Over the last couple of seasons I have kept a volleyball coaching log documenting what I’ve done with my teams in training, matches, etc. It stimulated some conversation, was a useful exercise for me, and hopefully was something readers found useful and/or interesting. Now that I am no longer coaching actively and am in the process of looking for a new coaching job, I figured it could be a useful and potentially informative exercise to maintain a journal of that process. This, therefore, will be the first entry in that log.

By way of a starting point, I’ve posted my working resume online here. Feel free to have a look, offer comments and/or suggestions.

Although later on I may consider pursuing a coaching position in Europe in the professional ranks, at this point my focus is on NCAA coaching jobs, particularly on the women’s side as this is the time of year when those start to open up. The pro season won’t finish until March/April. A number of US jobs have already been posted, as you can see at the NCAA and Indeed websites. More openings will certainly be announced now that the holidays have passed and athletic departments work through their reviews. Also, as jobs get filled they will invariably open up others, creating a domino effect. This has already happened with the notable hirings at Baylor and TCU seeing vacancies open at Florida State and West Virginia respectively.

Thus far I have applied for more than 20 positions. The majority are head coaching jobs, mainly at the Division I level. I am also willing to consider assistant coaching jobs and have applied for several of them as well.

At this point I’m reluctant to name the schools to which I have submitted applications while the process is on-going. If a reasonable argument can be made why I should, maybe I’ll reconsider. I will, however, share outcomes in terms of commenting on the results of the applications I’ve submitted once the process has been worked through.

In any case, I’m taking a fairly shotgun approach. By that I mean my mentality is more of trying to potentially create options than going after only specific types of jobs. Partly that’s just me liking the idea of flexibility. Largely, though, it’s a function of not being sure what sort of interest my resume will attract. Being away from NCAA volleyball for several years is a bit of a drawback in that regard.

On the plus side, thus far as I’ve seen none of the jobs I’ve applied for to-date have been filled. That will start changing soon, however.

I did not apply for either Baylor or TCU, by the way. 😉

On a related note, over the weekend I submitted the first complete draft of my PhD thesis to my supervisors. Major step toward finishing my degree.

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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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