Trading places: DuBose is now head coach, Peterson the assistant
A head coach needs an assistant coach that can be trusted – someone who fits in and makes the team better.
Going into his third season as head coach of the USU volleyball team, Grayson DuBose was joined by a new assistant who wasn’t so new to him.
DuBose welcomed assistant Tom Peterson back to USU in April. Peterson and DuBose know each other well, having coached together previously for seven seasons. Peterson was head coach at USU for two seasons (1999-2000) with DuBose as his assistant. The two then coached together at New Mexico for one season, and then at BYU for four seasons, guiding the Cougars to an NCAA National Championship in 2004.
“It’s real comforting for me as a head coach to know that right off the bat I can trust my assistant,” DuBose said. “I feel real comfortable having worked with Tom before.”
DuBose said Peterson and he have similar philosophies, which makes for a smooth transition for both himself and the team. The two speak highly of each other’s abilities as a coach.
“He’s a very good volleyball coach,” Peterson said. “I think we play off each other very well.”
DuBose said he likes having someone around to pick their brain and trust their opinions.
“It’s nice to work with him. He’s a good person,” DuBose said of Peterson. “He’s a great volleyball coach. He has a neat resume and I’m just glad he took the job.”
Peterson brings 28 years of coaching experience with him to Utah State, including five NCAA Final Four appearances as head coach at Penn State.
“I’ve been around the block,” he said. “I’ve coached a lot of years, and had some good experiences with some pretty high-level teams.”
Having similar coaching philosophies allows DuBose and Peterson to run efficient practices and prepare the team for competition. They base training on motor learning principles, which focus on learning the components of the skills and then practicing the complete skill in a competitive setting.
“Motor learning is a physical educations school of thought on what’s the best way to learn skills,” DuBose said.
Peterson said motor learning principles involve playing and competing in practice, which helps the players prepare their skills for matches.
“If you walk into our practice, you’ll see us competing a bunch,” Peterson said. “We’re gonna play lots of volleyball and get feedback while we’re doing it.”
DuBose said the learning curve is pretty steep, but using this philosophy enables his players to improve quickly.
Peterson said he isn’t a yeller or screamer because it doesn’t make the team better. He said he wants to teach the players to take ownership of the team and be creative on their own, which is what very good teams do.
With conference play beginning, DuBose and Peterson feel the team has been prepared by a tough preseason schedule.
“We played a very challenging preseason schedule,” Peterson said. “We played very good teams, and we seem to be on the upswing now.”
The Aggies were predicted to finish fifth in the WAC by the preseason coaches’ poll, but DuBose said the team feels it can reach beyond that. He said the “brutal preaseason schedule” has improved the team for WAC play.
The Aggies are 1-0 in conference play after coming back to beat San Jose State in five sets on Saturday. Peterson said the team is still getting better, and he is looking forward to getting further into conference play.
DuBose is also assisted by Taubi Neves, a 2004 Utah State graduate who is returning for her second season as an assistant.
“I think Taubi is getting to be a very good coach,” Peterson said. “She adds on to what we have as well.”
DuBose and Peterson are both at Utah State for the second time, and are happy to be back.
“The people are great to work with here,” Peterson said. “It’s a place you can thrive in.”
Peterson said since he first coached at USU, it has been one of his favorite places. He said a lot of the faces have changed since his first stint, but the feeling is still the same.
With 80 percent of the students living within five blocks of the university, Utah State has a more vibrant college experience than other schools in the state, DuBose said.
“It’s a great time to be an Aggie,” he said.
–joseph.w@aggiemail.usu.edu