Questions and Answers with men's volleyball head coach Glenn Nelson

Recently, Princetonian sports reporter David Omenn sat down with head men's and women's volleyball coach Glenn Nelson.

Prince: You've been here forever. Are you the only volleyball coach Princeton has ever seen?

Coach Nelson: No. I had a predecessor. The woman who preceeded me had been here five or six years, I'd say.

P: How was the college volleyball experience back then different from how you see it now?

GN: The game has changed a lot. Back then you rarely had the back row. Now it's an accepted part of the game. They've changed the rules with rally scoring which makes it a totally different sport. Back then, the beauty of the sport, and a lot of us purists still think the beauty of the sport, was even if you got down by nine points, you could just side out all day and gradually get back into it. We've done it in the past. With rally scoring there's no way you can do that. Point for play, it's too easy to side out and when you get down, it's very rare to see a comeback.

P: Do you think they'll ever go back to the old way of scoring?

GN: I don't they ever will. I think the whole reason to change was because of Nike, to tell you the truth. Nike made a comment that, "If it didn't happen on TV, it didn't happen." Volleyball people have been trying to get on television for years, but the problem was that even good international matches could go for three hours. They couldn't fit in commercials because of the way that the game goes. What they tried to do was get the game paced down to a time frame they could deal with and have some breaks. For example, last year, we had mandatory timeouts at 15 [points in a game], whether somebody called a time out or not. When one team reached 15, it was what they called a technical timeout.

P: Do you think the rally scoring has made the game more marketable?

GN: I haven't really noticed it. My whole point is they'll put pro beach roller hockey on ESPN before they'll put volleyball on. I just thought it was a wonderful sport and it was just an exclusive little community who enjoyed it. This whole thing is about, "We have to take it to the masses." My point is, why? I'm not saying it's ruined the game, but it has made it very different. To tell you the truth, I think we're oversaturated with all different sports on television. We love basketball in this country and all you have to do is turn on ESPN or ESPN2 any night to understand that.

P: When you started coaching the women's team after coaching with the men, did any of the guys give you a hard time?

GN: No. Not at all. There's one thing I want to tell you about. There are some programs in this country where the women's and the men's team have a little bit of friction. One of the things that I really think is great and that I pride myself on is that both teams here support one another to the point where the guys will come to [the womens'] practice to help and the girls will help out at the guys' practices. I think when I first started coaching women, I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" but I've really come full circle and I think most of the nation has in terms of our outlook towards women in general. At first, I might have been thinking, 'These girls can't play.' But now I believe that they can play and they can play well. I'm really glad I have both programs, although it becomes a very long year. I really love it, though. I couldn't say no to one and coach the other.

P: Can you compare the two teams and your approach in coaching them?

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GN: I think with the girls you have to be a little more patient. With the guys, you can get in their face and scream at them, but with the girls, I don't do that. I try to be very calm and repeat things a lot. It's just your whole demeanor.

P: Every year you take a trip to California to play some of those good Southern Cal teams. What's it like in terms of playing those teams and also the recruiting advantage you might get?

GN: I think what's happened over the years is that the people that have played with us from the club programs in California have gone back and told the young kids or the parents of those kids what a great experience they had here. It's become like certain programs out there feed kids into our program so recruiting-wise, it's a great advantage.

P: In 1997 and 1998 you had two of your best years. In 1997, you went 24-2 and in 1998, you went to the Final Four. Those two years must have been a great experience.

GN: They were a great experience. Those are the two years that made us a victim of our own success right now. It was a special group of guys. I've been here 24 years and those guys were everything I just described plus they had a little more physical ability than what we had in the past and what we have now. Those two things combined helped to forge the success with that team.