As the Penn State women's gymnasts practice their vault routines, a young, stocky coach, usually displaying a smirk on his face, is watching over them. He can be seen pulling some of the gymnasts to the side and instructing them on their flight in the air and perfecting their landings. Penn State assistant coach William Lorenz is a new addition to the women's gymnastics program this season and he has made an immediate impact on the team.

"Bill has been a great addition to our program," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "He brings a lot, both in terms of his gymnastics knowledge and in terms of his personality and his ability to get along with the young women on our team."

Lorenz's primary responsibilities with the Penn State program are coaching the vault and helping out with recruiting. He has already shown that he is succeeding in both aspects. The Nittany Lions are currently No. 10 in the country on vault and this season against West Virginia and Rutgers, Penn State set a new team record by posting a 49.500 that included senior Katie Rowland's perfect 10.0 in the event.

"We set the school record on vault this year in large part due to his coaching and his efforts," Shephard said.

Lorenz has also beefed up the organizing process of recruiting for the Lions.

"He has really helped us become more organized in our recruiting efforts," Shephard said. "He created an entire database for all the correspondence that we deal with."

With that in mind, Lorenz is no stranger to the gymnastics world. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, where he was a member of the gymnastics team, in 1997. From there, he moved to the Bahamas and became the director of Nassau Gymnastics in Nassau from 1997 to 1999.

"That was fun," Lorenz said. "I learned a lot there, but I was poor as dirt and lived on peanut butter and jelly, tuna fish, and macaroni and cheese."

While at Nassau, Lorenz became a hero in the Bahamas by taking Noelle Nicolls, who was a level 8 gymnast, to the American Athletic Union (AAU) Nationals, where she placed second. In July 2000, Lorenz had had enough of the Bahamas and decided to come back to the states. He landed a part-time assistant coaching position at the University of Maryland for a short time and then became a part-time assistant coach at George Washington University.

At the same time he was coaching at GW, Lorenz was also the head coach of the Chantilly gymnastics club in Chantilly, Va., where he took four gymnasts to Junior Olympic Nationals. Lorenz said that although the financial aspects were great, he was working over 40 hours during the week, including weekends, and he had no life.

This past summer, he applied to Pittsburgh, Penn State and Arkansas in hopes of landing a new collegiate coaching job.

"My first time I ever met Bill was at the Junior Olympic Level 10 Championships in Seattle," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Jessica Bastardi said. "Somebody introduced us and I was talking to him about how he should look into collegiate coaching because he would really enjoy it and he told me, 'No, I don't think because I want to mold and shape the young kids into the gymnasts they think they can be.' The next time I met him was at the interview for the Penn State job."

"Bahama Bill," as he is known to some, said that he never thought he would end up at Penn State considering he wanted to be a Nittany Lion gymnast at one time.

"I am enjoying my time at Penn State," Lorenz said.

"This is by far the most talented team I have ever worked with. They are a great group of athletes, they are fun girls and they are cool to travel with."

On another note, the gymnasts and coaches said Lorenz is eminent for his sarcastic sense of humor that he brings to the team.

"I am the smartest man alive," he said, laughing.

As the season winds down, Lorenz has made a lasting impact on the team and the program that will surely continue in the years to come.

"He has been a great tradition to the program and I hope he stays around for a while," Shephard said.