He graduated from Central Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and School Health.

[1] Swanson spent 2007 and 2008 as a health education teacher and baseball coach at Sultan Senior High School.

He was a graduate manager in 2011–2012, director of baseball operations for part of 2012, and then volunteer assistant coach for the remainder of his time there.

[4] Swanson entered professional baseball when he was hired by the Minnesota Twins as their minor league catching coordinator in November 2017.

[5] In November 2019, Swanson was hired by the New York Yankees to serve as their major league quality control coach and catching coordinator.