Penn State 2021 Season News

Something needs to change! Coaches get up out of the chairs and COACH! No interaction with the players unless they screw up and are coming off the court. Girls do NOT look like they are enjoying any part of the game even if they are ahead.
Change the lineup.....the transfers are NOT helping......anything has to be better than what the coaches put out on the floor currently.

A couple of comments.
1) If you expect Russ to get out his chair regularly like other coaches, you'll be waiting a long time. That's not his style.  He trusts his assistant coaches to handle a lot of the situations.  He talks to the players when he feels it necessary, which, usually is when things go wrong.  He teaches his players play without needing a lot of attaboys (or attagirls to be PC ).  He's training them to do things well without having to need constant praise. 

2) He's built great relationships with his players.  A quote from an article about him:

Players regularly dial him up seeking coaching or life advice.

"He loves that," says Lori Barberich, a three-time All-American (1982-84) under Rose, and later an assistant who is also his wife of 32 years. "If one of his players calls, he's answering the phone. I thought all coaches did that, but the older I get I talk to players who have no communication with their college coach. For him, coaching is all about relationships and building them. That's what he loves the most about all of this."  
Nyline made a comment about an interview he had with Russ.  Nyline said that his interview would have taken 1/2 an hour, but took an hour because of people, mainly players I think-current and former, stopping by to see him and or  calling him for advice or just to talk.

3) He also will let things go for a bit in certain situations because he wants his players to learn how to handle problems/situations on their own, not depend on him to figure out what to do.

4) You mistake his sitting in a chair as being uninvolved.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  He's totally involved with the players, the game.  He's taking down stats constantly in order to know where the players are at and how they are doing.  Someone said, "During games, Rose favors subtlety over histrionics."

5.  Russ is trying to develop the best team from the players he has.  That will just take time.  Does he make mistakes.  Sure.  I think switching his libero back and forth in 2015 was a mistake as he probably would have been better off sticking with one and letting that develop.  He says himself, that in the 1990's, in a championship match, he stuck with his best player out of loyalty when he should have replaced her, as his best player was having a bad game.  

Myself, I'm hoping that he'll stick with Cassie in the backrow as I think she's done a good job.   But Coach will do what Coach thinks right.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately), he doesn't pay much attention to what we say or want. 

Naturally, this is all IMHO.  

I'll bet you're now sorry you said anything. I'm sure you didn't expect a lecture. 

P.S.  I think pennstate1973 commented on this a lot better than I did.  As most of you have figured out by now, I can't do a short comment to save my life.  

I agree and believe he will get more involved if he doesn't like what his assistants are doing.
The question, however, is whether the problem is the coaching or the players.

At first I thought the transfers need more to gel, but you might be right.
Perhaps the younger players need to be given a shot if the older ones are not getting it done.

But I still have hope that the team will gel.  Win enough to get in the tournament.  And get hot in the tournament.  That's enough to carry a team to the Finals -- just ask Wisconsin in 2013.

Coach had to change how he coached and recruited when NCAA volleyball changed to rally scoring, around 2000-2003. From what I can see he needs to change again. Transfers are now a way of life. I know that I always wondered why PSU never got any of these great transfers. I thought it was because Coach had a bad rep or something. It turns out that, according to a press conference, Coach doesn't like to do transfers cuz it's hard to be sure what you are getting; a viewpoint that I understand.  However, IMHO, if Coach doesn't start being a bit more open to transfers PSU won't make it back to the top echelon. The classic case is Nebraska. They've been getting really helpful transfers for the last 4-5 years, i.e. Lexi Sun. Ain't it interesting; the new transfer policy is like free agency in professional sports. It's virtually impossible for a professional team to compete by drafting alone. Gotta sign at least some free agents.

P.S.  Here is an article by Terry Pettit on Russ Rose and mentions how he had to change how he recruited/coached around 2000-2003.


Terry Pettit's Article on Russ Rose

Thanks, Ethan, for another fine article.