Al Monte – Nicholas B. Paumgarten Head Coach – Staff Directory

Al Monte was named the University of Pennsylvania’s Nicholas B. Paumgarten Head Coach of Men’s Heavyweight Rowing in September of 2022.


Monte came to Penn after eight years as Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Dartmouth College. There, he helped lead the Big Greeh’s historic rise at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships, as they finished third in 2021 and fifth in 2022. During that time, Dartmouth won the Clayton W. Chapman Trophy—awarded to the most improved team at IRAs—in 2017 and again in 2021.


As Dartmouth’s primary recruiter, Monte helped bring in some of the strongest classes in the program’s history, which culminated in a third-place finish at the Eastern Sprints last spring. He was part of the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association Coaching Staff of the Year in 2021 at Dartmouth and coached the Big Green to multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Head of the Charles, Princeton Chase, Eastern Sprints, and IRA National Championship in all boat classes. In 2019, he coached the USA U23 Men’s Pair to a ninth-place finish at the FISA World Rowing U23 Championships.


Prior to arriving at Dartmouth in 2014, Monte was the head men’s rowing coach at Bucknell for three years. He was named the 2012 American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) National Coach of the Year, and in 2014 all Bison boats made the finals of the Knecht Cup, Dad Vail, ECAC and ACRA regattas. He arrived at Bucknell in 2008 as the program’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and led the Bison Freshmen 8+ to gold at the ECAC (NIRC) championship in 2011.


Monte is no stranger to coaching on Boathouse Row where he has led programs at Fairmount Rowing Association and Vesper Boat Club. At Vesper in 2011 and 2012, Monte served as head coach for the senior and under 23 men and led his crews to multiple titles at the USRowing National Championships and Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.


During his time on the US rowing scene, Monte was an eight-time USRowing national champion, a two-time Royal Canadian Henley winner, and has experience rowing on the United States National Team. He represented the USA at the 2003 World Rowing Junior Championships in Athens, Greece and in 2006 he was invited to the World Rowing Under 23 Championships Selection Camp.


A Philadelphia native, Monte graduated from Roman Catholic High School in 2003. He then went on to the College of the Holy Cross, where he was a team captain and four-year letter winner. Monte was a member of the Crusaders’ Varsity Eight for four years, stroking the boat to a historic best finish at the 2005 EARC Sprints. He graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s in history.