A Sea Of Red

The Liberty volleyball coach has resigned.

Good. He needs to resign. He had great players in the past and did not use them wisely. They need a coach to raise the level of that program just like some coaches in LU.

ECC29 wrote: ↑April 30th, 2024, 8:13 am Good. He needs to resign. He had great players in the past and did not use them wisely. They need a coach to raise the level of that program just like some coaches in LU.

In 7 years He won 101 matches and lost 94.
0 NCAA tournament bids
Best year was 2019, when they won 2 games in the NIT.

I wonder what Shane Pinder is doing these days?

Johnson was one of Ian's first hires. He had been an assistant at Baylor. Looked like a good hire, and he brought in the highest rated recruits we have ever had, but results on the court just were not there.

Pinder is down in Wilmington, NC. Owns a couple of Chicken Salad Chick restaurants.

I was told that Liberty volleyball has been trending down since Leah Clayton left.

ECC29 wrote: ↑April 30th, 2024, 8:13 am Good. He needs to resign. He had great players in the past and did not use them wisely. They need a coach to raise the level of that program just like some coaches in LU.

Seems to be the answer for everything these days: fire the coach!

I would make a distinction between expressing, shall we say, a lack of remorse at a coach's resignation and calling for his firing. I have to say I had high hopes for the program when Johnson was hired. After the 2first couple of years it has been mostly disappointing.

It’s one thing if the coach does not have high level players. However, if you had a lot of good players, and you ended up with almost as many losses as wins, it’s time to be successful elsewhere. The program is trying to compete at a higher level. Nothing personal.

I saw a Twitter Post yesterday, calling for a new baseball coach at Liberty.

ECC29 wrote: ↑May 1st, 2024, 1:38 pm It’s one thing if the coach does not have high-level players. However, if you had a lot of good players, and you ended up with almost as many losses as wins, it’s time to be successful elsewhere. The program is trying to compete at a higher level. Nothing personal.

Could this have been solved if the VB hitting coach had just gotten the girls to swing right? I mean, some of the girls were using a snap arm swing or the bow and arrow rather than the circular or the snap-hitting approach. Then, when you look at the athleticism on a team like Nebraska or even Western Kentucky versus the LU girls, we're going to get hit out of the gym every night? Why can't we attract Christian VB players with better skill sets to come play here? (just saying...we can't do it right in any sport at LU)

Greg Mosely is a LU alum and is currently the coach at North Greenville. He has had success everywhere he has ever been. My girls played for him in high school. We could not do any better than him. It seems to me our current football coach also coached at NGU. They are both in the same league for sure.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑May 1st, 2024, 7:33 am I was told that Liberty volleyball has been trending down since Leah Clayton left.

Its been trending down since Kallie Corbin and company left. 08/09/10 was probably the peak of Liberty volleyball. We also should've beaten Cal the year we took a set off of them in the first round. The first and second referrees overruled the line judges so many times it wasn't even funny.

"hitting coach", I've heard that term mentioned in another sport a lot lately.

If you want another name of a former flame who has had success coaching vollyball, there is Nicki Scripko, who starred on that team that took a set from Cal in the NCAAs and then went on to coach at least one HS state championship team several years ago. I tried to check on what she has done since, but I'm drawing a blank on her married name.

olldflame wrote: ↑May 2nd, 2024, 8:50 am If you want another name of a former flame who has had success coaching vollyball, there is Nicki Scripko, who starred on that team that took a set from Cal in the NCAAs and then went on to coach at least one HS state championship team several years ago. I tried to check on what she has done since, but I'm drawing a blank on her married name.

I believe its McClure.

ATrain wrote: ↑May 2nd, 2024, 9:01 am

olldflame wrote: ↑May 2nd, 2024, 8:50 am If you want another name of a former flame who has had success coaching vollyball, there is Nicki Scripko, who starred on that team that took a set from Cal in the NCAAs and then went on to coach at least one HS state championship team several years ago. I tried to check on what she has done since, but I'm drawing a blank on her married name.

I believe its McClure.

That's it. My memory was a bit off. It doesn't appear that she coached any state champions, but she did take Stuarts Draft to the final in 2012. She is now an assistant at Shenandowa HS, so it certainly looks like her resume would not meet our needs.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑May 2nd, 2024, 8:21 am "hitting coach", I've heard that term mentioned in another sport a lot lately.

sarcasm can be used in any sport

Former player and assistant coach Rebecca Rudnick (now Rudnick-Hong) wouldn't be a bad choice: https://godeacs.com/sports/womens-volle ... -hong/1288

ATrain wrote: ↑May 4th, 2024, 5:34 pm Former player and assistant coach Rebecca Rudnick (now Rudnick-Hong) wouldn't be a bad choice: https://godeacs.com/sports/womens-volle ... -hong/1288

Maybe so, but one thing that has become pretty clear during Ian's time as AD is that a prior history with Liberty plays little if any role in hiring decisions. The notable exception was track & field, where hiring Lance Bingham as Tolsma's replacement was an absolute no-brainer.

olldflame wrote: ↑May 5th, 2024, 6:56 am

ATrain wrote: ↑May 4th, 2024, 5:34 pm Former player and assistant coach Rebecca Rudnick (now Rudnick-Hong) wouldn't be a bad choice: https://godeacs.com/sports/womens-volle ... -hong/1288

Maybe so, but one thing that has become pretty clear during Ian's time as AD is that a prior history with Liberty plays little if any role in hiring decisions. The notable exception was track & field, where hiring Lance Bingham as Tolsma's replacement was an absolute no-brainer.

Any specific examples? There's not been much turnover in the coaching staff.

ATrain wrote: ↑May 5th, 2024, 8:41 am

olldflame wrote: ↑May 5th, 2024, 6:56 am

ATrain wrote: ↑May 4th, 2024, 5:34 pm Former player and assistant coach Rebecca Rudnick (now Rudnick-Hong) wouldn't be a bad choice: https://godeacs.com/sports/womens-volle ... -hong/1288

Maybe so, but one thing that has become pretty clear during Ian's time as AD is that a prior history with Liberty plays little if any role in hiring decisions. The notable exception was track & field, where hiring Lance Bingham as Tolsma's replacement was an absolute no-brainer.

Any specific examples? There's not been much turnover in the coaching staff.

The primary example is Bingham, who was Tolsma's associate HC for 12 years, then left to be HC at Abilene Christian for 5 years, but was hired by Ian to be our HC when Tolsma retired. The track program as a whole is loaded with Liberty alumni, but that was Brant's doing and almost all of them predate Ian's tenure.

Looks like Nolan Albrecht will be acting head coach for the upcoming season.
https://libertyflames.com/news/2024/5/9 ... ball-coach

ATrain wrote: ↑May 13th, 2024, 2:32 pm Looks like Nolan Albrecht will be acting head coach for the upcoming season.
https://libertyflames.com/news/2024/5/9 ... ball-coach

That's a curious choice. I would think either Ian is impressed with Albrecht and wants to keep him around for a year's trial run, or maybe he has someone else in mind who is not available at the moment.