Coaching Carousal Begins

[bigbluevolley]

hardangle..I need more than you telling me he resigned. Give me your contact. No names just position

[HardAngle]

Sorry, all I can share right now. Does anyone know why Andrew Garland left Catholic? Still waiting on an that one? Most people seem surprised by it. BBV, what do you know?

Edited November 11, 2014 by HardAngle

[bigbluevolley]

I have no idea why Garland left. He may not know it now but he'll be much happier..

[beachboy]

Wow, that sounds as if you have some good insight on the KCHS program.  Interesting....

[bigbluevolley]

I have zero insight on catholic. My point was that he will be much happier if he choses not to coach ANYWHERE. Knoxville is a tough place to coach volleyball.

[HardAngle]

Not sure that's the case with Andrew. Although you may be right. Sounds like he was just ready to move on from Catholic based on newspaper article. It happens. Coaches come and go.

[PhillyAl]

When do we find out if this bearden rumor is official?

[K2ruth]

I think the easiest would be to simply ask Dave? This is not a college job. Other than football coaches, high school coaches leave all of the time. Most people don't care. They don't make the paper, and they don't try and get a replacement. Sometimes they can't get coaches and they simply don't have a team. There is no real conspiracy, and I don't think it has anything to do with his integrity. Volleyball coaches (or coaches for sports other than football or basketball) don't get paid anything. Parents are a nightmare to deal with, some times, and there is no incentive to stay. Most don't last five years. It is a thankless job. If you really love volleyball you coach club. It pays more, you have way less hassle from parents, and you don't do anything but coach.

 

BB I agree that there have been some amazing people that coach high school ball, they develop traditions, and really know how to teach and coach volleyball, but I think that day has passed. The younger coaches will go the club route. Not just in volleyball but in all smaller sports. You get what you get...what can Bearden offer a real coach? Nothing, unless they want a high school teaching job.

 

That's why I have been encouraging parents to get involved. The AD at Bearden isn't going to do a search for the new coach. Neither will Catholic. They just hope to get someone to actually apply. Do any area schools really support their volleyball program? Do any area coaches really have any interest in making their program better?

 

BBV look at Karns. Did you have a great team because of the AD and coach, or was it because you had five or six really good players happen to come thru at the same who played club. Same with CAK and Farragut this year. When those players leave what is to stop them from going back to average like Karns.

 

Dave wanted to be with his daughter. Why is that wrong? No Knoxville school really supports their volleyball team, and if parents don't recruit the coaches don't expect our AD to do it.

[beachboy]

K2R, I agree with alot of what you said.  Much of your discussion shows that high school is more challenging to coach than club.  It is much easier to just coach, than to deal with all of the other matters a high school coach deals with on a daily/yearly basis.  And I also agree with you that there are not very many good volleyball coaches in this area.  But I think that includes high school and club both.  There are a few in each arena, that can get the job done.  I think my expectations of what an exceptional coach should be is pretty high.  And that is hard to find in most places (across the country). 

 

There are more younger coaches now that have grown up playing volleyball at a high level, and if they work at it, they have a chance to be good coaches (remember good coaches are good teachers).  Many of the older coaches did not have the luxury of playing the game at a high level.  Compare that to football, basketball, and baseball.  Totally different culture and level of experience.  I think television even contributes to the various experience levels, since overall in the past years exposure of volleyball on television is pretty low.  But I digress, lets keep it on the coaching carousel.

[K2ruth]

BB you have made me rethink a couple of things. So did my "coach" spouse. A high school or college coach has many more hats to wear other than just running practice. They also have to teach and develop players as opposed to coach players that already know how to play which is hard. I was also reminded that in public high schools they have to take what they have as opposed to recruiting.

 

Lets assume, for argument sake, that we can all agree that K2 has 4-5 top level coaches, not already coaching high school. KVA has 1. In High school you have Hames at Webb, Add in Garland and the AC coaches,, Petrick and Foster at Oak Ridge. That gives you 10-15 to service all high school and club teams. There are not enough bodies.

 

I like what you said about not training coaches. Other than Anderson County no other school seems to produce any assistant coaches who go on to coach ( or for that matter even have asst coaches) and based on what you and other posters have said has more to do with the longevity of their program, and how there school supports (and pays ) for quality coaching.

 

Just playing college ball does not make you a coach. So where do Bearden, Catholic and the other schools go? If the AC assts aren't in play ( and I still don't believe that but I will trust you) then it has to be a coach wiling to move from one high school to another, or a club coaching making the leap.

[beachboy]

I agree with your assessment of the coaching numbers.  But don't forget the coach at Hardin Valley.  He does as good of a job with his kids as anyone.  As an AD once told me, the hardest coach to hire for high school around Knoxville is an experienced and good varsity volleyball coach.  They are very rare, and around here especially rare.  I also agree on your comment about college players becoming good coaches.  Not all good players become good coaches.  Most of them just regurgitate the drills they know without any knowledge of why they are doing them.  No rhyme or reason. 

 

Training good coachs takes time.  One day coaching clinics only teach drills, and not the nuances of how to incorporate those ideas.  Maybe K2 can start working as hard with its coaches on great teaching/coaching techniques as it does with training its players.  Lets develop some coaches too, not just players.  That could be a challenge for K2 to step up and be a cutting edge club.

 

As far as AC coaches go, I really have no insight as to whether any of them would leave or not.  I am certain that Coach Smith or Cantrell would not leave.  Coach Sewell, who knows for sure.  But I think those three are where they belong in the universe of high school volleyball and they know that.  Sides they get paid too much.  No one else can touch them for salary.  But the bottom line at AC, is tradition and culture.  They live and breath it up there.  At AC volleyball actually is a very important sport for the school and the community.

 

Where do the new coaches to Bearden and Catholic come from?  That is a good question.  I honestly have no clue.  Maybe one of them can get Coach Neely to unretire and move to Knoxville.  She is a Hall of Famer!  All class, that lady.

[BruinBabe]

Was surfing and hit this. From a Brentwood girls perspective do NOT hire a club coach with no high school or college coaching experience. It never seems to work, when I played, 12 years ago, the two Jeff's made the rounds of several high schools, including Harpeth and Franklin, two strong vb schools. It was awful. They killed both programs. Great club guys, but had no clue how to build, or maintain, a program. They also were poor teachers, and couldn't handle the pressure that comes from a high school season where people follow a school as a FAN, as opposed to just parents.

 

Recently Nikki Armstrong hit town. The same problem. Played college, coached club, but was a disaster at Independance which was a state champion. She couldn't coach. Motivation is more than yelling at your players, and schools with strong traditions expect an amount of professionalism which club doesn't have.

 

Several of our top high school coaches are also our BEST club coaches. They took what they learned in high school, how to coach, and brought it to club. I don't know anything about Bearden, but saw Catholic at state this year and in years past. They seem to support volleyball. Why did the coach leave?

 

Find an established high school coach or an asst from a great program. Don't go club.