Aggie volleyball hires U.S. Men’s Nat’l team assistant as HC
Utah State Athletic Director, John Hartwell, announced Tuesday afternoon that the university is hiring Rob Neilson as the new head coach of the Aggies’ volleyball team.
“Sarah and I are thrilled to join the Utah State family,” Neilson said in a press release from Utah State’s athletics department. “I’m incredibly grateful for the trust and support of John Hartwell, (Deputy AD) Jerry Bovee and (Executive Associate AD) Amy Crosbie. The university, previous staffs and alumni have built the foundation for an incredible volleyball program and we look forward to working with players, staff, recruits and the Cache Valley community to build on that foundation to a championship standard.”
The hiring comes almost a month and half after Hartwell announced the Aggies would move on from former head coach, Grayson Dubose.
Dubose, a two-time WAC Coach of the Year in Logan, had the longest tenure of any coach in USU volleyball history, spending 14 seasons as the head of the program. He led the Aggies to a WAC tournament victory in 2010 and an ensuing NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2012, Dubose headed the Aggies in a regular season WAC title-winning campaign.
After his last season, Dubose had the second-most head coaching wins at Utah State with 189. However, in the last two seasons Utah State won just seven games combined, posting a 7-52 overall record from 2018-2019. Prior to those two seasons, Dubose had a winning record of 182-181 but ended his career with a losing 189-233 record. That lack of recent success likely prompted Hartwell to not retain Dubose, whose contract ended at the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Most of Neilson’s volleyball experience comes way of BYU, including his playing days. Neilson was a setter for the Cougars, appearing in 89 matches between 2003-2006 and was part of BYU’s 2004 national title team. He is fifth all-time at BYU in career assists with 2,790. Neilson’s 1,457 assists in 2005 still stands as third-highest for a single season in Provo.
Immediately after his playing career ended in 2006, Neilson stepped into a coaching role for the men’s team at BYU. Between 2006-2015, Neilson bounced between roles as an assistant coach and associate head coach. He also spent one season as interim head coach, leading the Cougars to a 20-8 overall record and a No. 2 ranking nationally.
In 2017, following a two-year break from coaching, Neilson joined the staff of USA Volleyball as the Men’s National Team first assistant coach. A year into his time there at the 2018 World Championships, Team USA won its first medal in 24 years, taking bronze. In 2019, they upgraded that medal to silver at the Volleyball Nations League.
The hire of Neilson drew the stamp of approval from the John Speraw, the current head coach of Team USA Men’s Volleyball and Neilson’s colleague.
“You couldn’t find a more capable coach and a man of high character and values,” Speraw said. “He is going to be an incredible representative of Utah State and its volleyball program. As a father of two daughters myself, I know how important of a decision it is as to where to send your daughters to play, and for whom. I can say without reservation that Rob is someone I would trust to coach and train my own daughters. I look forward to seeing the success of the Utah State volleyball program.”
Neilson’s impeccable playing and coaching record made his resume hard for Hartwell to resist, even for a coaching vacancy Hartwell claimed “had a lot of interest” from potential suitors.
“Rob emerged as the clear choice to lead the Utah State volleyball program,” Hartwell said.
According to Utah State’s athletic department, Neilson will begin constructing his coaching staff, a cabinet that is completely barren as of Tuesday, and immediately pursue recruits. He will also, however, retain an unspecified role with Team USA through the summer Olympics in Tokyo.
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Photo courtesy of Utah State Athletics