ECU letterwinner and former associate head coach Matt Jabs has started an era of his own, taking over the 37-year reign of Hall of Fame Coach Rick Kobe

Matt Jabs is a very familiar face to the ECU swimming and diving program. Jabs experienced much success during his time as a four-year Pirate letterman and two-time recipient of the Pirates' Most Outstanding Male Swimmer Team Award. He began as a volunteer assistant coach before transitioning to a graduate assistant at ECU. In 2003, he became a full-time assistant and was later promoted to associate head coach in 2013.

As part of Rick Kobe's coaching staff, Jabs helped lead the Pirates to three men's American Athletic Conference titles (2015, 2016 and 2017) and two women's league championship titles (2001 in the ECAC and 2003 in Conference USA). During his time as an assistant, neither the women's nor the men's teams have experienced a losing dual meet. To add to the list, in the 2013-14 season, the women's team posted the only undefeated regular season by an ECU female athletics program in school history.

"In my time here, the biggest thing I have learned is that people make it all work. You have to surround yourself with good people if you want to be successful," Jabs said.  "I have a great deal of faith in my staff and their ability to develop our athletes. Part of my job is to ensure they have everything they need to be successful."

With many years of success under his belt, Jabs remains hungry for the team to do one thing: be better.

"In the pool, in the classroom and in our day-to-day lives, we have to be better. If we focus on the day-to-day process, the rest will take care of itself," said Jabs.

The 2017 Purple/Gold swim meet was first opportunity the student-athletes had to compete in the pool and it allowed Jabs to evaluate this season's teams as a head coach for the first time.

"We had some good performances, and we had some just okay performances. It's always a challenge to get up to compete against yourself; but I saw energy, and some good racing," Jabs reflected on the team meet. "I was able to get a better idea of exactly where we stand from a competitive standpoint, and where we need to go in our training."

Moving forward, Jabs looks to make group adjustments and to tweak the training program to further the development of the student-athletes.

"In swimming, there isn't a lot of X and O strategy, it's all about training," Jabs said.

In early October, Coach Kobe was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame. Jabs is more than supportive of his former boss.

"No coach is more deserving. His accomplishments are impressive, but I've said it many times: his influence and impact on the people he coached and worked with is where his Hall of Fame status stands in my mind," Jabs said.

One component of coaching that Jabs has taken from Kobe and will continue to implement in the program is "happy athletes are successful athletes."

"Not to say everything we do is fun, but conveying why we do what we do is important to the athletes buying into our program," Jabs said.

The swimming and diving team's tangible evidence of success over the years conveys that putting time and effort into developing athletes is what works.

"Swimming is a tough sport. Training isn't fun -- it hurts -- and you are tired daily. You have to pay the price to be successful. The fun comes when you hit your goals, and win championships," Jabs said.

The goals for the 2017-18 season remain as follows: set a standard of expectation, follow through with a plan, and see how it all shakes out.

"I have been coaching a long time. To have the final say on things is very different, but at the same time, very exciting," Jabs shared. "I think this team has the potential to do a lot of good things this season, and I am eager to see it come to fruition."

Winning a combined nine of 11 dual meets so far this season, the Pirates turn their focus to the three-day Georgia Tech Invitational Nov. 16-18.