ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Seven months have passed since Luis Nicolao ’92 returned to the place that hatched his unlikely career nearly 30 years ago. And the fourth head water polo coach in Navy history—one of the top players the program has ever produced—is still tickled by how this chapter came together.
What are the odds that Nicolao, the school’s all-time leader in goals and points scored, would first try coaching and thrive under former Navy coach Mike Schofield as a young naval officer, and would leave the U.S. Navy after six years, then take over the men’s and women’s water polo programs at Princeton University at age 28?
What are the chances that Nicolao would, over the next 20 years, guide those Ivy League programs to more than 400 wins each and a combined seven NCAA tournaments?
Twenty years ago, Nicolao could not have foreseen the energizing turn his professional life would take in 2018 and how that turn would produce a reunion with an older, former high school and college teammate and fellow All-American, who also ranks among the elite water polo performers in school history.
On a midsummer afternoon in the coaches’ office at the Academy’s Macdonough Hall and Scott Natatorium, there sat Nicolao with Captain Tom Popp ‘89, USN (Ret.), his new assistant and Navy’s all-time assist leader. Popp is four years removed from a 25-year Navy career, during which he excelled as a U.S. Navy test pilot and aerospace engineer.
There sat the foundational leadership, in place to lead the next phase of the school’s water polo history, with Nicolao shaking his head and marveling at the unlikely crossing of two paths that maybe was meant to happen.
“Only in America could the guy who inspired me to come here, the guy who graduated in the top 50 of his class while I struggled every day to get through this place, be working for me now,” said Nicolao.
“Tommy is a genius. He did over 20 years as a distinguished officer. I’m just a water polo coach,” he adds. “Tommy said ‘no’ to a full ride at Stanford to come to Navy. I followed him [three years later], and [Popp] looked after me when he was a [first-class midshipman] and I was a plebe. And now he works for me. It’s crazy.”
“I served longer than Luis, but being back on the pool deck is more exciting than any job I’ve had,” said Popp, who also fulfilled roles on the staff of Commander U.S. Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet in Coronado, CA (2002-02), as Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer Community Manager with Naval Air Systems Command (2002-04) and as the Integrated Product Team leader for the Naval Undergraduate Training Systems program (2004-07).
Popp taught at the Academy in the aerospace department (2007-09) before becoming the Naval Air Systems Command liaison officer to the U.S. Coast Guard for five years. Since retiring, Popp had been supporting the Naval Enterprise Networks program as a civilian task leader for CSA Guidance Consulting at the Washington Navy Yard.
He also had coached the varsity water polo team at nearby Gonzaga College High School for five seasons.
“When Luis called me [and offered him the assistant job], it felt like he threw me a lifeline,” said Popp. “I was thinking, ‘Wow. We are really going to [coach together]. We’re really going to do this.’”
The news of the hiring of Nicolao and Popp, who rejoined the program officially in July, drew a bolt of excitement among Navy’s water polo alumni.
“I was ecstatic when I heard Luis was applying for the job. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious,” said LCDR Greg Mendenhall ’97, USN, an All-America who played in one National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament with the Midshipmen and was coached by Nicolao, while in his first coaching role as an assistant and officer representative under Schofield.
“Their water polo IQs are through the roof,” Mendenhall added. “Tommy was like a God to me when I was playing. It’s a dream team.”
Nicolao and Popp have achieved in the pool in remarkably similar ways. Each grew up in San Jose, CA, where each attended and excelled at Bellarmine College Prep under legendary coach Larry Rogers, who ran a powerhouse program for three decades.
Nicolao and Popp each led Navy to three NCAA tournaments with All-America honors. In their final years at the Academy, both were awarded the Naval Academy Athletic Association’s Sword for Men as the top graduating male athlete. Each was a member of the U.S. National Team. Nicolao was on the team that won the gold medal at the World University Games before he began serving in the Navy.
Nicolao, who was an accomplished swimmer before turning to water polo in high school (“I was the biggest kid in the class at 5’9” until I was about 12. I stopped growing after that,” he recalled) comes from remarkable lineage.
His mother, Lee Davis, was a world-record holder as a distance freestyler. His father, Luis, held the world record in the 100-butterfly. At Bellarmine, he led the team to a local title every year.
“When I got out of the military, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I thought about getting my MBA and getting into the Wall Street world,” he recalled. “I was back here assisting Mike [Schofield] and Princeton called and eventually offered me the job of coaching both teams. I figured I’d take that job for a year or two. I was not planning to make this a career.”
But that first gig turned into something much more substantial and long-lasting. Under Nicolao’s tutelage, the Princeton men’s team went 402-163, while the women posted a 442-149 mark. Each team won nine Southern titles and four Eastern crowns.
Schofield, who retired in 2013 after guiding the Midshipmen to 630 victories over 28 seasons that included 13 NCAA tournament berths—his longtime assistant, Mladin Stanicic took over for four seasons—sees the blending of Nicolao and Popp as ideal.
“First of all, Luis and Tom are two of the top four or five guys who have ever played the sport at Navy. They were different in other ways,” Schofield said. “Tom was the guy staying up at night, studying with a flashlight as a plebe. Luis was the opposite. “Tom made sure every I and T was dotted and crossed. Luis won you over with his personality and was so creative in the pool. I think they are going to complement each other perfectly.”
MIDN Conor Sullivan ’19, the team captain at Navy, already is feeling the changes on the pool deck. The Mids practiced last spring under Nicolao and recently trained in Southern California under Nicolao and Popp.
“Having coaches who have been in our shoes is a great asset,” Sullivan said. “[Nicolao] already is instilling his personality. We are going to be a tough, hard-nosed defensive team that counter-attacks. He sees the big picture.”
“The dynamic on the pool deck is great,” added goalie MIDN Ronan Williams ’19. “Tom is like the bookworm who can’t wait to help you with the details. Luis is serious with a real vision of what he wants. But he also is the one sneaking up behind you and pushing you in the pool as he’s talking to you. They both rag on each other. They could be in a sitcom together. “Being around two coaches like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” Williams added. “I really wish I could be around for more than one year. This is an unbelievable staff and this team is going to be great again.”
By Gary Lambrecht (Courtesy United States Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation)
