Q+A with volleyball coach Glenn Nelson

Glenn Nelson is the head coach of both the men's and the women's volleyball teams. He recently sat down with 'Prince' staff writer Sarah Petry.

'Prince': Coach, do you want me to start with my questions, and then we'll go from there?

Glenn Nelson: Yeah, Petry, why don't you start with your questions, seeing as it is a Q & A. I mean, I've never done this before, but I don't think I'm supposed to make up my own questions and then answer them, too, am I?

P: Okay, so what made you decide to start coaching?

GN: Hmmm, lack of discipline as a writer.

P: What do you find different about coaching the girls versus the guys? Which one do you like better?

GN: At this current time? I like the girls better. What do I find different? Well, I find that with the girls, you have to constantly remind them. You try not to leave the details up to them. You have to specifically tell them over and over again, whereas with the guys, you don't necessarily need to do that. You can scream at them. I try not to scream at the girls. I think they respond better, for the most part, not being screamed at.

P: But you can scream at guys?

GN: Oh yeah. It doesn't always work, though.

P: Okay, I read somewhere that you are the "most winningest coach" in NCAA history, or something like that.

GN: (Laughs) I doubt that.

P: No, really. It had something to do with the fact that you coach both the men's and women's programs. Is that true?

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

GN: I don't know. I think I'm third in terms of men's programs. Don't know about the women's. The numbers for both are pretty similar right now. It's about 450 or so for the men, and 450-ish for the women, too.

P: So you don't keep tabs on your wins?

GN: No, I don't keep tabs, no.

P: Well, do you earn preferential treatment or VIP status in the volleyball world?

GN: I don't think anyone earns preferential treatment in the volleyball world. The volleyball world is a very iconoclastic place.

P: Do you think you have a pretty easy time recruiting here because of the program and your legacy?

GN: The program, yes. My legacy, I don't know. Do I have a legacy? But yeah, I think that recruiting is one thing that is relatively easy here. I think it started back in the early days when we were getting lots of kids coming from LA, Orange County and San Diego. The older kids would go back and tell the younger kids what a great time they had playing here and going to Princeton, so it seemed like the same club programs were feeding people here for years. But, I'd like to point out that we did start a girl from Michigan and one from Tennessee on our women's team this year.

P: Yeah, and you're starting guys from New York and New Jersey —

GN: Let's not go into the guys right now. They're not my favorites these days. But, yeah, I'd like to say that we are branching out.

P: Do most of the best players usually come from California?

GN: In this program, no. The best male volleyball player came from New York. Marin Gjaja '91 played on the national team.

P: Dean Cain played here, right? Was he any good?

GN: Was Dean Cain a good player? Yeah, Dean was a three year starter. It was a different era then, but yeah, he was definitely a solid player.

Ana Yoerg (women's 2001-2002 captain, who is doing a biographical profile on Nelson and was in the office throughout the interview): There's a shout-out for you on one of his fan club web sites. It says something like, "And Dean still keeps in touch with his Princeton volleyball coach, Glenn Nelson."

GN: Do you want me to call him right now?

P: Yeah! Can I ask him questions about you?

GN: (Laughs) Sure. Well, actually I don't know. Dean's a pretty busy guy, you know. I'm not sure he'd have time for you.

P: But he does always make time to play golf with you when you're out in Los Angeles, right?

GN: Oh yeah.

P: What has been your most successful men's season? Was the 1998 trip to NCAA's in Hawaii the best yet?

GN: In terms of how far we got, that was the best. In terms of records, no. Back in the old days we wouldn't meet up with the Penn States and the George Masons until the playoffs, and we had one year when we didn't have any losses in the regular season. It was the success of that team and the success of the '98 team, I think, that boosted us up into the division we're in now, which is a tough division for us to play in. It's basically like playing in the Big East which, with a couple of exceptions, is all scholarships. So, that's tough for us.

P: Okay, Ana, ask some questions. I don't know what else to ask, and you're doing a project on him.

GN: A whole project?!? Wow, who knew.

AY: Hmmm, okay. Let's see. Let's talk music, your musical tastes.

GN: Music? Well, let's see. It's rather eclectic, but I still put jazz at the top. And right now, well we're going through a female vocalist retrospective, as it were, with Ella Fitzgerald and Rosemary Clooney at the top of the list. Still we never stray very far away from, you know, the Brazilian jazz and we never get that far away from Tom Waits with his urban, nocturnal ramblings, you might say.

AY: Hmmm, let's see. Okay, how much has the office changed over the years?

GN: Well, with the exception of the addition of the dart board, it's pretty much stayed the same since I got here. The dart board came about ten years ago, much to the chagrin of the painting crew, and I think that it really hones our competitive atmosphere.

You know, if you have a bad practice, you can always come in here and win a game of darts and feel pretty good about that. Or, if you have a bad day on the golf course, you can come win a game of darts. And then, if you lose a game of darts, you're fired up to win a game of volleyball, or golf. I'd say it pretty much works both ways.

AY: What do you think is the image of the program, in the eyes of the Athletic Department and the University?

GN: Given the nature of our sport and that so many of the people playing here come from the beach, I think that the program is viewed as a laid-back-Southern-California-beach atmosphere. And, that contrasts with the Ivy League's, hmmm, normal-proper-staid attitude that sometimes surrounds us in the league. I mean, there's a lot of good coaches here and there's a lot of good programs, and everyone has their own style.

It's just a matter of finding the players that fit that style and you can be successful. That doesn't mean I'm right or they're right, it just means that you try to fit people in and make it work. For us, I think you can let the record speak for itself, and I'd say it's working.