Please don't fire Corbellis. They represent what's good about A&M athletics. They've had too much success at A&M to think that all of a sudden they can't coach.

This year's winning football season might be the worst thing for the Corbellis. I've always thought that the reason Byrne never made the move was financial. But winning football this year will translate into ticket sales and donations for next year which might be just enough for him to change coaches.

Then, what is the problem? An 8th place finish isn't going to get it done. Won't this be the 2nd straight year of missing the NCAAs?

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son."

^^No, they went to the Sweet 16 last year.

I tend to agree with ta04. Not only from a financial sense (which obviously matters), but now he can afford the political backlash from firing a coach that has been here for a really long time.

It's kind of like what you hear from people about the government these days. "Why is Congress worried about steroids? Or how loud TV commercials are? They should be worried about the economy." (which is a garbage statement, but that's for another board). If the football team is bad, why should Byrne be worried about firing a long-time volleyball coach? Now that he doesn't have that monkey on his back, he might be given more political leeway for that sort of thing.

It can't be about money. VB coaches just don't make that much. Plus or minus $25K is nothing, even if our budgets have been tight.

He doesn't have anyone lined up and he has been pre-occupied with other problems (football, BIG budget problems, like the loan from TAMU).

spicewood, are you saying they only make 25k or so? If so, you might want to check again...Laurie makes a nice chunk of change

No, he's saying that the 25k more it would cost to run a search for a new coach/pay a signing bonus/pay a new coach etc. would be relatively meaningless to an organization of that size.

You guys are both actually agreeing here, I think. Given how much LC makes, I don't think it would be that much more expensive to bring in a new coach, and if anything it could save the program money.

Volleyball isn't gonna be very high on his to do list, I don't think. She runs a clean program, has some success. I don't see her going anywhere

Blastoff has it right. The VERY BEST VB coach probably only makes $200K. If we pay Corbelli $150K now, Byrne could find the money to get a better coach.

But only if he wanted to.

I agree, I think he could find the money. I just think the past few years (as said above as well), the backlash would have been worse due to poor football.

We're already paying three football coaches (I think we're still paying RC), people would complain that we shouldn't be paying for a new volleyball coach when it doesn't make money anyway.

Unless we go on some ridiculous Big12 tourney/NCAA run, this year would be his best shot to make a change. He would have a reason to make a change, most likely the finances to make a change, and more folks wouldn't pay mind to it.

Hate to say it, but I hope he does. I think the Corbellis have done a great job here over the years, but it's time for something new. We've fallen way behind in the Big12 and we need to move forward.

The Corbellis are certainly great ambassadors for the University. Unfortunately, Byrne's mission statement is "Building Champions," which doesn't fit their record. I could see LC staying, but I don't see our VB improving with her.

What about just dropping volleyball. Put the money into something else that we stand a chance of being successful at, like Women's field hockey or gymnastics?

I think if a replacement is to occur this would be the year to do it...

The team is intact for next year all starters return however replacements will be needed at pin positions after next year. If a substandard season exists next year then recruits for the 2012 class will be corbelli's as well. This year we lose no seniors but should have scholarships available with CA leaving the team before the season. If making the change let the new coach start bringing in his her type of recruits which would likely be in place for his/her system the following year..pin attackers at Texas A&M are getting smaller and smaller every season under Corbelli's where as top teams are getting taller and taller at the pins.

The one recruit i know about so far for next season will not handle Big 12 play at all (5'9 maybe 5'10''...and goes against any current thoughts on the movement of volleyball towards a taller hitter on the pins.

Here is how i see us compared to the Big 12-2 next season

Setter: above average size needs to improve on set selection and back row defense

OH #1: our mainstay and go to position currently playing shorter than normal height wise but make up in vertical and power...needs to make better decisions on attack power at key times...gets in trouble with taller atletic blockers on right side

OH #2: need more production from this spot and should be the main emphasis in recruiting within next two years for a dominant player...lack of offensive production in this position hurt drastically compared to other teams in Big 12

Middle #1 does a graet job hitting behind the setter which is one of the hardest positions on the court to defend...blocking laterally could improve serving really needs to improve

Middle #2 hits better in front of setter but is used as decoy too much and teams know it and commit block on outside hitter

Right Side: this position has been played by two players one gives better passing and thus back row attack options if playing all six rotations similar to Banse last year but not as fluid...could move to OH #2 position for more production Other is taller and can attack in front or behind setter giving combination plays some possibilities that have been virtually neglected in this system offense

Libero: one of the better in the Big 12 passes well digs well needs to improve on out of system ball handling both forearm and setting and also taking freeballs with hands but one of the top ones in Big 12

Also we have no assistant coach as he has left to return to club position in the Metroplez this will hurt chances in recruiting as having less eyes to evaluate talent. Corbellis have scheduled spring tounreys during biggest tourney in Texas for recruiting...why? with no assistant who will help in that regard

For those who are thinking we will improve next year in conference we will have two losses taken away but also two wins with Colorado and Nebraska leaving the Big 12

Texas likely has the Number #1 recruiting class for this coming year and likely national player of the year as well as national player of year two years ago who is getting medical redshirt

Competing with the top teams means a movement to a different system... are the Corbelli's willing to make the change and go after the Texas elite that are leaving the state???? Not so sure anymore....looked drained from this season IMHO

Same starters returning next year....nothing on the recruiting horizon....another year for the program to deteriorate further....our present vb program is nothing but a Title IX place-holder, and a waste of scholarship $$$.

BB proved he doesn't give a **** about vb. Neither do most Aggies.

I agree that its time for the Corbelli's to go. Byrne SHOULD care about volleball. It's about the only non-revenue sport on campus that's not competitive in the Big 12, if not nationally. It gets pretty good attendance, even from students, and I think if we had a competitive program again, the attendance could improve a bunch, making it more of a break-even. College Station is in the heart of high school volleyball country. There are many Brazos Valley teams that have been perpetual winners/state qualifiers for many years. Schools including A&M Consol, Rudder, Caldwell, Brenham, Leon, Iola, Centerville, and Normangee all have a strong volleyball following. Many of these are too small to provide D1 recruits, but they could add lots of "butts in the seats" at games.

My daughter plays volleyball at a local junior high. We took her to the final A&M game on Saturday. The reason she wanted to go? To see Nebraska in person - they are one of her favorite teams to watch on TV. Really sad.

quote:

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like Women's field hockey or gymnastics?

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Don't think that would be possible. Nobody local to compete against. The SEC is full of gymnastics teams (we'll leave those discussions for another day), but I don't even know how far the closest women's field hockey team would be. I think the travel costs would just be too much.

Also, almost every school fields a women's vball team. Would be strange to just drop it.

I wasn't even going to acknowledge his notion that we drop volleyball. Completely out of the question.

Anyways, I with LC would just...bow out so to speak. I love her as a person, and think she's been awesome for the program. I don't even know if she's the problem. But something big needs to change in this program, and what can you change besides the coaches? At the level our program is at, you can't "send players a message" by benching them. Not enough depth. For long term change, a new coach is the only thing I can see working.

There are LOTS of high school girls programs in Texas. For example, Lake Travis just won the 4A state championship. Their top player, Amy Neal, is committed to Texas.

LC may be a good, maybe even very good coach. But our recruiting is not where it needs to be. That could be our biggest problem.

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 11/30/2010 8:24a).]

did anyone else listen to the Final Q&A?

once again the excuse is thrown out of this being a young and inexperienced team. we heard that for almost the entire last decade, until 2009. so what that means is that we can expect to actually make the tournament and win a match in it around 2012 or 2013.

If we drop VB we would have to add another varsity women's sport or drop one men's sport.

Amy Neal from LT is expected to be a LIbero/DS for Texas if that tells you anything. She is a high flying hitter but too short likely for a top 5 program. She may be given a shot to compete for an outside position but is also likely fully aware that hitting will not be what is expected for her in the coming years.

That is the difference in being relevant nationally verses just treading water because she would likely start at OH for us if she was playing next year (only a HS junior)

Volleyball is a funny sport, because it is just about the only one in the world where you really can't overcome a lack of size at the NCAA level. Short basketball players can do well, short swimmers, short runners, short soccer players, short almost everything (maybe high jumpers?). But without tall volleyball players, unless you have the absolute most ridiculous defensive squad of all-time, all-world, ever assembled and just frustrate your opponents into oblivion, you can't succeed at the top level.

Oklahoma (this year) and Iowa State (most years) are good examples of strong defensive teams that don't have the top tier talent but still compete and are nationally relevant.

The really sad thing is that like other's have said we are in the hotbed for volleyball talent. Texas is probably considered the #2 state for volleyball talent in the country and may have even taken over #1 from California in recent years in terms of quality and quantity of D1 level recruits. Something has got to change with our recruiting if this program is ever going to become relevant and I think the Corbelli's have had plenty of time to prove what they can and cannot do. They are good people and it will be hard on the current team if they do not come back for next season, but at some point you have to move on.

There is a kid that's a junior from White Oak, TX (this year's 2A state champ team) that has been committed to Nebraska since she was a freshman in HS. How does Nebraska find this hidden talent in TX when she's just a HS freshman, and we are right in the neighborhood, and don't?

The girl from White Oak is good but she is committed to SMU not Nebraska i believe

I'm still pissed that Grace Weaver (Belton, HS) just signed with Tulane. She is a monster.

http://g-weave.com/grace/VIDEO.html

Check out some of those videos.

I like Grace Weaver as a player but way to small for Big 12 play and the upper big 12 at that

The move isn't financial. Laurie makes $114k

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/texas-am-university/laurie-f-corbelli/294088/

John makes $67k

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/texas-am-university/john-p-corbelli/294089/

Jerritt Elliot, who has had a lot more success at t.u. in the last few years makes $115k and his top asst. makes $56k (same database).

I have to believe that if we are paying our coaches more than the flagship school in our state is paying their 2009 NCAA finalist coach, if anything that would be an incentive to unload the Corbellis and see what else we can get.

I think they earn additional compensation from camps, and perhaps sponsor contracts.

But the point is valid - it can't be a money issue. Because it just isn't that much money.

Well, if these salaries become more well publicized, and people find out we're paying more for a whole lot less, it all of a sudden will be about money, because there will be a lot more political baggage to keep them around than to not doing so...

It's time for them to go.

If it's not about money, we need to make the move this year. I can understand not pulling the trigger last year because we made the Sweet 16.

What I don't know (and I'm sure Byrne knows quite well) is the landscape of coaches out there. Who is available? Where will they come from? Are they interested? Maybe he's just been biding his time for a particular coach, I don't know...

Yes they earn more money for camps and have dealer cars and other stuff like that but every bonus and revenue opportunity that we have for our coaches, t.u. and the other big schools have as well. The bottom line is that non revenue-generating sports' coaches just don't make that much money. We were able to get the best track coach in the country for less than we pay many of the football assistants...just because $B was willing to shell out a little bit of extra cash. $75k/yr is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things for A&M, but I will bet that if you offer the t.u. guy or one of the other hot young coaches out there $200k/yr and everything that A&M has to offer, we could get them the same way we got Henry.

At some point LSU just decided it wasn't worth that much money to have the best track coach out there and maybe it's not. I don't keep track of track (that sounds funny)...maybe LSU is doing just as well with a green 28 y/o HC that makes half as much. Either way neither school is making a dime from track, so it's just a matter of how much you want the positive recognition, because that's just about all that track or volleyball or any of these other sports give you. I'm really proud of the golf & track championships, but I'm sure that 99.9% of people outside of the Aggie and golf/track/college athletics community have no idea A&M even won them. Conversely most of the country knows we're having a great football season and that's going to come back to us financially. I love me some Olympic sports, but if it comes down to paying DeRuyter a bit extra to get him to stay or using that money to hire new vball and womens tennis coaches, it's a no brainer - use the money to keep DeRuyter and the minor sports will work themselves out.

I seriously doubt that $B knows the volleyball "landscape" any more than most of us on here. The Corbellis, Kleinecke, etc. run a clean and fairly successful program, don't cause problems, and don't ask for more money. I think the only way they get canned is if they stop making the NCAA tournament on a regular basis. The bottom line is that people (and by people I mean the typical Aggie or supporter) just don't care about womens tennis and volleyball the same way they do about football, m&W hoops, and baseball (even though its not a money-earner).
Guaranteed if some old blue blood vball fan came out of the woodwork and said he'd pony up $100k a year earmarked directly to volleyball ONLY if $B would use it to hire the best young head coach out there, Byrne would do it tomorrow. The problem is that this guy doesn't exist.

Track can and does help with football recruiting, so getting Coach Henry here helps elevate our AD in general and can help the milk cow (money cow for you New Army folks). A great athletic department can help attract students too, and the kind we want.

If we want to "Build Champions," which I know we do, we spend whatever it takes to get all of our programs, including the non-revenue sports, to compete on a national level. Having had several conversations with BB, regarding womens' basketball, I determined he's a very competitive guy. He'll do what he needs to do to "Build Champions."

Good luck to the volleyball program - whichever way you go.

This is an absolute no-brainer decision for Byrne. Corbelli has missed 4 out of the last 5 NCAA tournaments. Let me say that again - 4 of the last 5! The money shouldn't be a factor if you're talking about hiring someone at around the same $120K level. This is the right time to make the move before the program spirals down into an abyss that will take years to overcome. Corbelli did a good job at A&M for years, but it's obvious to anyone paying attention that the program has slipped badly and a change is needed. If Byrne doesn't make a change, I would honestly question his foundational thesis about building champions.