We have recently had the pleasure of conversing several times with UCF's Coach Todd Dagenais. The more we find out about Coach Dagenais, the more we are impressed with his knowledge and passion for Volleyball. We hope you will enjoy this 4 part series where we discuss his involvement with the Athens Olympics, his first year as Head Coach for UCF, his outlook for the future at UCF, his philosophy's on recruitment and his openness towards player walk-ons.
SFVR: When did you first get involved with Volleyball?
DAGENAIS: I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For most people that’s about 5 miles from the North Pole. The big sports are hunting, fishing, camping, closely followed by football, basketball, and hockey. Volleyball probably wasn’t even in the top 20. Like many guys outside of California, I fell into it by accident. We had some teachers and mentors that played at a local high school once per week. A small group of us high school guys tagged along and started playing with the “old timers”. I stay in touch with those guys to this day. They have played a huge role in what I’m doing today.
SFVR: Describe what it was like coaching in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Greece?
DAGENAIS: You know how someone says….”I’m willing to do ANYTHING to be a part of something”. Well that was me from 2000-2004. I didn’t care if I had to carry bags, hand balls, and do whatever job someone else doesn’t want to do, I just wanted to go to the Olympics. Despite the fact that I volunteered my time as an assistant training coach with the National Team and accompanied them as a coach on some foreign tours, in all honesty it would be unfair to call me an Olympic Coach. Out of respect to the full time job Toshi Yoshida, Kevin Hambly, and Robyn Romanski did, I’m careful to say that I was a part of the coaching delegation. They were the coaches, and they deserved to be recognized as such. I was selected to go along and help with logistics, statistics, filming, or practice duties they needed an extra person to take care of.
That being said, the experience of being on the grandest stage in sports was indescribable. I will never forget the feeling of walking into the stadium during the closing ceremony. Softball star Jennie Finch was on one side of me and Soccer star Mia Hamm was in front of me. I kept thinking….how in the world did a kid from the Upper Peninsula end up here. Sure some hard work was involved, but there was a huge amount of luck too. I really learned a lot from Toshi, Kevin, and Robyn, and I’m very thankful that they included me in the experience.
SFVR: Describe your three years as an assistant coach at USC?
DAGENAIS: I’m telling you right now, and I don’t care what anybody says or thinks, Mick Haley is one of the best managers of people and teams in the collegiate volleyball game We had some great individual athletes in my time at USC, but he is one of a VERY small handful of coaches who can not only get the most out of an individual player, but find ways to maximize a team. My first year, graduated a ton of talent, then we lost both outside hitters before the start of pre-season. Instead of complaining about what he didn’t have, Mick sat down and created an offense and defense to fit what we did have. We made the NCAA Tournament that year, and a lot of programs would not have made it in the same circumstances. Actually, some programs haven’t made the tournament under the same circumstances.
SFVR: What was your first year as head coach at UCF like?
DAGENAIS: Now as I look back it was really a daunting experience. I came aboard in late January knowing that we had up to 5 scholarships open, and the season was only 7months away. UCF was in the process of constructing our amazing new office complex and renovating our volleyball facility. I was working out of a double wide trailer and practicing at a recreation center (when it was available). Fortunately our facility contact John Portland did a great job of making sure that we were interrupted as least as possible.
Next I had to hire a staff that could compliment my style and help me overcome my weaknesses. My first hire was Sam Shweisky. He is a fantastic trainer in the gym and is far more laid back than I am. The team needed a softer “mello” personality, especially when I start to crank up the intensity. I came from the Japanese/Korean/Chinese training background, and he came from the Gold Medal Squared background, I’m a Catholic from rural Michigan, he is Jewish and from New York City. Other than our love from volleyball, we couldn’t be more different. However, there is one thing that Sam and I have in common, neither one of us played Women’s Collegiate Volleyball. That’s where Michelle Chatman came in. She was an All American Middle from the University of Florida, and intense competitor, a fantastic recruiter, and a perfect role model for what we want our players to become as student athletes.
Once the staff was in place we began the process of redesigning our team. This definitely had it’s highs and lows. I was willing to keep the people that wanted to work harder than they ever worked (on and off the court), be the best teammates they have ever been, and the hardest one, recruit players that were likely to take their position somewhere down the road. If you couldn’t buy into this 100% then you were asked to find a situation that was more suited to your individual goals. Some players decided this wasn’t going to be the right program for them anymore and I supported their release, others just were released outright for various reasons. Eventually we were left with the 8 people that were committed to a dream, knowing that some of them may never actually get to experience the dream when it happens.
During all of this my wife Katie and I had to sell a house in California, buy a house in Florida, move 2 cats, three dogs, and an 8-month pregnant wife all the way across the country. She could probably make a movie out of this experience ! Here is a funny story…only in Los Angeles does something like this happen.
My wife was at the skycap desk at Los Angeles International, 8 months pregnant, carry two cats in carry on cases, someone is pushing our three 50 lb dogs in their travel cases on a push cart, and some Hollywood Starlet wanna-be asks….
”Are you going on Vacation?” What???? Who packs up 5 animals to head on vacation??? Oh yeah…we were in LA ! I’ll never forget that story.
Baby Jocelyn is already 9 months old and showing signs of being a left-handed setter J Uh oh….I’m going to be a “club-dad” !!!
SFVR: Describe what it felt like addressing the team for the first time?
DAGENAIS: I remember sitting in a conference room and addressing the team. I had already done a ton of research and studied statistics of all teams in Conference USA as well as UCF. I then created a power point presentation that would illustrate to the the team exactly what we needed to do to become successful.
Statistically we were at the bottom of the conference only because of our unforced errors. We made so many errors that our opponents needed to score only 10-12 points in order to win a set. I asked each primary hitter to get just one more kill a game, and cut their errors by just one per game. If we could do that, then we would be no worse than finishing in middle of the pack at the end of the next year. It really was that simple.
In that meeting we set ourselves on a course that would emphasize a philosophy of discipline and low errors. We established our mission statement as a team, we defined what championship behavior would be, and I asked the team to establish a positive gym culture. The only way we could achieve any of our goals was to walk out of that initial meeting with these three things set in stone.
SFVR: What was your message to the team for the 2008 season?
DAGENAIS: Build a Foundation. I couldn’t guarantee that we would win a single match. All I could guarantee is that we would be in relentless pursuit of excellent on the court and in the classroom. This wasn’t going to be a program that could be built overnight. I wanted to build something that we could all be proud of years down the road. I wanted us to build a program that was reflective of the efforts and sacrifices that the Lucy McDaniel teams of the 1970’s had made, and the national recognition that the Meg Colado teams of the early 2000’s were able to achieve. So many people put this program on the map; it’s our obligation to do everything we can to get this program back on the map.
Our goals for year #1 were:
1)Finish .500 or better (we ended up 15-17), but we also ended up playing a top 60 ranked schedule. We could have easily finished the season with 20 wins if I scheduled easier, but easy wins wouldn’t lead to our 3 and 5 year goals.
2)Finish in the top half of the conference. Conference USA had it’s highest ranking in recent memory when it finished 5th behind the PAC-10, Big 12, Big 10, and West Coast Conference. I know that’s not something my friends in the SEC, ACC, and Big East want me to advertise, but I’m very proud of our conference and what we achieved as a collective group this year. There was actually a time where we were 5-1 in conference and playing UAB for the outright lead in the conference. It was a classic example of too much success too fast. I wish I had prepared us to “win” because when we starting winning, we had a very difficult time handling the stress and pressure of winning. That’s completely my fault.
3)Move up 75 spots in the RPI and finish at 175 or better. We actually climbed as high as 75 before settling in at 113 to close the season. This is something I hope my players are really proud of. Are we satisfied…NO. We feel like there is so much more to do in the future.
SFVR: UCF’s eigth-place tie in C-USA this season was its highest finish since joining the league in 2005, which is definitely something to be proud of. Seeing that you are used to so much success was it tough not having greater success and a higher finish?
DAGENAIS: It’s really not about me or what I’m used to. I was more interested in making sure the outgoing seniors were going to leave UCF with some fond memories..
Initially, at the end of the year I wasn’t too that excited about our record. I think back to the four or five matches we were serving to win the match and ended up somehow losing. Those moments were frozen in my mind. After I had some time to reflect with my wife, the administration, and most of all our team, the true success of our season hit me.
When I saw the satisfaction on the Senior’s faces, and the optimism on the Junior’s faces, I knew that we had really just done something special.
SFVR: What was your most memorable game in your first year as UCF's Head Coach this past season?
DAGENAIS: Ironically the most memorable game for me was one that we lost 3-0. We opened at home against Stanford, the 2007 National Runner Up., in front of record crowd over 2000. (They announced it at 1500 to the Fire Marshall wouldn’t shut it down). That’s when I knew for sure that UCF could potentially be a nationally significant team again. We honored the 1978 AIAW National Champions on their 30th year anniversary. It was really one of the most memorable moments of my entire career.
Coach, it looks like you had a great impact on UCF Volleyball and Conference USA in only your first year. In Part 2 (Tuesday, February 24th) we will look towards the future of UCF Volleyball.
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