‘We’ve got the best coaches in the world’: Penn State volleyball’s Russ Rose signs contract extension
Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour, talking on the Penn State Coaches Show Thursday evening, announced that longtime women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose had just signed a four-year extension.
Rose, with his 41 years as head of the program, record-setting seven NCAA titles and 17 Big Ten titles, is a prime example of the success with stability that Barbour said she wants to continue to foster with head coaches at Penn State.
“When you’ve got the right ones, and you’re able to keep them and able to have them spend time in the seat and figure out the university and community, what works, what works from a recruiting standpoint, what works for student-athletes, what’s best for them in that environment, that takes time,” she went on to tell host Steve Jones. “So you can’t be trading out head coaches every three, four years. And obviously Penn State historically has a history of having folks come and stay for a long time and have great success.”
Besides Rose, Penn State has five other head coaches with more than 20 years at the helm for the Nittany Lions, including field hockey’s Charlene Morett-Curtiss, who in her 32 completed seasons has led the Nittany Lions to two national championship appearances, seven Big Ten championships, six Big Ten tournament titles and two Atlantic 10 conference championships. She’s also won numerous coach of the year honors.
In his 29th season as head coach for the Nittany Lions, men’s gymnastics’ Randy Jepson has been named National Coach of the Year three times, and was also awarded the prestigious CGA Honor Coach Award in 2011. He’s led his teams to three national championships and four Big Ten titles.
Denise St. Pierre, who coached Penn State women’s golf to eight top-10 finishes in 11 events last season, is in her 28th year, while Greg Nye has helped guide men’s golf to national prominence in his 27 years, including five trips to the NCAA finals.
Men’s volleyball’s Mark Pavlik is in his 26th year, having won the national championship in 2008, and compiling a career record of 573-199.
Penn State has four other coaches with at least a decade at the helm of the Nittany Lions in women’s soccer’s Erica Dambach, wrestling’s Cael Sanderson, men’s lacrosse’s Jeff Tambroni and women’s lacrosse’s Missy Doherty.
Barbour credited this coaching stability with the student-athletes’ ability to achieve high success in the classroom as well. The NCAA reported in October that Penn State student-athletes earned a school-record 91 percent graduation success rate. A total of 94 student-athletes from Penn State’s seven fall programs earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition last semester.
“They’re the ones who go out and find our fabulous student-athletes,” she said. “We have the best coaches in the country, and we’ve been able to keep them because of the support this community has provided every day in the facilities and the support for the kids. We’ve got the best coaches in the world, they love it here, we’re able to keep them and we’re able to have them continue to do their great things.”
Rose’s players have earned a total of 104 All-America honors, and he’s produced four AVCA National Players of the Year and a AVCA DI National Player of the Year. Off the court, his players have garnered 204 Academic All-Big Ten accolades as well 19 Academic All-America selections. He’s also had four athletes selected for the prestigious Academic All-America of the Year award.
Rose was named Big Ten Coach of the Year this past season for the 13th time, after leading the Nittany Lions to a 24-5 overall record and a 17-3 Big Ten record.
