TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

You inherit a team that won eight games in 2004, but returns four starters and the libero. Are you encouraged by the team as it continues to gain experience in the Mid-American Conference?
I am encouraged. I had a chance to work with the team all spring. We have 11 great returning players as far as being enthusiastic, energetic, wanting to work hard, wanting to change the culture around here. They’re really excited about becoming better. Obviously, with that said, they know we have a whole lot of work to do and that it’s not going to just be enough to say, ‘We’re changing and therefore, that’s good.’ It’s going to be work and commitment. They seem to be working hard this summer. They did work hard this spring, so I’m very encouraged that we have a nucleus returning that wants to take the step in the next direction.

One of the major differences between you and Sally Kus, the former head volleyball coach, is that you will be a full-time coach while Kus was part-time while working in the Sweet Home School District. How do you think that will reflect on the team as you settle into the position?
Obviously, our current situation with myself and two full-time assistants here virtually all the time means that the team has three people to turn to at all times. They have someone watching over them. I assume it’s going to be nothing but positive. There’s just no doubt that having us here is going to help create a culture and allow us to succeed hopefully in the MAC and eventually at a national level.

You spent the past three years at the University of North Carolina where you were the recruiting coordinator for the volleyball team. In 2002, your first season, the team went 32-4 and ended the year ranked 12th in the nation. What was the experience of coaching at Chapel Hill like?
Chapel Hill is amazing. You hear all those things about it being the best college town and a great public university and that once you’re on the campus, you’re going to love it. You hear all those things and yet I worked at a lot of other campuses and thought, ‘Well, how much different can it be?’ But, Chapel Hill was amazing. Head coach Joe Sagula was an awesome mentor, an awesome person to work with. He does things right. He handles himself the right way. To have the opportunity to learn from him after all those years as a head coach was instrumental in allowing me to take this step, to become a Division I head coach myself. Obviously, Tar Heel mania is alive and kicking there. To be around during the Roy Williams move and things like that, I’ll never forget those three years. They were very, very fun.

You have an obvious connection to Rochester, having coached at Rochester Institute of Technology and Brockport in the ‘90s. Having watched from close by as Buffalo made the transition to Division I, are you excited to get the chance to coach for the only DI state school in Western New York?
I’m very excited. Many schools try to make that transition to compete at the elite DI level. Of course, all those years as we watched Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton and Stony Brook, we all wanted our chance. To actually get my chance is amazing. Also, it’s great to come home — I grew up two and a half hours south of here. I spent 14 years in Rochester, so for all intents and purposes, I am coaching at home again. It’s just exciting. I look forward to where we are going to take Buffalo volleyball and where we are going to go and the opportunity ahead. I think it’s going to take a lot of work. I think we need to develop a fan base. I think we have to bring in the best kids from Western New York, but also the best kids from around the nation to make up our roster. A lot of things have to change. Luckily, (former head coach Sally Kus) had things going in the right direction and we’re hopefully going to be able to build from that and become a proven Division I volleyball program.

You’ve earned many accolades as head coach at the Division II and III levels and have served as an assistant at the Division I level. What do you think are some of the biggest advantages of each level, having seen them firsthand?
First of all, being a head coach at other places prior to getting your first head coaching position at Division I allows you to get a lot of experience in running a program and having a chance to do your own thing and maybe make some errors before they are in the public eye so much. Then, being an assistant with Joe (Sagula at UNC), working with one of the best coaches and programs in the country, I was able to see how a great program does it right. That’s hopefully something I can bring here. Lees-McRae was instrumental as well, getting to work at Division II and working with scholarship money for the first time. I think each place was instrumental in forming who I am as a coach now. Years ago, I probably thought I was ready, but I think I needed each step to really be ready.

You were raised in Western Pennsylvania, where one of the greatest dynasties in all of NCAA athletics resides in the Juniata College volleyball team, which is a Division III school that has not lost a conference title in 24 years and just won its first national championship in 2004. Have you noticed and learned anything from the way Larry Bock has run his dynasty?
I have, especially at RIT. When I was at RIT, Larry’s program won a regional that was held at our place. We finished third in the country and they finished second in the country. We went to his tournament every year and a couple years, they came up to our tournament, so I saw Larry up close and personal. Larry does a tremendous job. He trains the team and he has created a culture that isn’t typical DIII. They work harder than everyone else. They are more committed and more competitive than everyone else. They wanted it that way and at RIT and Brockport, I knew that if we were ever going to make it, I had to find a way to compete with and beat Larry. He’s a class act the whole way, a gracious person. Hopefully, I’ve learned a lot from him, because if someone can say 20 years from now that I’m in the same category as Larry Bock, then I’ve done pretty well.

You were named a USA Volleyball All-American in 1990 while playing with the Rochester Volleyball Club. What is the experience of club volleyball like and how did playing it help make you a better coach?
Club volleyball is exciting. Cal Wickens does a great job in Rochester at getting his men organized. We traveled everywhere. We played everywhere. It was a great group of guys and we always found a way to compete at different places across the country. I’ll never forget that experience and those teammates. Obviously, you have so much fun and you form so many bonds. It was awesome.

As far as making me a better coach, being a great player or a poor player doesn’t translate into coaching all the time. I think there are coaches who didn’t play who are great coaches. I think there are great players who don’t make good coaches. I think if you find a way to relate your experiences or if you can understand where your players are coming from because you went through it too, then it can be beneficial.

While you did get to play two years of collegiate volleyball at Genesee Community College, men’s volleyball seems to be one sport that hasn’t been able to find a foothold in the NCAA, with no more than a handful of teams competing at a varsity level. What do you think are some of the things that have held men’s volleyball back at the collegiate level?
I think there are a couple things. The generic one is that volleyball gets the rap that it’s a picnic sport. It’s the sport where you see a loopy net in the backyard and maybe you’re still holding a barbeque plate in one hand and everybody is slapping or punching at the ball. Nobody understands the true athleticism that’s taking place in men’s and women’s volleyball across the country right now. We have women who are touching over 10 feet and men who are touching 11 and a half feet, jumping out of the gym and hitting the ball at an incredible miles per hour and people digging it at the same speed. It’s such an exciting game and I think if we could get people to see it, it would help. Exposure to the game, in general, is key for both the men’s and women’s game.

For the men’s game, some schools struggle with gender equity and aren’t able to add another male sport, regardless of how popular it is, how good it is, or how much it regionally makes sense. Of course, being a head coach of a female sport for most of my life – although I’ve also coached men – I appreciate gender equity. I appreciate the opportunity for these young ladies, but I think it’s hurt the men’s game because it is a non-traditional sport and it’s hard to grow in popularity when schools aren’t looking to add any men’s sports. But it is a great, great game and I wish we could.

Similar to women’s basketball head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, who was an assistant at South Carolina, you returned from the South to the Northeast when you accepted this job. Are you ready for another winter in Western New York?
I think I am. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and spent 22 years there before I had 14 or so in Rochester, so I’ve had more of my years in winter. At the same time, the last five years spent in North Carolina, two at Lees-McRae and three at Chapel Hill, have made me a little wimpier. I need a jacket now when it’s 50 degrees instead of being OK until it drops to 20, so I’m not going to say that this first winter isn’t going to hurt a little bit.

Settle this issue once and for all for all Western New Yorkers. What is the better meal: Chicken Wings in Buffalo or a Nick Tahou’s Garbage Plate in Rochester?
That’s a great question and one that’s probably going to get me in trouble no matter which one I say. I will say I’ve experienced Nick Tahou’s more often and it’s a great meal. If you’re in Rochester, you have to get one. At the same time, if you’re in Buffalo, especially if you’ve traveled all over, you have to have wings where they’re from. The other thing I have to throw in is it’s hard to go to Buffalo without going to Mighty Taco. You have several good options. I don’t know if I could pick one over the other. They are all great.