Interim men’s volleyball head coach Andy Read takes over for Alan Knipe, who is on a three-year leave of absence to coach the United States men’s national team leading up to the 2012 Olympics.
Jon Aviles: Was it a surprise when you were hired as the next men’s volleyball head coach?
Andy Read: Volleyball has been an absolutely vital sport at this university and the athletic department has been great. It’s a three-year opportunity for me to be the head coach and see if we can bring in some more banners. It’s great being an assistant coach but it’s also nice being able to call your own shots.
JA: Being a science teacher in high school, what is it like to balance your schedule with your duties as head coach?
AR: I’m fortunate that I know my subject matter, science, really well and it makes it easier when I have to come over here and work with the [volleyball] team. I would love to go back and be the volunteer guy again but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
JA: How do you think the players are adapting to the change?
AR: I helped recruit all the players here, so they all know me really well. So far, I think they like what we’ve done.
JA: What are the differences?
AR: We’ve changed some things about how we play defense and how we rotate. We’re also trying to make our offense more dynamic and a lot quicker. We’ve changed a little bit how we block the ball and these changes might not be evident to people on the outside, but to our [players], they’re big changes.
JA: As of now, does Knipe have any say on decisions within the program?
AR: He has some input on the overall program but he’s been really great on saying, ‘Hey, this is your program, take care of it.’ He doesn’t have input on a daily basis but on the overall, very much so.
JA: What do you plan to do about replacing libero Dustin Watten?
AR: We have Kory Matsukado who has been in our system for three years. We have Dustin’s little brother, Cody [Watten] as well. [Cody] has learned a lot having watched his brother play over the years. He’s further along than Dustin was at this age. There’s also Kirk Francis. I think the battle will continue throughout the year and maybe someone will take it and run with it.
JA: What do you think about transfer Antwain Aguillard, last year’s California Community College Player of the Year?
AR: He’s an unbelievably athletic young man. He went to LBCC after only playing volleyball two years in high school. He is a dynamic blocker. When he blocks the ball, you know it’s going nowhere else but down. He’s becoming a better attacker and he has a fairly decent serve. He absolutely loves to play the game.
JA: Say in three years when Knipe returns and someone offers you a job elsewhere, what do you do?
AR: I’ll say this, I love teaching and I love coaching, but if someone came knocking on my door when Alan came back it’d be a nice evaluation of someone saying your good at what you do. I’m satisfied with where I’m at but not where I am as a coach. I love being here and let’s just take these three years and see what happens.