LOS ANGELES -- UCLA men’s water polo head coach Adam Wright completed his coaching staff Monday with the hirings of assistant coach Jake Liechty and assistant coach/technical coordinator Kyle Boal. Assistant coach Nico Tierney remains from the 2025 NCAA championship-winning team.

Liechty joins the Bruins following seven seasons at UC Irvine, including the final two as an assistant coach. He helped guide his alma mater to a combined 33-21 record on the pool deck. The 2024 Anteaters went 18-9, securing the Big West Conference title with a 5-0 record in league games. They logged a top-10 finish in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll. As a student-athlete, Liechty totaled 31 goals, 66 assists and 40 steals across three seasons. He piled up 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) for the Big West champions in 2023, his final campaign.

Liechty added USA Water Polo to his coaching résumé in 2026, serving as an assistant at the World Aquatics U18 Championships in Rio Maior, Portugal. Team USA earned its first-ever silver medal at the event after outlasting Montenegro in semifinal-round play. Liechty has also served as head coach of the SOCAL Water Polo U18 club team.

“Jake has had the unique opportunity to not only play for one of the best high school teams in our country, but also one of the top collegiate programs,” said Wright. “Furthermore, after his playing career ended he began working for Dan Klatt, a former teammate of mine and one of the best coaches in our country.  Jake most recently joined the Team USA staff, assisting the U18 team which recently earned the silver medal at the World Championships.

“These experiences Jake brings with him to our program will help us continue to grow and move the needle forward.  Most importantly, the impact he will have on our student-athletes from these experiences will serve our program well.”

For Liechty's full bio, CLICK HERE.

Boal moves to the bench from his role of director of operations, which he held for UCLA’s men’s and women’s water polo programs following his graduation from the school in 2023. In addition to handling day-to-day logistics, he played direct parts in travel, scheduling, budgeting and equipment. UCLA water polo’s external reach factored into Boal’s duties, as well, through fundraising, social media and NIL coordination. He also oversaw the hiring, training and development of student managers.

Internationally, Boal assisted with successful USA Team water polo trips to the 2025 (Rhine-Ruhr, Germany) and 2023 (Chengdu, China) FISU World University Games. After his own experience as a UCLA water polo team manager, Boal was hired as the High Performance coordinator for USA Water Polo. In this position, he helped fortify the Olympic Development Program through event management, improving player evaluation tools and website maintenance.

“Kyle has taken a very different path than most to get to this point,” said Wright. “I first met Kyle in 2019 when he was a sportswriter for the Daily Bruin. He reported on our teams for two seasons before becoming a manager.  Kyle’s impact on our programs in that role was immense to the point I knew someday we needed him back in our program upon graduation.  After graduation, Kyle left UCLA to work at USWP and then in 2024 we were able to bring him back home as our director of operations.”

Kyle’s exposure to water polo is more than most who play, but furthermore, his impact on our operations from every facet has moved our program forward.  From a technical coordinator, to social media, there is no job he cannot do.  When we had the opportunity to bring in another assistant coach, it was without hesitation I found Kyle the perfect fit for what we are looking to do globally for our program.  His impact has already been immense and we know that he will continue to move our program forward, as well as our student athletes.”

For Boal's full bio, CLICK HERE.