Jens Cole was named head coach of Biola Men's Water Polo in April 2025 and took over the program in June 2025, becoming its second head coach after program founder Rick Nordell. In July 2026, ahead of his second season leading the men's program, Cole was elevated to Director of Water Polo and also took the helm of Biola Women's Water Polo, becoming the second head coach in that program's history after founding coach Sarah (Orozco) Ramirez. The 2026-27 year is his second season leading the men's team and his first leading the women's team.
"Coach Cole has a vision to see student-athletes live out their faith with passion and excellence in the sport of water polo. This structure will both broaden our Biola water polo community while simultaneously uniting and integrating these programs under one point of leadership," said Dr. Bethany Miller, Associate Vice President for Student Development and Senior Director of Athletics. "In particular, we see this as a path in which Coach Cole and this staff will be equipped to empower and inspire our student-athletes in a fierce pursuit of their formation in Christ through sport to the greatest degree, and that is exciting!"
Head Coaching Record
| Season |
Team |
Overall |
Conference |
Postseason |
| 2025 |
Men's |
10-21 |
4-2 (2nd, WWPA West) |
WWPA Championships runner-up (2-1) |
| Men's Water Polo |
1 season |
10-21 (.323) |
4-2 |
WWPA Championships 2-1 |
Coaching Highlights at Biola
- Coached 2 ACWPC Division II All-Americans
- Coached 5 All-WWPA honorees and 3 WWPA All-Tournament Team selections
- Led Biola Men's Water Polo to the 2025 WWPA Championship match
Through the Years
2025: Cole guided the Eagles to a 10-21 record in his first season as head coach. Biola finished second in the WWPA West Region at 4-2, then beat Salem and Gannon at the WWPA Championships to reach the title match, where it fell to Concordia, 9-5.
Adam LaVoy and Gavin McKenzie earned ACWPC Division II All-America honors. The Eagles also produced five All-WWPA honorees, highlighted by McKenzie earning First Team honors, Caleb Hernandez receiving Second Team recognition, Joshua Dachenhausen being named an Honorable Mention selection, LaVoy earning All-WWPA Defensive Team honors and Noah Ryznar being selected to the All-WWPA Freshman Team. Dachenhausen and LaVoy were named to the WWPA All-Tournament First Team, while McKenzie earned Second Team recognition.
Before Biola
Cole comes to Biola after most recently serving as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's water polo teams at CSU Fullerton.
His coaching experience includes the brief time at CSUF, as well as four years as program director and head coach of both the boys' and girls' water polo programs at Westlake High School (2020-24). He had a tremendous run with the boys, leading the team from a CIFSS DIII program in 2020 to CIFSS D1 status by 2023. His boys team won two tournament titles and nearly 80 matches during his time at the helm, including three consecutive 20-win seasons.
Cole also rebuilt the Westlake girls' program, establishing a culture centered around competitiveness, preparation, intentionality and commitment. The Warriors qualified for the CIF Southern Section Playoffs in three consecutive seasons, won a tournament title in 2022 and earned an invitation to the 2023-24 Southern California High School Championship tournament, where they competed against some of the top programs in Southern California.
Additionally, he is active in the club water polo space, where he's held positions at South Coast Aquatics and SET Water Polo. His time at South Coast began when he played for the club and won a Junior Olympics gold medal.
Cole spent six years coaching girls' water polo with South Coast Aquatics. His 16U teams placed second at the 2019 USA Water Polo Junior Olympics Classic Division and third in 2021. After being promoted to coach the club's A teams, Cole guided his 16U teams to top-25 national finishes at the Junior Olympics Championship in 2023 and 2024. In 2025 with SET Aquatics, Cole's 16U A team finished 14th nationally, while the club's 18U A team captured the Junior Olympics Championship.
Cole also coached boys and girls at the Cadet level (ages 13-16) of the USA Water Polo Olympic Development Program from 2022-24. In that role, he evaluated athletes' Olympic-level readiness through practices and training camps while helping oversee training plans designed for player evaluation and development.
Over eight years of coaching girls' and women's water polo throughout Orange and Ventura Counties, Cole has helped develop student-athletes who went on to compete at prominent NCAA Division I programs, including Stanford, Hawai'i, California, Princeton, Indiana, Loyola Marymount, Fresno State, Michigan, San Diego State and UC Davis.
He also contributes as part of the coaching staff for the Olympic Development Program (ODP), formerly with the Coastal Zone and currently with the Southern Pacific (SPA) Zone. Most recently, he helped the team win the 2025 Youth Boys ODP National Championship as an assistant coach.
Playing Career
Cole played five seasons of NCAA Division I water polo at Pepperdine University (2014-19) under legendary coaches Dr. Terry Schroeder and Merrill Moses, earning NCAA All-Academic recognition each year.
A Malibu, California native, Cole played four years of varsity water polo at Malibu High School. He set the school's assist record while earning all-county, All-Southern California and First Team All-League honors. Cole was also named team MVP and helped lead Malibu to three league championships. In the classroom, he was a member of the California Scholarship Federation and earned honor roll recognition.
Personal
Cole earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and a master's degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University. He is an Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) Certified Professional Coach and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and holds a U.S. Olympic Committee certification in mental performance training. In 2020, he founded Vessel Projects, a mindset and mental performance coaching practice.
He has this to say about joining Biola Athletics: "I can't wait to establish Biola Men's Water Polo as a landing spot for the most dynamic, faithful, intelligent, and talented water polo student-athletes. Our goal is to be Great for God, and I am extremely excited to see all that these great young men can accomplish, representing their faith, their families, and their university."
Jens and his wife, Kelli, reside in Irvine, California, with their chocolate Labrador, Roo.
