How did you end up here?

I’ve always been aware of the Billikens and the program here, and my wife is from St. Louis. From the standpoint of schools that I would be interested in coaching at, there really isn’t that many that interest me, especially with the last two years at Illinois.
I wasn’t expecting or looking to leave there (or at least not so soon).

But from the standpoint of looking at schools, one of the things I was looking at was schools that I could be at and could win at and they have support that would help do that.

I think that the thing that was most interesting to me was that this institution offers not just a great athletic experience but also a great student experience.

What are your thoughts on the Atlantic 10?

First, I think that the teams at the top of the conference are very competitive. They have a lot of support from their administrations. There have been some coaching changes that make the league even more competitive. We will have to beat some top-25 ranked teams to win championships. I’m looking forward to that challenge.

Is this a school where you think you can win?

Absolutely. It’s a really nice group of competitive players. The recruiting profile of this institution really fits the recruiting of our sport and of our region.

What kind of transition is this going to be?

I would say that the most significant similarity will be the work ethic and competitiveness of the individuals. I think that’s what’s great about coming into this job. They did a great job of recruiting student athletes that really want to work hard and are competitive, and continuing to build on that. That will be the same.

I am going to both look for that when recruiting, and we are going to have high standards for those things.

Talk about working with the United States team at the Olympics.

There’s an aspect that is a lot different than college. It’s at the highest level. You get to work with our country’s best players, and there’s a lot to learn from them. Volleyball is played in different styles around the world. Other countries do things very different and are very successful. That really opened my eyes to the idea that you shouldn’t get stuck in a system. There are a number of different ways to be successful.

Do you believe there’s excitement in the St. Louis community that you can tap into to make SLU a premiere program?

Clearly, SLU wants to win and wants to compete. It’s exciting to be at a program where they have that commitment.
Coming from Illinois, I spent a lot of time in the St. Louis community and am very excited to be working in this community. I have a lot of connections with coaches around here and in some of the top volleyball programs in the nation.

We can bring in quality opponents, and that’s something we absolutely must do. This is a great place to build on the tradition of bringing the top programs to our place.