CHICAGO — After the NCAA changed the rule allowing volleyball teams to hire a third paid assistant coach, Chris Tamas didn’t have to look far for his new staff member.
The Illinois coach’s wife, Jen (Joines) Tamas, has been a volunteer coach since 2017 and was a natural fit to be elevated to full-time status. She was a four-time All-American at Pacific, played professionally for eight years and was the captain of the USA national team for four years. She had also served as a volunteer coach during Chris’s stints as an assistant coach at Nebraska and Cal Poly.
However, it wasn’t a shoo-in. He made her work for it a bit.
“I actually made her go through the interview process, just so you know. She passed the test tremendously,” Chris Tamas said Wednesday during the Big Ten volleyball media days. “She’s a tremendous coach, and she was a tremendous player. It’s one of those things where if I blindfold interviewed her, it would be her.”
Schools around the Big Ten took several approaches to the third assistant coach. Some added former players starting their coaching careers, while others elevated volunteer coaches or other off-court staff members to help with the increased workload. Everyone agreed that it was much needed and would help the sport.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said he was encouraged to see every Big Ten member commit to support a larger staff. There might have been a little wait-and-see early on, but any apprehension was quickly removed.
“You make the decision that you’re either all the way in trying to compete at the highest level or you’re going to skimp. If you are not all the way in and you’re gonna get left in the dust in this league and in this sport,” he said. “Once a couple of schools made the decision, we are definitely going to do this. Every coach is banging on their boss’s door, saying we’ve got to do it. In most cases at most of these schools, the bosses are already wanting to run with it because they’re their competitors as well.”
Penn State and Nebraska added program legends who have just started their coaching journey. The Huskers added Jordan Larson, who is working part-time now as she wraps up her national team career, while the Nittany Lions tabbed Megan Hodge Easy, a three-time national champion.
PSU senior middle blocker Allie Holland said she’s…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…