in the nation. He can anticipate when a gymnast is in need of assistance and can react faster than seems possible. He also has the unique ability of knowing exactly how much assistance is needed. A great balance is created with his technical expertise and spotting ability to help all of our team members continue to improve and upgrade their skills.”

Datti is the former owner and head coach of the Montvale School of Gymnastics in Woburn, Mass. This was one of the first private gymnastics schools in Massachusetts and he coached several top USGF gymnasts during the 10 years of operating the club. Before his Montvale affiliation, Datti taught at Saxonville Elementary School in Framingham (Mass.) and coached the Framingham South High School girls gymnastics team.

A 1971 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, Datti was a four-year competitor on the gymnastics squad. In his senior year, he was team captain and earned All-America honors in floor exercise. He is originally from Framingham, Mass.