Briney named volleyball head coach
Jack Nicholl
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Sports
MAY 5, 2009
Ben Briney has been named the Truman volleyball head coach for the 2009 season.
Briney, who was the assistant coach for the last four years under former head coach Jason Skoch, will receive an annual salary of $43,000. The contract begins June 1 and expires June 30, 2010.
"I've been here four years and have really fallen in love with Truman and the community and the opportunity to become a head coach whenever Jason left," Briney said earlier today.
Under Briney's tenure as the assistant coach, the Bulldogs amassed a record of 137-22, including four trips to the NCAA tournament. Along with being an assistant coach, Briney also performed most of the recruiting duties.
Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering said Briney's experience at Truman made him the best candidate.
"[He has] experience here in a program that has obviously been highly successful … for the last four years," Wollmering said. "In the end, we just felt like he was the best person to take it from here."
Wollmering said just fewer than 40 applicants applied for the job. The three other finalists had various coaching experience at Div. I and Div. III schools.
The final decision to hire Briney came last weekend and the athletics department announced the decision with a press release Tuesday. A screening committee made up of Wollmering, Linda Anderson, associate athletics director for compliance and eligibility, and former volleyball player Lisa Weber made the decision.
Before coming to Truman, Briney was an assistant for two years at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. Briney also has served as an assistant coach for the Carolina Region Junior High Performance Team and as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Southwest Baptist University.
Briney inherits a Bulldog team that is coming off of a 33-8 season and Final Four appearance last fall. Despite the team having lost six seniors, including three All Americans, Briney said there will be only small changes next season.
"They'll be changes that the average person may not necessarily be able to notice, just in a lot of the techniques, as far as what I teach compared to what Jason teaches in some regard," Briney said. "Some things will be the same - it's going to be a bigger change for the girls than just for the person sitting in the stands watching. The offense is going to be a little bit faster, but there again, that just goes with the personnel we have."
The team has already had a head start on the changes for next season. Briney has been leading practices since Skoch announced his resignation March 11, and Briney said the team has been doing a good job adapting to his style of coaching.
"What I'm excited about is the returners we have are a great core group of returners and I think a lot of people are going to be surprised - I think we're going to surprise a lot of people early at how good we are going to be," Briney said.
Ben Briney has been named the Truman volleyball head coach for the 2009 season.
Briney, who was the assistant coach for the last four years under former head coach Jason Skoch, will receive an annual salary of $43,000. The contract begins June 1 and expires June 30, 2010.
"I've been here four years and have really fallen in love with Truman and the community and the opportunity to become a head coach whenever Jason left," Briney said earlier today.
Under Briney's tenure as the assistant coach, the Bulldogs amassed a record of 137-22, including four trips to the NCAA tournament. Along with being an assistant coach, Briney also performed most of the recruiting duties.
Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering said Briney's experience at Truman made him the best candidate.
"[He has] experience here in a program that has obviously been highly successful … for the last four years," Wollmering said. "In the end, we just felt like he was the best person to take it from here."
Wollmering said just fewer than 40 applicants applied for the job. The three other finalists had various coaching experience at Div. I and Div. III schools.
The final decision to hire Briney came last weekend and the athletics department announced the decision with a press release Tuesday. A screening committee made up of Wollmering, Linda Anderson, associate athletics director for compliance and eligibility, and former volleyball player Lisa Weber made the decision.
Before coming to Truman, Briney was an assistant for two years at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. Briney also has served as an assistant coach for the Carolina Region Junior High Performance Team and as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Southwest Baptist University.
Briney inherits a Bulldog team that is coming off of a 33-8 season and Final Four appearance last fall. Despite the team having lost six seniors, including three All Americans, Briney said there will be only small changes next season.
"They'll be changes that the average person may not necessarily be able to notice, just in a lot of the techniques, as far as what I teach compared to what Jason teaches in some regard," Briney said. "Some things will be the same - it's going to be a bigger change for the girls than just for the person sitting in the stands watching. The offense is going to be a little bit faster, but there again, that just goes with the personnel we have."
The team has already had a head start on the changes for next season. Briney has been leading practices since Skoch announced his resignation March 11, and Briney said the team has been doing a good job adapting to his style of coaching.
"What I'm excited about is the returners we have are a great core group of returners and I think a lot of people are going to be surprised - I think we're going to surprise a lot of people early at how good we are going to be," Briney said.
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