Coaching Philosophy: Teach more. More than the body, train the entire athlete; mind and body. More than the how, teach the why and the when. More than the skills; teach the players to create and adapt. Push players to go further and do more, so they can be their best. If you do all that, you have to then embrace UBA (Ugly Before Awesome). The players may struggle early, but they’ll excel in the end.
Best Volleyball Moment: This may also be the funniest. I was coaching a team in a tournament at Maryland Juniors. It was a very competitive match and the girls had been working so hard all season. The pressure was high as we were playing to advance to the finals. It was early in the first set and we were down a few points. In the middle of an extremely long rally, a ball from another court rolled onto our court. Both teams had been playing so hard and had made some great saves, so I knew I had to get that ball off the court to maintain the rally. I reached for the ball and someone kicked it further on the court, but I was determined and stepped a bit further out to grab it. I grasped the ball triumphantly but did not have time to celebrate as just then I realized I’d gone a little too far so I leapt backwards and dove off the court, landing on my rear and sliding backwards. The floor must have been freshly polished because I slid backwards not just off the court but I didn’t stop until I was curled up underneath the score table. I sat there clutching the ball against my chest like it was made of solid gold. The official, after seeing my “heroics”, determined there was no reason to stop the play and after a few more moments we won the point! Although I’m pretty sure some of the parents missed the end of the rally as they were laughing so hard at a grown man sitting in some strange looking yoga pose under a table. I took my lumps, literally but from that moment on, the team knew how far I’d go for them and they never backed down or gave less than their best.
My Life in Sports: I played everything growing up. I love playing sports. My passion was baseball, but had a bad experience with a coach. I learned so much about how I want to coach because of that time in my life.
When I’m not coaching volleyball… There’s time I’m not coaching? No seriously, I love to golf. It occupies my mind and let’s me enjoy the sun. I also love movies!!!
Favorite subject in school: History or Drama
Last Book I Read: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court
Favorite Book – Lexicon by Max Berry
Favorite Movie: Marvel, Marvel, Marvel: so hard to pick any one movie, can I just choose the entire MCU? If I had to choose, I’d have to go with Endgame. Great end to a story that took over a decade to tell.
Favorite Quote: This is a tie.
Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are. ⁃ John Wooden
AND
“Adversity introduces a man to himself”⁃ Albert Einstein
Person I’d Like to Have Dinner With: Robert Downey Jr., I’d love to talk about the Footprint Coalition but also the amount of snark at that table would be astounding.
Something You Probably Don’t Know About Me: I always wanted to be a US Marshall. I went to school as a Criminal Justice major and was heading down that path before I changed to Business Administration. Lesson: Follow your dreams!!!
