Among the jobs I applied for that are now filled is UT Rio Grande Valley, which is a new merged University of Texas school (UT Pan American is the Division I program included). Never got a response to my application. Not a real surprise as they simply put the UT Brownsville (part of the merger) coach in the job. In other words, the posting was simply pro forma, which happens a lot. I’ve seen that CS Fullerton is also filled. No response at all there, yet. Also never got a response from Mississippi State either, which is also filled, not that I expected much there. That was a complete shot-in-the-dark application (one of several). Yesterday I commented on three other positions that I know for sure I won’t be getting.

Found out the head coach at one of the schools where I applied for an assistant coach vacancy resigned. That throws things up in the air! I’ve now applied for the head coach job, both online and by emailing the SWA (did that before the online posting went up).

I also applied for three more assistant jobs in the last week. Two were schools in middling conferences. One is an experienced head coach with a very inexperienced staff. The other is even more experienced, but seems to favor more experience assistants based on what I’ve seen. The other is quite high profile, in a stronger conference.

I also decided against applying for another assistant position at a school in a top conference. I am acquainted with the other assistant there, but right now it’s an all-male staff. I’m pretty sure they’ll be looking to bring in a female to fill that vacancy.

A potentially enticing assistant job was posted recently that has given me pause. It’s in a top conference for a very experienced and well-respected head coach. The problem is it’s a volunteer job. Hard to think about a year with no income given they want someone to start right away and make a 12-month commitment. Plus, as a volunteer you get no off-campus recruiting experience, which is a major consideration in going after other jobs. Actually, a couple of those sorts of jobs have now been listed.

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John Forman
John Forman

John is currently the Talent Strategy Manager (oversees the national teams) and Indoor Performance Director for Volleyball England, as well as Global Director for Volleyball for Nation Academy. His volleyball coaching experience includes all three NCAA divisions, plus Junior College, in the US; university and club teams in the UK; professional coaching in Sweden; and both coaching and club management at the Juniors level. He's also been a visiting coach at national team, professional club, and juniors programs in several countries. Learn more on his bio page.

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