August 4, 2025 âą 38 mins
đ© Recruiting at Cruising Altitude with Joslynn Gallop â Embry-Riddle VolleyballÂ
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is world-famous for producing pilots and aerospace leaders â but itâs also home to one of the most competitive NCAA Division II volleyball programs in the country. In this Significant Recruiting episode, Head Coach Joslynn Gallop takes us inside the Sunshine State Conference â a league many consider the toughest in all of D2 volleyball.
For 20 years, Joslynn has built a program that thrives on fierce competition, tough love, and a little well-placed trash talk. A former Division I standout at San Jose State, she knows what elite talent looks like and isnât afraid to challenge her players to reach new heights.
We talk recruiting strategy, what it takes to stand out in one of the most talent-rich conferences in the nation, and why Embry-Riddle is so much more than just a university for pilots and engineers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
just the support without thepressure.
I think everything has so muchpressure on it these days that,
our young student athletes don'teat it because burnout's a real
thing.
And that's what I hate is whenpeople stop doing something
'cause they fell outta love withit.
I mean, I've been doing this for20 years here and it's the same
love I had on day one.
(00:30):
Buckle up because today we'recleared for takeoff here on
significant recruiting.
That short clip was from myguest, Jocelyn Gallup, the head
volleyball coach talking abouther school, Emory Riddle
Aeronautical University, a placethe world knows for pilots in
aerospace, but as you'll hear,it's also home to one of the
most competitive volleyballprograms in NCAA division two.
(00:52):
For 20 years, Jocelyn has ledher team and what many believe
is the toughest volleyballconference in the country.
The Sunshine State Conference,where every match feels like a
high altitude dog fight.
Her program soars on a straightshooter approach, a love for
intense competition.
And yes, a little well placedtrash talk as a former division
(01:14):
one standout at San Jose Stateshe knows exactly what the best
looks like, and she isn't afraidto push her players to reach
cruising altitude and then finda little extra thrust to climb
even higher.
Okay, enough of the flightmetaphors.
Today we're talking aboutrecruiting at Emory Riddle, what
she looks for in studentathletes, and why this
(01:36):
university is far more than atraining ground for pilots and
engineers.
If you wanna learn more aboutme, my books, or how I help
families navigate the recruitingjourney, visit coach matt
rogers.com and don't forget tosubscribe to my free weekly
newsletter.
Now let's get airborne withCoach Jocelyn Gallup.
(01:56):
Coach, welcome back.
I want to dive into recruiting.
This has become my world.
I love talking about recruiting.
I love hearing how coachesrecruit.
I work so hard to get kids tothink about how they're
perceived and the impressionthat they're, giving out when,
even when they.
Don't think anybody's watching.
Mm-hmm.
Is there one thing a recruit cando when they're visiting you or
(02:18):
you're visiting them in thatfirst 10 seconds of the meeting
that really leaves a lastingimpression on you?
Being outgoing is a huge piece,right?
We're trying to do somethinghere together, and being quiet
and reserved is hard, we need tobe approachable and outgoing
and.
Be prepared, know about EmbryRiddle, know about myself, the
(02:42):
staff, the player, it's reallyeasy to find information.
I don't need you to read my bio,as far as like spit it back to
me, but it's good to be engaged.
Having that engagement rightaway is super helpful.
Absolutely.
Tell me how you feel about this.
I remember early on as a coachand I, you know, I was a young
coach like you when I startedand I remember recruiting a kid
(03:06):
and I was about to hang up thephone with them after our first
call and they said, talk to yousoon, Matt.
And I don't know why thatdeflated me and.
Got to my nerves, but I grew upwhere we called every coach,
coach.
Mm-hmm.
You know, we gave them thatrespect.
When that young man called me bymy first name, I, it, it did
(03:31):
something to me and I don't knowwhy.
I don't know it was'cause of myage or, or what, how do you feel
about that when, when a kid, Idon't know if you've ever had
that happen.
Do kids call you by your firstname?
Do they call you coach?
What do you prefer?
So I am coach.
When I first started at 26 hereat Amber Riddle, it was very
(03:53):
strange, when you first startcoaching'cause I'm your age.
That's right.
Right?
Yeah.
When I was at San Jose State,when I was at St.
Mary's, I was a year or twoolder than them.
And so it was a little bitstrange to be like coach.
Yeah.
Um.
But I think it's very much asign of respect and it's a great
way to, you know, be able tojust have, build that
(04:16):
connection.
You know?
Yes, I am Jocelyn.
Um, but to you, I am coach andyou know, when you grow up and
leave here, I have a, I had aformer player call me Jocelyn
the other day.
I was like, that was weird.
I heard it outta her mouth.
Right.
Yeah.
I think it's just a sign ofrespect and I think it's, it's a
great way to show that, youknow?
(04:37):
Yeah, yeah.
I do too.
I, and, and I, maybe it's oldschool thinking'cause there's so
many coaches, you know, I, my,when my daughter stayed, started
playing club volleyball, I said.
You're gonna, it was a malecoach.
I said, yes, coach.
Yes sir.
That's, that's what you do.
And it wasn't 20 minutes intopractice, her first practice as
a 12-year-old, he goes, stop it.
(04:59):
Stop calling me coach.
Stop calling me sir.
Stop saying yes coach.
No coach.
You know, this is my name.
I don't need all the other junk.
And I was like, wow.
It just kind of walked me back.
'cause.
I wanted my daughter to respecthim, and he Right, he went the
other way.
And, and that's fair to pointout if that's what he wanted.
Yeah.
I think it's always, um, it'snot fair so much like we get to
(05:24):
be called Coach, so they need tolearn one name when we've gotta
learn all these things.
I'm like, you guys have it easy.
Just use it.
Like, this is your one easything in life.
Like, take advantage of it, youknow, because we've gotta learn
everybody's name.
Yeah.
That, that's why I, I just tellmy players, you know, don't take
it the wrong way.
If I call you Fred or George,I'm still figuring it out, but
(05:46):
I'll learn your real name.
But you, you might be Fred orGeorge for the first, first week
or two.
Yeah.
Right.
Especially when you got, youknow, you're a high school
coach, you got 60 kids in thegym and Yeah.
Trying to learn 60 differentkids' names.
Um, I love talking about theboard.
Talk to me about your recruitingboard.
How, how far, how, where do youstart your recruitment?
(06:09):
How early are you looking atkids?
How early will a kid get onyour, your metaphorical board or
your real recruiting board?
Right, so for us at the levelwe're playing at division two,
kind of elite, division two,we're definitely, um, two years
out.
Um, maybe a little bit furtherdepending on.
(06:32):
What's around, right?
Like we know a lot more Orlandoteams and players because we see
them at a younger age, you know,whether we're working camps or
whatnot.
Right.
Uh, but yeah, I think it's, it'salways the goal to be ahead of
the game as much as you can.
(06:52):
Like, we don't wanna wait toolong'cause we're gonna lose
players and we don't wanna gotoo early because we've gotta
see are they a fit for us or arethey going division one, you
know?
So that's kind of always thegame.
Um.
But for us currently, like it's,it's summer of 25, we're
(07:13):
definitely identifying 20sevens.
We have our board, um, and we'velooked at some 20 eights.
So definitely kind of that twoyears.
Yeah.
Is, are you paying attention tohigh school and club?
Are, are you, do you weigh oneover the other?
Do you like kids that play both?
Are you okay with that kid thatplays volleyball in the fall,
(07:35):
basketball in the winter,softball in the, in the spring?
Where are you at with that interms of how you're identifying
kids?
So for us in recruiting, a lotis done through the club system.
Um, I love the multi-sportathlete.
I think that's a huge benefit tolife in general.
(07:56):
Um, I'm urging my, my ownchildren to stay in multiple
sports, right?
Um, you learn a lot of differentthings with different coaches,
different body functions,different, you know, um, levels
that you have to get to.
Uh, but yeah, we would.
Definitely identify high schoolor club.
We watch a little bit of highschool.
(08:18):
Honestly, it's really hardwithin, and I am sure other
college coaches have said thiswhen we are in season and
they're in season Sure.
Our schedules don't so muchalign.
Right, right.
Um, and so yeah, a lot of theclub.
And if you don't play club, youknow, being able to get yourself
out there, you know, coming,going to camps and being able to
(08:42):
do the work, it can still bedone.
Yeah.
If you don't play club, uh, butyou've, and we're gonna talk
about this a lot, I'm sure.
You gotta do the work you do.
Right.
Yeah.
Coaches can't find 50,000 kids,right?
We can't find what we don't haveaccess to.
You're, you're gonna be lucky ifyou can watch three, 400 kids
(09:03):
play this year, you know?
Yeah.
You wanna see as many talentedkids as you can, and that means
they have to do the work to youas well.
Um.
Going back to your board alittle bit.
Um, I have families every day itseems like, will say, Matt, you
know, college coaches don'tstart recruiting till our junior
(09:25):
year.
Why do we have to do anythingbefore that?
What do you say to that familywho's waiting till their kids
turning 16, 17 and then they'restarting their recruitment?
Are there things they're losingthat.
That that you, you wish theywould think about a little bit
before that?
Yeah.
(09:45):
I think the biggest part of thatis the progression.
Right?
If we look at a young lady whois, you know, 14, 15, what are
they doing when they're 15, 16?
What are they doing when they're16, 17?
Seeing the progression.
(10:05):
Is exciting because okay, thisyoung lady is really invested in
the time that she's working ather craft.
Right, right.
Um, you know what?
Growth spurt or muscledevelopment or just the light
bulb finally went off.
Right.
Right.
Being able to see thatprogression weighs a lot,
especially for us and othercoaches who are looking at the
(10:29):
16-year-old.
We wanna, we, we have probablyseen you at 15.
Now we wanna see you at 16.
You know, so it's not just theone and done.
Yeah.
It's the longevity of the, theprocess, that progression of
growth.
Yeah.
I saw you play last year.
I was really hoping I'd see aprogression of you playing
faster and, and, and being moreexplosive and, uh, putting some
(10:54):
muscle on whatever that may be.
And if you don't see that, isthat a red flag?
Like, what do you waste?
What are you doing?
You know, wasting your time.
Um, you know, but when it comesout as a positive, it's great to
see and it's great to work with.
Like we, I had a conversation,I'm in Oregon last summer.
(11:15):
We have a girl who's like, justdying to come here.
You need to spend this summerweightlifting.
I don't care if you playvolleyball, whatever.
You need to jump higher and hitthe ball harder.
She li like was foaming at themouth like, I got you.
I got you.
We've committed her and she'samazing.
That's correct.
In one year she did it and shewas like, that's what you want
(11:37):
outta me.
I'll go do it.
And that's, and that's what Ipreach to parents is when you
can get a Jocelyn Gallup to tellyour daughter at 14 or 15, Hey,
this is what you're doing reallywell.
Mm-hmm.
But to play at this level, thisis what you've gotta do.
And I wanna see you do this overthe next year.
(11:58):
There's no better person to getthat advice from.
There's no better person tomotivate you.
And if you can't be motivatedand take that advice, you,
you're gonna struggle to play incollege.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, isn't that, that's whatyou wanna hear and that's it's,
you can accept that toughconversation, that tough love.
You know, we call loving.
I'm loving on you.
Tough right now is what we say.
(12:19):
Yeah.
Like I'm loving on you.
Tough.
I've gotta tell you some thingsthat you may not love.
Yeah.
I'm a little love you.
Tough right now.
I'm gonna tell you what we needto see and let's do it.
You know, and I say, let's do itbecause I'm here to help you do
it.
You know, or I'm here to guideyou to do it, you know?
Um, but that's what parentsaccept or like, be, um,
(12:42):
receptive to it.
Kind of grab it, give it a bighug, and like, it's okay.
We can, we can do these hardthings, you know?
I don't want you to get anothera hundred emails and another a
hundred phone calls this week.
Um, and I apologize if thathappens.
That's on me.
Um, you can yell at me.
How do you feel about when a kidreaches out to you and says,
(13:02):
coach, I'm really excited aboutEmory Riddle.
Would you, would you guys take acouple minutes and watch my film
and gimme some feedback?
I, I wanna know if I can playfor your level.
How do you guys feel about that?
How do you react to that?
I think that's the perfect wayto say it.
I think, if you don't mind,like, I'm really interested and
tell me why you're interested inEmber Riddle.
(13:24):
I wanna go to Embry Riddle andbecome an art and design major.
Not, not here, like, it's notgonna happen, right?
But like, I'm really excitedabout this and this at the
school.
You know, I've, I've gone backand watched some of your video.
This is what I don't know ifpeople know like all of our
matches are archived on ourwebsite.
Like, go, can you play here?
(13:46):
You know, do you, do you, are wegood enough or are we too good?
You know, or whatever.
Um, and do a little bit of thehomework, but tell me that
you're excited to be here for areason, and then give me some
feedback.
And when we give you feedbacklike.
Again, take it in, hug it, loveon it a little bit.
(14:09):
Right.
And accept it because it may notbe, oh, you're great.
We'll, love to have you likethose.
That's not gonna happen everytime, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
I, I tell kids there's threevictories when you reach out to
a coach asking for that.
The first victory is theyactually give you feed.
You got a college coach to tellyou what they think of your game
(14:29):
and give you some feedback aboutyour growth, right?
The second thing is they likeyou, they wanna follow you.
They wanna keep in touch withyou, they wanna see more.
That's a victory.
And the third thing is when theysay, yeah, you're probably not a
good fit for us.
You know, you probably can playbigger, play smaller, but right
now, you know, our roster'sfull.
I go, that's a victory too,because now.
(14:50):
Your energy, your time, yourmental capacity can go to
another school, right?
That coach was honest with youthat this isn't a good fit.
So I love that response thatyou're open to, that you want to
give feedback and the key is,show me what you're gonna do
with the feedback, right?
Mm-hmm.
For sure.
Yeah.
It's that action, like take theaction, right?
Yeah.
So again, holler at me in twoweeks.
(15:12):
If you start getting a hundredmore phone calls and emails, I
apologize.
That's on me.
Um.
But I, I, I just don't thinkfamilies, and especially that
shy 16, 17-year-old, they feellike they're burdening you and
they don't understand that ifyou can really play, you've
just, you've just put a gift onthat coach's.
In their hands saying, I didn'thave to find you.
(15:34):
I didn't have to hunt you down.
I didn't have to convince you tolook at Emory Riddle.
You did 80% of the job for me.
So yeah, for three minutes we'lllook at your film and give you
some feedback.
Right, right.
Yes, yes.
Definitely.
If I never have to run a camp,but I never have to go to a club
tournament and all these kids,these great kids just come to
me, life, life would be a loteasier.
(15:55):
Right.
Yeah, that would be great.
Just all those six, four middleslining up at your door.
I That would be cool.
I'll work on that for you.
Um, how do you weigh, and thisis a little deeper conversation
question here for you.
How do you weigh a player'sphysical skills in comparison to
their mental, emotionalmaturity?
(16:16):
Are the things you're lookingfor that get you excited or
maybe are red flags from thephysical to the emotional?
You know, um, we talk about itas emotional intelligence.
And just being able to be awareof yourself and how your, where
you are with your thoughts andwhere you are with your
(16:36):
accepting the feedback and thatkind of stuff.
Um, you know, I think it's,it's, it's a two part.
I think it's, it's one that, youknow, we can coach and work.
Really well with someone who isreceptive and coachable and that
may weigh a little bit over, youknow, some of the athleticism,
(16:59):
the skill part, right?
Because you can say, yes ma'am,yes sir.
Or, okay coach, I got you.
And go try to do it.
That's awesome.
That goes a long ways, right?
Yeah.
Um, you can touch nine, sixdoing that.
Cool.
We're gonna get you to nineeight though, like, because
(17:20):
we're gonna push you, right?
That's right.
But if you just have thephysical and the unwilling to
keep getting better and keeplike re being receptive and you
know, being able to be withinyour emotional control, then
that to me is like going, um,this girl's either hot or cold.
(17:41):
We don't want hot or coldbecause you're not gonna be hot
every night.
That's right.
Right.
We'll take kind of that average,that lukewarm, that finding your
average and be right thereconsistently.
That's right.
It's like athleticism kind ofoutweighs skill.
Emotional, intelligent, kind ofoutweighs skill because we can
work with this person anddevelop them and help them grow
(18:04):
where this person's like, Hmm,well I've got it already.
That's right.
You know?
Yeah.
And so that kind of is wherethat answer is., I love the
conversation we had about thatyoung lady where you talked
about we can't save everybody.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Are there things, let me, let merephrase this.
Have there been players in thepast that you've recruited and
(18:25):
had in your program?
You don't have to name any namesor anything like that, but are
there things that have changedwhat you're looking for when
you're at an AAU tournament,you're at a high school match
and you're watching kids play,are there things that have been
affected by your past thatyou're like, I know what I don't
want.
I know if I see that again, I'mnot gonna recruit it.
(18:46):
Absolutely.
And a lot of them aren't, evenwhen they're on the volleyball
court.
Okay.
It's in the huddle.
It's how they're talking totheir parents or their
grandparents on the sideline.
Are they ready for their nextmatch or are they going, mom,
bring me my water.
Go get your own water.
Like I know, drives me crazy.
(19:08):
It's your volleyball game thatyou're being played, you're
playing in, right?
Like all of those intangiblethings are like going, well, I'm
not gonna get your water.
For you.
So like, can we have thatemotional intelligence?
Like we gotta grow up and wegotta mature, you know?
Yeah.
Um, in those things, um, as a,as on the court, you know, are
(19:32):
you, how are you doing?
And this is something I'llcollege coaches say.
What's your response when youfail?
What's your response when youhit a ball out?
What's your response when theset is awful.
That's right.
Right?
Because it happens.
We're all human.
You know, are you attacking yourteammate?
Are you going, Hey man, I, I gotyou, or, get me the next one.
(19:53):
You know, those aren't, that hasnothing to do with the ball.
It has everything to do with theperson.
Yeah.
I love it.
I want to just run through thepositions really quick with you
and, and kind of get your, asentence or two on each position
that you're looking for.
Talk to me about what gets youexcited about a pin hitter.
What do you want to see your pinhitters do?
(20:15):
If you're gonna say, Hey, comevisit, we, we take risks.
Tell me what that looks like.
What does a, what does a risklook like?
Don't tip on game point.
Hard.
What the heck?
Might as well try it.
You know?
That's right.
Um, if we're gonna go down,let's go down, swing it, go big.
(20:37):
Like let's go big, like take therisk.
Um, you know, there's, there's atime and place for things like,
let's, and our mentality islike, go like aggressive,
aggressive, aggressive.
And if you don't see that, it'stime to back off.
We'll help you.
Back off, but you have the greenlight until told otherwise.
(21:00):
Does that come from analytics orjust from your history or just
how you wanna play?
I would say all of it.
Okay.
You know, you don't win verymany games when you tip on Game
point.
That's right.
That's a stat out there.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
You know, and we want, I thinkaggressive play and the backing
(21:22):
from the coaching staff givesthese girls confidence and
that's all we want them to have.
Like, go for it, girl.
Like, yes.
And when if we don't make ithappen.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's not a life and deathsituation guys.
You know.
Yeah.
But so I would say every, all ofit, and that's just as a, as a
competitor, that's what I want.
(21:43):
Like, let's, let's go hard.
That's right.
That's right.
And if you're not doing it inpractice, you're not gonna,
you're not gonna be ready to doit in the games, for sure.
Right.
Yeah.
How about, how about yourmiddles?
What do you love seeing in yourmiddles that get you giggly
inside?
I love middles.
I played middle.
So middles at Embry Riddle havea tough, tough job, I gotta tell
you that.
(22:03):
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, like let's have a blockingmindset.
It's all about shutting down theother team again, that
aggressive side and get setballs.
I've talked to middlesrecruiting, and it's like, it's
one of the hardest positions torecruit, I believe, because
they're not getting set enough.
(22:24):
That's right.
And there's ways to communicateto your setter like, Hey, I'm
here.
Set me the ball.
You know, without being like,how does it, how does it really
sound when you're at San JoseState in the nineties?
Just like that.
Just like that, I promise.
Just like that.
I promise I was such a goodhuman.
I was like, hey.
Can you set me, that's, can Ihave the number to your setter
(22:45):
when you played at San JoseState?
No, you can't have her name.
Um, but, you know, be, be like aperson there.
Don't just run around in circlesand work your tail off and get
no reward.
Right.
Um, but you have to sometimesask for it, demand it, like
request, like, Hey, I'm here.
(23:06):
You know?
'cause it, it's an easy place tojust become this blocker.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm a basketball coach, so knockme on my tail here if I, if I
don't understand this, but Iwatch so much fricking club
volleyball.
It makes my eyes bleed.
Um, it drives me crazy when themiddle and the setter or the
(23:26):
outside, when they're blockingor a foot apart, there's no
unity.
They're not making that bigwall.
Does the coaching affect.
How you recruit when you seethey haven't been taught some
really basic principles that youknow they've gotta have to
succeed at your level.
(23:48):
Patience to lead to success.
Right.
I'll go back to that.
Okay.
So I see, I hear the words, butI see the facial expressions.
Tell me something else.
Blocking is so hard.
Yes.
Okay.
Um, reading the other team andwhat they're doing is so hard.
Yes.
(24:09):
What you come to Emory Riddlewith will not be how you leave
here.
Correct.
And I will not say anything badabout where you're coming from,
but you need to practice itmore.
Right.
Like, um, so patience.
Success will come with patienceand repetition until we can't
(24:32):
jump anymore.
Yes.
But does it affect your abilityto recruit a kid if you see
they're being coached in a waythat's so, especially if maybe
you've seen them two or threetimes mm-hmm.
Over the course of multipletournaments and you're like,
this isn't being taught.
'cause it never gets any better.
For sure.
Is it the kid, is it the coach?
Do you have those questionswhere you're like, okay, are
(24:53):
they being taught the right wayand they're just not doing it,
or Right.
How, how does that affect you?
So, and yeah, it does.
And there, there may be a passat some point, right?
So we, in our defensive system,we swing block, and if you've
never learned how to swingblock, you've never read the
game as a swing blocker, okay?
(25:15):
And if you're not doing it thisway, you can learn it after a
long, long time.
Patience.
Right.
Um, but at some point we maypass because you're not getting
high enough, you're not fastenough.
Like you're, the game speed maytake you out.
(25:36):
Right.
Right.
Because if it's clearlyhappening over and over and
over, maybe the speed of thegame is the pace of the game.
Like where we're gonna play isnot, you're not able to adapt to
that.
Love it.
Alright, I'm gonna save settersfor last.
Okay.
Talk to me about DS LiRo.
(25:56):
What, what do you want to see?
What do, what gets you excitedwhen you see a kid do this?
That can, they can pull thisoff, or they're already doing
this at this pace.
You know, our job descriptionfor our liberos is quite simple.
Serve, receive, dig, and set thesecond ball.
(26:22):
That's all.
Yeah.
How easy.
It's so easy.
It's, to me, it's the toughestposition there is.
Right?
But take the risk on, you know,it, be the leader in the back
row.
Take the ball as a passer, makea good pass.
You know, dig balls.
You gotta read the game.
You know, you have to sacrificeto get the tip.
We're not playing tip defense,we're reading it, and we're
(26:45):
laying out and putting our bodyon the line.
And then take the risk on theset.
Like put the girl at one footoff, you know, not 10.
Like we're, we're keeping theball in at 10.
Yeah.
Right.
And our hitter's mentality is,go hard, coach, show me.
Go hard.
Go hard, go hard.
That's right.
I can't go hard on 10 feet offthe net.
(27:06):
That's right.
So it's just taking the littlebit of risk when you're setting.
Um, but really, I, I love theLibero position.
I think it's such a.
It's such a feisty littlescrappy, you know, it's like
that person that just doesn'thave anything but just selfless,
like, I'm just a giver.
'cause they're not scoring anypoints.
(27:27):
That's right.
They're helping the team scorepoints and so they're just
giving and giving and giving.
I, I don't know if this isbecause I was a point guard in
basketball, but I love.
I love a great labo that canmake that beautiful pass outta
system.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, shape it and, andput it on the right, put it on
(27:48):
the left and you know, you canjust see that it's like the pin
hitter.
It's just like, oh my, theheaven's opened up'cause it was
perfect.
Right, right.
Does that get you excited whenyou see that, that vision and
that ability to place that blindplacement, does that help you?
I mean, it's, it's a huge partof our system and it's a huge
piece of, you know, where we'replaying the game.
(28:11):
You know, as far as we'replaying this game in transition,
in rally a whole bunch, youknow, different than the men's
game.
Men's game is served past thatkill, right?
Women's game, serve, past set,rally, rally, dig, rally.
Oh, back and forth and back andforth, and doing it.
Over and over and over.
(28:32):
Repeatedly.
Good.
Right.
Repeatedly Great.
Is putting us at a differentlevel.
Yeah.
I love it.
Okay.
Give me the setters, becauseyou've had a long relationship
with setters as a middle.
I have.
What, what do you, what do youlove about setters?
I love our current setters, bythe way.
(28:54):
Good.
All three of them are amazing.
Um.
And they're all very different.
Uh, but I, I want the person whocan be tough, you know, they're
kind of like the dog.
They're the ones that's outthere, like, you know, in sports
we talk about we need a dog, weneed someone that just is level
headed, keeps their cool, youknow, but directs traffic, you
(29:18):
know, bosses, people around inthe appropriate way and just,
just so relentless.
They have to be able to havevery thick skin and a very fast
let go.
Right.
We have to be able to take itbecause hitters are like, that
was off the net.
That was too tight.
(29:38):
That was too far outside.
We'll be a better hitter.
Yeah.
Right.
That's what I would say if I wasa setter.
So I shouldn't be a, um, like,don't lemme do that.
Um, but you're getting, you'regetting critiqued every single
touch.
Right.
You've gotta be able to take itand let it go next fall.
(29:59):
Okay.
Whatever you said, I don't evenhear what you said, and I'll get
you the next one.
You know?
Yeah.
Um, but they're, they're theheart and soul.
They're our quarterback.
I mean, all these things weknow, like they're just the
people that really get us going.
If a kid has all those toughnessqualities, but is quiet and
(30:20):
isn't a great vocalcommunicator, great leader.
Does everything really well, canthey play for you if the, the
vocality isn't there?
Yeah.
I wouldn't say that our settersare over the top personality
wise as far as like, you know,the outspoken and this, um, but
(30:40):
they're reliable.
Yeah.
You know, I know what I'mgetting.
At each one of our set.
I know every single day I'mgetting this outta Ashlyn.
And if she's not quite there yetbecause something's going on, or
her day or her test or whatever,we can have a real quick
conversation like, Hey girl, Ineed you.
Like we need you.
Like, are you ready to do this?
(31:02):
Do you need a minute?
Take a deep breath.
Like, let's get back on track.
And they're just tough, youknow?
They don't have to be the, the,you know.
In the box.
Right.
They gotta be the steady Eddie.
You know?
They gotta be the one that weknow what's gonna come outta
them.
Right.
I love that too.
Yeah.
Last two questions.
(31:24):
I am 16 years old.
I want to be a pilot, I want tobe an engineer.
I'd love to play for you.
What advice would you give me tostart that journey?
Uh, email, reach out.
Have your stuff together on youremail.
Know about us.
Know what you want, tell me whatyou want.
(31:45):
You know, this is all aboutliving out the dream, right?
We grow up as young studentathletes and we have this dream,
like, I wanna be this person.
Tell me about it.
And if it works out, I wannahelp you get there.
Right?
Yeah.
And, um, and share video.
(32:07):
Don't just share the great videoshare, give you everything
video, like share some stuffwhere you fail.
Yeah.
Share some stuff where yousucceed, right?
Yeah.
And if those two things catchus, those three things catch us,
we're gonna come see you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I always tell kids I lovewatching film and I'm already
thinking about how I'm gonnacoach you for the next four
(32:27):
years.
Right.
That, that gets me excited aboutrecruiting you.
When I already see, gosh, Icould turn this lump of.
Into something beautiful.
You know, there's, there's,there's something there to work
with.
You know, there's somethingthere, you know?
Yeah.
And we all see it and we all seeit differently and we, you know,
what I have in my head and whatmy assistant coach has in his,
(32:49):
like, we just kind of put it alltogether and it, yeah, it's very
exciting.
Recruiting's fun.
All right.
I'm gonna put you in a gym.
It's a pretty good size gym, butevery club volleyball parent in
the country is gonna be in thisgym.
What advice do you give them?
And it doesn't have to bevolleyball advice, it doesn't
even have to be recruitingadvice, but what advice do you
(33:11):
give them about this journeythat they're on?
'cause their daughter wants toplay and they've been told they
gotta play club and gotta gothrough this$5,000 a year
journey.
That really is$10,000 a yearjourney.
Mm-hmm.
What do we tell these parents?
What do you, what do they needto know outside of relax?
(33:32):
Relax.
Um, I would say like, just enjoyit.
I know that's really cliche,right?
Um, I would say support withoutpressure.
Okay.
Um, talking to recruits now inthe 27 class, for example,
(33:52):
there, you know, June 15thhappened and there's all these
commitments.
Okay.
Um, be patient like it's, it'sokay, right?
Like just without the pressure.
Like be supportive, you know,and, you know, just be positive
with the whole experience.
(34:13):
Win or lose referees, you know,he tightness in the facility, we
can complain about a lot ofthings.
Can I still complain about a$17acai bowl?
Yeah, I know, man.
And a$90 sweatshirt, can I stillcomplain about that?
You can, but do it in your car.
(34:34):
Don't do it in the gym, right?
Um, no.
I, I do love recruiting and Ilove going to the big gyms and
seeing and listening to parents.
Yeah.
That's entertainment.
If you want just to beentertained for a day, do that.
Um, but yeah, just supportwithout pressure is a big thing.
(34:54):
You know, whether yourdaughter's starting or not
starting the coach, trust thecoach.
The coach has a reason.
The coach has a why, right?
Yeah.
It's not, it's not a bad thingif your coach sits the bench, my
son sits the bench inbasketball, like, it's okay.
Get better, like, you know, um,but just the support without the
(35:15):
pressure.
I think everything has so muchpressure on it these days that,
you know, our young studentathletes don't eat it because
burnout's a real thing.
And that's what I hate is whenpeople stop doing something
'cause they fell outta love withit.
I mean, I've been doing this for20 years here and it's the same
love I had on day one.
(35:37):
Can you and I put a commissiontogether to at least shorten the
club season?
Can, can we, can we work onthat?
I don't understand why it startsin January.
I'm not quite sure about that.
Yeah, I don't know why there hasto be club tournaments every
weekend.
Yeah.
Dunno about that.
I don't either.
Um, and going back to having twoboys, I'm so glad I didn't have
(35:59):
a girl.
'cause I don't have to have agirl in club volleyball.
I go to the club tournaments,but I don't have to watch my own
kid and be there for all that.
I think if, I think if you havea girl now that I've gotten to
know you, I think that beautifulbrown hair of yours would be
bright white if you had adaughter going through this
journey.
Hey, it's turning.
I got, I got evidence righthere.
I that's why I wear my hat'causeI have to cover it now because
(36:20):
hide, that's no white.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But no, I, I think that, youknow, so yeah, just.
Keep doing it.
There's a place, there's a placefor everybody.
You just gotta do the work.
Great advice.
Yeah.
Coach, you've given me more timethan I deserve.
It was.
As fun of a conversation, if notmore than I expected.
(36:41):
You're so great.
You are a hidden gem at auniversity that's a hidden gem.
I know it's not so much inFlorida in that league that
you're in'cause you guys kick alot of butt down there.
But I'm just so happy that allthe families across the country
now have a better idea of whatEmory Real is.
They know how great of a coachyou are and how great of a
(37:02):
person you are.
So.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
Thank you for the invite.
And that's a wrap for today'sepisode of Significant
Recruiting with Coach JocelynGallup.
Her straight shooter approach,love for competition and belief
in developing the whole athleteis exactly why her Emry Riddle
program continues to stand out.
Don't forget, part one of ourconversation was all about our
(37:24):
coaching journey on theSignificant Coaching podcast.
So if you miss that, go back andgive it a listen and be sure to
subscribe to my free weeklynewsletter@coachmattrogers.com.
You'll get my latest blogs,podcast episodes, and recruiting
tips right in your inbox.
Thanks for listening, and we'llsee you next time here on
Significant Coaching.
(37:44):
Okay.
just the support without thepressure.
I think everything has so muchpressure on it these days that,
our young student athletes don'teat it because burnout's a real
thing.
And that's what I hate is whenpeople stop doing something
'cause they fell outta love withit.
I mean, I've been doing this for20 years here and it's the same
love I had on day one.
(00:30):
Buckle up because today we'recleared for takeoff here on
significant recruiting.
That short clip was from myguest, Jocelyn Gallup, the head
volleyball coach talking abouther school, Emory Riddle
Aeronautical University, a placethe world knows for pilots in
aerospace, but as you'll hear,it's also home to one of the
most competitive volleyballprograms in NCAA division two.
(00:52):
For 20 years, Jocelyn has ledher team and what many believe
is the toughest volleyballconference in the country.
The Sunshine State Conference,where every match feels like a
high altitude dog fight.
Her program soars on a straightshooter approach, a love for
intense competition.
And yes, a little well placedtrash talk as a former division
(01:14):
one standout at San Jose Stateshe knows exactly what the best
looks like, and she isn't afraidto push her players to reach
cruising altitude and then finda little extra thrust to climb
even higher.
Okay, enough of the flightmetaphors.
Today we're talking aboutrecruiting at Emory Riddle, what
she looks for in studentathletes, and why this
(01:36):
university is far more than atraining ground for pilots and
engineers.
If you wanna learn more aboutme, my books, or how I help
families navigate the recruitingjourney, visit coach matt
rogers.com and don't forget tosubscribe to my free weekly
newsletter.
Now let's get airborne withCoach Jocelyn Gallup.
(01:56):
Coach, welcome back.
I want to dive into recruiting.
This has become my world.
I love talking about recruiting.
I love hearing how coachesrecruit.
I work so hard to get kids tothink about how they're
perceived and the impressionthat they're, giving out when,
even when they.
Don't think anybody's watching.
Mm-hmm.
Is there one thing a recruit cando when they're visiting you or
(02:18):
you're visiting them in thatfirst 10 seconds of the meeting
that really leaves a lastingimpression on you?
Being outgoing is a huge piece,right?
We're trying to do somethinghere together, and being quiet
and reserved is hard, we need tobe approachable and outgoing
and.
Be prepared, know about EmbryRiddle, know about myself, the
(02:42):
staff, the player, it's reallyeasy to find information.
I don't need you to read my bio,as far as like spit it back to
me, but it's good to be engaged.
Having that engagement rightaway is super helpful.
Absolutely.
Tell me how you feel about this.
I remember early on as a coachand I, you know, I was a young
coach like you when I startedand I remember recruiting a kid
(03:06):
and I was about to hang up thephone with them after our first
call and they said, talk to yousoon, Matt.
And I don't know why thatdeflated me and.
Got to my nerves, but I grew upwhere we called every coach,
coach.
Mm-hmm.
You know, we gave them thatrespect.
When that young man called me bymy first name, I, it, it did
(03:31):
something to me and I don't knowwhy.
I don't know it was'cause of myage or, or what, how do you feel
about that when, when a kid, Idon't know if you've ever had
that happen.
Do kids call you by your firstname?
Do they call you coach?
What do you prefer?
So I am coach.
When I first started at 26 hereat Amber Riddle, it was very
(03:53):
strange, when you first startcoaching'cause I'm your age.
That's right.
Right?
Yeah.
When I was at San Jose State,when I was at St.
Mary's, I was a year or twoolder than them.
And so it was a little bitstrange to be like coach.
Yeah.
Um.
But I think it's very much asign of respect and it's a great
way to, you know, be able tojust have, build that
(04:16):
connection.
You know?
Yes, I am Jocelyn.
Um, but to you, I am coach andyou know, when you grow up and
leave here, I have a, I had aformer player call me Jocelyn
the other day.
I was like, that was weird.
I heard it outta her mouth.
Right.
Yeah.
I think it's just a sign ofrespect and I think it's, it's a
great way to show that, youknow?
(04:37):
Yeah, yeah.
I do too.
I, and, and I, maybe it's oldschool thinking'cause there's so
many coaches, you know, I, my,when my daughter stayed, started
playing club volleyball, I said.
You're gonna, it was a malecoach.
I said, yes, coach.
Yes sir.
That's, that's what you do.
And it wasn't 20 minutes intopractice, her first practice as
a 12-year-old, he goes, stop it.
(04:59):
Stop calling me coach.
Stop calling me sir.
Stop saying yes coach.
No coach.
You know, this is my name.
I don't need all the other junk.
And I was like, wow.
It just kind of walked me back.
'cause.
I wanted my daughter to respecthim, and he Right, he went the
other way.
And, and that's fair to pointout if that's what he wanted.
Yeah.
I think it's always, um, it'snot fair so much like we get to
(05:24):
be called Coach, so they need tolearn one name when we've gotta
learn all these things.
I'm like, you guys have it easy.
Just use it.
Like, this is your one easything in life.
Like, take advantage of it, youknow, because we've gotta learn
everybody's name.
Yeah.
That, that's why I, I just tellmy players, you know, don't take
it the wrong way.
If I call you Fred or George,I'm still figuring it out, but
(05:46):
I'll learn your real name.
But you, you might be Fred orGeorge for the first, first week
or two.
Yeah.
Right.
Especially when you got, youknow, you're a high school
coach, you got 60 kids in thegym and Yeah.
Trying to learn 60 differentkids' names.
Um, I love talking about theboard.
Talk to me about your recruitingboard.
How, how far, how, where do youstart your recruitment?
(06:09):
How early are you looking atkids?
How early will a kid get onyour, your metaphorical board or
your real recruiting board?
Right, so for us at the levelwe're playing at division two,
kind of elite, division two,we're definitely, um, two years
out.
Um, maybe a little bit furtherdepending on.
(06:32):
What's around, right?
Like we know a lot more Orlandoteams and players because we see
them at a younger age, you know,whether we're working camps or
whatnot.
Right.
Uh, but yeah, I think it's, it'salways the goal to be ahead of
the game as much as you can.
(06:52):
Like, we don't wanna wait toolong'cause we're gonna lose
players and we don't wanna gotoo early because we've gotta
see are they a fit for us or arethey going division one, you
know?
So that's kind of always thegame.
Um.
But for us currently, like it's,it's summer of 25, we're
(07:13):
definitely identifying 20sevens.
We have our board, um, and we'velooked at some 20 eights.
So definitely kind of that twoyears.
Yeah.
Is, are you paying attention tohigh school and club?
Are, are you, do you weigh oneover the other?
Do you like kids that play both?
Are you okay with that kid thatplays volleyball in the fall,
(07:35):
basketball in the winter,softball in the, in the spring?
Where are you at with that interms of how you're identifying
kids?
So for us in recruiting, a lotis done through the club system.
Um, I love the multi-sportathlete.
I think that's a huge benefit tolife in general.
(07:56):
Um, I'm urging my, my ownchildren to stay in multiple
sports, right?
Um, you learn a lot of differentthings with different coaches,
different body functions,different, you know, um, levels
that you have to get to.
Uh, but yeah, we would.
Definitely identify high schoolor club.
We watch a little bit of highschool.
(08:18):
Honestly, it's really hardwithin, and I am sure other
college coaches have said thiswhen we are in season and
they're in season Sure.
Our schedules don't so muchalign.
Right, right.
Um, and so yeah, a lot of theclub.
And if you don't play club, youknow, being able to get yourself
out there, you know, coming,going to camps and being able to
(08:42):
do the work, it can still bedone.
Yeah.
If you don't play club, uh, butyou've, and we're gonna talk
about this a lot, I'm sure.
You gotta do the work you do.
Right.
Yeah.
Coaches can't find 50,000 kids,right?
We can't find what we don't haveaccess to.
You're, you're gonna be lucky ifyou can watch three, 400 kids
(09:03):
play this year, you know?
Yeah.
You wanna see as many talentedkids as you can, and that means
they have to do the work to youas well.
Um.
Going back to your board alittle bit.
Um, I have families every day itseems like, will say, Matt, you
know, college coaches don'tstart recruiting till our junior
(09:25):
year.
Why do we have to do anythingbefore that?
What do you say to that familywho's waiting till their kids
turning 16, 17 and then they'restarting their recruitment?
Are there things they're losingthat.
That that you, you wish theywould think about a little bit
before that?
Yeah.
(09:45):
I think the biggest part of thatis the progression.
Right?
If we look at a young lady whois, you know, 14, 15, what are
they doing when they're 15, 16?
What are they doing when they're16, 17?
Seeing the progression.
(10:05):
Is exciting because okay, thisyoung lady is really invested in
the time that she's working ather craft.
Right, right.
Um, you know what?
Growth spurt or muscledevelopment or just the light
bulb finally went off.
Right.
Right.
Being able to see thatprogression weighs a lot,
especially for us and othercoaches who are looking at the
(10:29):
16-year-old.
We wanna, we, we have probablyseen you at 15.
Now we wanna see you at 16.
You know, so it's not just theone and done.
Yeah.
It's the longevity of the, theprocess, that progression of
growth.
Yeah.
I saw you play last year.
I was really hoping I'd see aprogression of you playing
faster and, and, and being moreexplosive and, uh, putting some
(10:54):
muscle on whatever that may be.
And if you don't see that, isthat a red flag?
Like, what do you waste?
What are you doing?
You know, wasting your time.
Um, you know, but when it comesout as a positive, it's great to
see and it's great to work with.
Like we, I had a conversation,I'm in Oregon last summer.
(11:15):
We have a girl who's like, justdying to come here.
You need to spend this summerweightlifting.
I don't care if you playvolleyball, whatever.
You need to jump higher and hitthe ball harder.
She li like was foaming at themouth like, I got you.
I got you.
We've committed her and she'samazing.
That's correct.
In one year she did it and shewas like, that's what you want
(11:37):
outta me.
I'll go do it.
And that's, and that's what Ipreach to parents is when you
can get a Jocelyn Gallup to tellyour daughter at 14 or 15, Hey,
this is what you're doing reallywell.
Mm-hmm.
But to play at this level, thisis what you've gotta do.
And I wanna see you do this overthe next year.
(11:58):
There's no better person to getthat advice from.
There's no better person tomotivate you.
And if you can't be motivatedand take that advice, you,
you're gonna struggle to play incollege.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, isn't that, that's whatyou wanna hear and that's it's,
you can accept that toughconversation, that tough love.
You know, we call loving.
I'm loving on you.
Tough right now is what we say.
(12:19):
Yeah.
Like I'm loving on you.
Tough.
I've gotta tell you some thingsthat you may not love.
Yeah.
I'm a little love you.
Tough right now.
I'm gonna tell you what we needto see and let's do it.
You know, and I say, let's do itbecause I'm here to help you do
it.
You know, or I'm here to guideyou to do it, you know?
Um, but that's what parentsaccept or like, be, um,
(12:42):
receptive to it.
Kind of grab it, give it a bighug, and like, it's okay.
We can, we can do these hardthings, you know?
I don't want you to get anothera hundred emails and another a
hundred phone calls this week.
Um, and I apologize if thathappens.
That's on me.
Um, you can yell at me.
How do you feel about when a kidreaches out to you and says,
(13:02):
coach, I'm really excited aboutEmory Riddle.
Would you, would you guys take acouple minutes and watch my film
and gimme some feedback?
I, I wanna know if I can playfor your level.
How do you guys feel about that?
How do you react to that?
I think that's the perfect wayto say it.
I think, if you don't mind,like, I'm really interested and
tell me why you're interested inEmber Riddle.
(13:24):
I wanna go to Embry Riddle andbecome an art and design major.
Not, not here, like, it's notgonna happen, right?
But like, I'm really excitedabout this and this at the
school.
You know, I've, I've gone backand watched some of your video.
This is what I don't know ifpeople know like all of our
matches are archived on ourwebsite.
Like, go, can you play here?
(13:46):
You know, do you, do you, are wegood enough or are we too good?
You know, or whatever.
Um, and do a little bit of thehomework, but tell me that
you're excited to be here for areason, and then give me some
feedback.
And when we give you feedbacklike.
Again, take it in, hug it, loveon it a little bit.
(14:09):
Right.
And accept it because it may notbe, oh, you're great.
We'll, love to have you likethose.
That's not gonna happen everytime, you know?
Yeah, yeah.
I, I tell kids there's threevictories when you reach out to
a coach asking for that.
The first victory is theyactually give you feed.
You got a college coach to tellyou what they think of your game
(14:29):
and give you some feedback aboutyour growth, right?
The second thing is they likeyou, they wanna follow you.
They wanna keep in touch withyou, they wanna see more.
That's a victory.
And the third thing is when theysay, yeah, you're probably not a
good fit for us.
You know, you probably can playbigger, play smaller, but right
now, you know, our roster'sfull.
I go, that's a victory too,because now.
(14:50):
Your energy, your time, yourmental capacity can go to
another school, right?
That coach was honest with youthat this isn't a good fit.
So I love that response thatyou're open to, that you want to
give feedback and the key is,show me what you're gonna do
with the feedback, right?
Mm-hmm.
For sure.
Yeah.
It's that action, like take theaction, right?
Yeah.
So again, holler at me in twoweeks.
(15:12):
If you start getting a hundredmore phone calls and emails, I
apologize.
That's on me.
Um.
But I, I, I just don't thinkfamilies, and especially that
shy 16, 17-year-old, they feellike they're burdening you and
they don't understand that ifyou can really play, you've
just, you've just put a gift onthat coach's.
In their hands saying, I didn'thave to find you.
(15:34):
I didn't have to hunt you down.
I didn't have to convince you tolook at Emory Riddle.
You did 80% of the job for me.
So yeah, for three minutes we'lllook at your film and give you
some feedback.
Right, right.
Yes, yes.
Definitely.
If I never have to run a camp,but I never have to go to a club
tournament and all these kids,these great kids just come to
me, life, life would be a loteasier.
(15:55):
Right.
Yeah, that would be great.
Just all those six, four middleslining up at your door.
I That would be cool.
I'll work on that for you.
Um, how do you weigh, and thisis a little deeper conversation
question here for you.
How do you weigh a player'sphysical skills in comparison to
their mental, emotionalmaturity?
(16:16):
Are the things you're lookingfor that get you excited or
maybe are red flags from thephysical to the emotional?
You know, um, we talk about itas emotional intelligence.
And just being able to be awareof yourself and how your, where
you are with your thoughts andwhere you are with your
(16:36):
accepting the feedback and thatkind of stuff.
Um, you know, I think it's,it's, it's a two part.
I think it's, it's one that, youknow, we can coach and work.
Really well with someone who isreceptive and coachable and that
may weigh a little bit over, youknow, some of the athleticism,
(16:59):
the skill part, right?
Because you can say, yes ma'am,yes sir.
Or, okay coach, I got you.
And go try to do it.
That's awesome.
That goes a long ways, right?
Yeah.
Um, you can touch nine, sixdoing that.
Cool.
We're gonna get you to nineeight though, like, because
(17:20):
we're gonna push you, right?
That's right.
But if you just have thephysical and the unwilling to
keep getting better and keeplike re being receptive and you
know, being able to be withinyour emotional control, then
that to me is like going, um,this girl's either hot or cold.
(17:41):
We don't want hot or coldbecause you're not gonna be hot
every night.
That's right.
Right.
We'll take kind of that average,that lukewarm, that finding your
average and be right thereconsistently.
That's right.
It's like athleticism kind ofoutweighs skill.
Emotional, intelligent, kind ofoutweighs skill because we can
work with this person anddevelop them and help them grow
(18:04):
where this person's like, Hmm,well I've got it already.
That's right.
You know?
Yeah.
And so that kind of is wherethat answer is., I love the
conversation we had about thatyoung lady where you talked
about we can't save everybody.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Are there things, let me, let merephrase this.
Have there been players in thepast that you've recruited and
(18:25):
had in your program?
You don't have to name any namesor anything like that, but are
there things that have changedwhat you're looking for when
you're at an AAU tournament,you're at a high school match
and you're watching kids play,are there things that have been
affected by your past thatyou're like, I know what I don't
want.
I know if I see that again, I'mnot gonna recruit it.
(18:46):
Absolutely.
And a lot of them aren't, evenwhen they're on the volleyball
court.
Okay.
It's in the huddle.
It's how they're talking totheir parents or their
grandparents on the sideline.
Are they ready for their nextmatch or are they going, mom,
bring me my water.
Go get your own water.
Like I know, drives me crazy.
(19:08):
It's your volleyball game thatyou're being played, you're
playing in, right?
Like all of those intangiblethings are like going, well, I'm
not gonna get your water.
For you.
So like, can we have thatemotional intelligence?
Like we gotta grow up and wegotta mature, you know?
Yeah.
Um, in those things, um, as a,as on the court, you know, are
(19:32):
you, how are you doing?
And this is something I'llcollege coaches say.
What's your response when youfail?
What's your response when youhit a ball out?
What's your response when theset is awful.
That's right.
Right?
Because it happens.
We're all human.
You know, are you attacking yourteammate?
Are you going, Hey man, I, I gotyou, or, get me the next one.
(19:53):
You know, those aren't, that hasnothing to do with the ball.
It has everything to do with theperson.
Yeah.
I love it.
I want to just run through thepositions really quick with you
and, and kind of get your, asentence or two on each position
that you're looking for.
Talk to me about what gets youexcited about a pin hitter.
What do you want to see your pinhitters do?
(20:15):
If you're gonna say, Hey, comevisit, we, we take risks.
Tell me what that looks like.
What does a, what does a risklook like?
Don't tip on game point.
Hard.
What the heck?
Might as well try it.
You know?
That's right.
Um, if we're gonna go down,let's go down, swing it, go big.
(20:37):
Like let's go big, like take therisk.
Um, you know, there's, there's atime and place for things like,
let's, and our mentality islike, go like aggressive,
aggressive, aggressive.
And if you don't see that, it'stime to back off.
We'll help you.
Back off, but you have the greenlight until told otherwise.
(21:00):
Does that come from analytics orjust from your history or just
how you wanna play?
I would say all of it.
Okay.
You know, you don't win verymany games when you tip on Game
point.
That's right.
That's a stat out there.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
You know, and we want, I thinkaggressive play and the backing
(21:22):
from the coaching staff givesthese girls confidence and
that's all we want them to have.
Like, go for it, girl.
Like, yes.
And when if we don't make ithappen.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's not a life and deathsituation guys.
You know.
Yeah.
But so I would say every, all ofit, and that's just as a, as a
competitor, that's what I want.
(21:43):
Like, let's, let's go hard.
That's right.
That's right.
And if you're not doing it inpractice, you're not gonna,
you're not gonna be ready to doit in the games, for sure.
Right.
Yeah.
How about, how about yourmiddles?
What do you love seeing in yourmiddles that get you giggly
inside?
I love middles.
I played middle.
So middles at Embry Riddle havea tough, tough job, I gotta tell
you that.
(22:03):
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, like let's have a blockingmindset.
It's all about shutting down theother team again, that
aggressive side and get setballs.
I've talked to middlesrecruiting, and it's like, it's
one of the hardest positions torecruit, I believe, because
they're not getting set enough.
(22:24):
That's right.
And there's ways to communicateto your setter like, Hey, I'm
here.
Set me the ball.
You know, without being like,how does it, how does it really
sound when you're at San JoseState in the nineties?
Just like that.
Just like that, I promise.
Just like that.
I promise I was such a goodhuman.
I was like, hey.
Can you set me, that's, can Ihave the number to your setter
(22:45):
when you played at San JoseState?
No, you can't have her name.
Um, but, you know, be, be like aperson there.
Don't just run around in circlesand work your tail off and get
no reward.
Right.
Um, but you have to sometimesask for it, demand it, like
request, like, Hey, I'm here.
(23:06):
You know?
'cause it, it's an easy place tojust become this blocker.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm a basketball coach, so knockme on my tail here if I, if I
don't understand this, but Iwatch so much fricking club
volleyball.
It makes my eyes bleed.
Um, it drives me crazy when themiddle and the setter or the
(23:26):
outside, when they're blockingor a foot apart, there's no
unity.
They're not making that bigwall.
Does the coaching affect.
How you recruit when you seethey haven't been taught some
really basic principles that youknow they've gotta have to
succeed at your level.
(23:48):
Patience to lead to success.
Right.
I'll go back to that.
Okay.
So I see, I hear the words, butI see the facial expressions.
Tell me something else.
Blocking is so hard.
Yes.
Okay.
Um, reading the other team andwhat they're doing is so hard.
Yes.
(24:09):
What you come to Emory Riddlewith will not be how you leave
here.
Correct.
And I will not say anything badabout where you're coming from,
but you need to practice itmore.
Right.
Like, um, so patience.
Success will come with patienceand repetition until we can't
(24:32):
jump anymore.
Yes.
But does it affect your abilityto recruit a kid if you see
they're being coached in a waythat's so, especially if maybe
you've seen them two or threetimes mm-hmm.
Over the course of multipletournaments and you're like,
this isn't being taught.
'cause it never gets any better.
For sure.
Is it the kid, is it the coach?
Do you have those questionswhere you're like, okay, are
(24:53):
they being taught the right wayand they're just not doing it,
or Right.
How, how does that affect you?
So, and yeah, it does.
And there, there may be a passat some point, right?
So we, in our defensive system,we swing block, and if you've
never learned how to swingblock, you've never read the
game as a swing blocker, okay?
(25:15):
And if you're not doing it thisway, you can learn it after a
long, long time.
Patience.
Right.
Um, but at some point we maypass because you're not getting
high enough, you're not fastenough.
Like you're, the game speed maytake you out.
(25:36):
Right.
Right.
Because if it's clearlyhappening over and over and
over, maybe the speed of thegame is the pace of the game.
Like where we're gonna play isnot, you're not able to adapt to
that.
Love it.
Alright, I'm gonna save settersfor last.
Okay.
Talk to me about DS LiRo.
(25:56):
What, what do you want to see?
What do, what gets you excitedwhen you see a kid do this?
That can, they can pull thisoff, or they're already doing
this at this pace.
You know, our job descriptionfor our liberos is quite simple.
Serve, receive, dig, and set thesecond ball.
(26:22):
That's all.
Yeah.
How easy.
It's so easy.
It's, to me, it's the toughestposition there is.
Right?
But take the risk on, you know,it, be the leader in the back
row.
Take the ball as a passer, makea good pass.
You know, dig balls.
You gotta read the game.
You know, you have to sacrificeto get the tip.
We're not playing tip defense,we're reading it, and we're
(26:45):
laying out and putting our bodyon the line.
And then take the risk on theset.
Like put the girl at one footoff, you know, not 10.
Like we're, we're keeping theball in at 10.
Yeah.
Right.
And our hitter's mentality is,go hard, coach, show me.
Go hard.
Go hard, go hard.
That's right.
I can't go hard on 10 feet offthe net.
(27:06):
That's right.
So it's just taking the littlebit of risk when you're setting.
Um, but really, I, I love theLibero position.
I think it's such a.
It's such a feisty littlescrappy, you know, it's like
that person that just doesn'thave anything but just selfless,
like, I'm just a giver.
'cause they're not scoring anypoints.
(27:27):
That's right.
They're helping the team scorepoints and so they're just
giving and giving and giving.
I, I don't know if this isbecause I was a point guard in
basketball, but I love.
I love a great labo that canmake that beautiful pass outta
system.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, shape it and, andput it on the right, put it on
(27:48):
the left and you know, you canjust see that it's like the pin
hitter.
It's just like, oh my, theheaven's opened up'cause it was
perfect.
Right, right.
Does that get you excited whenyou see that, that vision and
that ability to place that blindplacement, does that help you?
I mean, it's, it's a huge partof our system and it's a huge
piece of, you know, where we'replaying the game.
(28:11):
You know, as far as we'replaying this game in transition,
in rally a whole bunch, youknow, different than the men's
game.
Men's game is served past thatkill, right?
Women's game, serve, past set,rally, rally, dig, rally.
Oh, back and forth and back andforth, and doing it.
Over and over and over.
(28:32):
Repeatedly.
Good.
Right.
Repeatedly Great.
Is putting us at a differentlevel.
Yeah.
I love it.
Okay.
Give me the setters, becauseyou've had a long relationship
with setters as a middle.
I have.
What, what do you, what do youlove about setters?
I love our current setters, bythe way.
(28:54):
Good.
All three of them are amazing.
Um.
And they're all very different.
Uh, but I, I want the person whocan be tough, you know, they're
kind of like the dog.
They're the ones that's outthere, like, you know, in sports
we talk about we need a dog, weneed someone that just is level
headed, keeps their cool, youknow, but directs traffic, you
(29:18):
know, bosses, people around inthe appropriate way and just,
just so relentless.
They have to be able to havevery thick skin and a very fast
let go.
Right.
We have to be able to take itbecause hitters are like, that
was off the net.
That was too tight.
(29:38):
That was too far outside.
We'll be a better hitter.
Yeah.
Right.
That's what I would say if I wasa setter.
So I shouldn't be a, um, like,don't lemme do that.
Um, but you're getting, you'regetting critiqued every single
touch.
Right.
You've gotta be able to take itand let it go next fall.
(29:59):
Okay.
Whatever you said, I don't evenhear what you said, and I'll get
you the next one.
You know?
Yeah.
Um, but they're, they're theheart and soul.
They're our quarterback.
I mean, all these things weknow, like they're just the
people that really get us going.
If a kid has all those toughnessqualities, but is quiet and
(30:20):
isn't a great vocalcommunicator, great leader.
Does everything really well, canthey play for you if the, the
vocality isn't there?
Yeah.
I wouldn't say that our settersare over the top personality
wise as far as like, you know,the outspoken and this, um, but
(30:40):
they're reliable.
Yeah.
You know, I know what I'mgetting.
At each one of our set.
I know every single day I'mgetting this outta Ashlyn.
And if she's not quite there yetbecause something's going on, or
her day or her test or whatever,we can have a real quick
conversation like, Hey girl, Ineed you.
Like we need you.
Like, are you ready to do this?
(31:02):
Do you need a minute?
Take a deep breath.
Like, let's get back on track.
And they're just tough, youknow?
They don't have to be the, the,you know.
In the box.
Right.
They gotta be the steady Eddie.
You know?
They gotta be the one that weknow what's gonna come outta
them.
Right.
I love that too.
Yeah.
Last two questions.
(31:24):
I am 16 years old.
I want to be a pilot, I want tobe an engineer.
I'd love to play for you.
What advice would you give me tostart that journey?
Uh, email, reach out.
Have your stuff together on youremail.
Know about us.
Know what you want, tell me whatyou want.
(31:45):
You know, this is all aboutliving out the dream, right?
We grow up as young studentathletes and we have this dream,
like, I wanna be this person.
Tell me about it.
And if it works out, I wannahelp you get there.
Right?
Yeah.
And, um, and share video.
(32:07):
Don't just share the great videoshare, give you everything
video, like share some stuffwhere you fail.
Yeah.
Share some stuff where yousucceed, right?
Yeah.
And if those two things catchus, those three things catch us,
we're gonna come see you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I always tell kids I lovewatching film and I'm already
thinking about how I'm gonnacoach you for the next four
(32:27):
years.
Right.
That, that gets me excited aboutrecruiting you.
When I already see, gosh, Icould turn this lump of.
Into something beautiful.
You know, there's, there's,there's something there to work
with.
You know, there's somethingthere, you know?
Yeah.
And we all see it and we all seeit differently and we, you know,
what I have in my head and whatmy assistant coach has in his,
(32:49):
like, we just kind of put it alltogether and it, yeah, it's very
exciting.
Recruiting's fun.
All right.
I'm gonna put you in a gym.
It's a pretty good size gym, butevery club volleyball parent in
the country is gonna be in thisgym.
What advice do you give them?
And it doesn't have to bevolleyball advice, it doesn't
even have to be recruitingadvice, but what advice do you
(33:11):
give them about this journeythat they're on?
'cause their daughter wants toplay and they've been told they
gotta play club and gotta gothrough this$5,000 a year
journey.
That really is$10,000 a yearjourney.
Mm-hmm.
What do we tell these parents?
What do you, what do they needto know outside of relax?
(33:32):
Relax.
Um, I would say like, just enjoyit.
I know that's really cliche,right?
Um, I would say support withoutpressure.
Okay.
Um, talking to recruits now inthe 27 class, for example,
(33:52):
there, you know, June 15thhappened and there's all these
commitments.
Okay.
Um, be patient like it's, it'sokay, right?
Like just without the pressure.
Like be supportive, you know,and, you know, just be positive
with the whole experience.
(34:13):
Win or lose referees, you know,he tightness in the facility, we
can complain about a lot ofthings.
Can I still complain about a$17acai bowl?
Yeah, I know, man.
And a$90 sweatshirt, can I stillcomplain about that?
You can, but do it in your car.
(34:34):
Don't do it in the gym, right?
Um, no.
I, I do love recruiting and Ilove going to the big gyms and
seeing and listening to parents.
Yeah.
That's entertainment.
If you want just to beentertained for a day, do that.
Um, but yeah, just supportwithout pressure is a big thing.
(34:54):
You know, whether yourdaughter's starting or not
starting the coach, trust thecoach.
The coach has a reason.
The coach has a why, right?
Yeah.
It's not, it's not a bad thingif your coach sits the bench, my
son sits the bench inbasketball, like, it's okay.
Get better, like, you know, um,but just the support without the
(35:15):
pressure.
I think everything has so muchpressure on it these days that,
you know, our young studentathletes don't eat it because
burnout's a real thing.
And that's what I hate is whenpeople stop doing something
'cause they fell outta love withit.
I mean, I've been doing this for20 years here and it's the same
love I had on day one.
(35:37):
Can you and I put a commissiontogether to at least shorten the
club season?
Can, can we, can we work onthat?
I don't understand why it startsin January.
I'm not quite sure about that.
Yeah, I don't know why there hasto be club tournaments every
weekend.
Yeah.
Dunno about that.
I don't either.
Um, and going back to having twoboys, I'm so glad I didn't have
(35:59):
a girl.
'cause I don't have to have agirl in club volleyball.
I go to the club tournaments,but I don't have to watch my own
kid and be there for all that.
I think if, I think if you havea girl now that I've gotten to
know you, I think that beautifulbrown hair of yours would be
bright white if you had adaughter going through this
journey.
Hey, it's turning.
I got, I got evidence righthere.
I that's why I wear my hat'causeI have to cover it now because
(36:20):
hide, that's no white.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But no, I, I think that, youknow, so yeah, just.
Keep doing it.
There's a place, there's a placefor everybody.
You just gotta do the work.
Great advice.
Yeah.
Coach, you've given me more timethan I deserve.
It was.
As fun of a conversation, if notmore than I expected.
(36:41):
You're so great.
You are a hidden gem at auniversity that's a hidden gem.
I know it's not so much inFlorida in that league that
you're in'cause you guys kick alot of butt down there.
But I'm just so happy that allthe families across the country
now have a better idea of whatEmory Real is.
They know how great of a coachyou are and how great of a
(37:02):
person you are.
So.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
Thank you for the invite.
And that's a wrap for today'sepisode of Significant
Recruiting with Coach JocelynGallup.
Her straight shooter approach,love for competition and belief
in developing the whole athleteis exactly why her Emry Riddle
program continues to stand out.
Don't forget, part one of ourconversation was all about our
(37:24):
coaching journey on theSignificant Coaching podcast.
So if you miss that, go back andgive it a listen and be sure to
subscribe to my free weeklynewsletter@coachmattrogers.com.
You'll get my latest blogs,podcast episodes, and recruiting
tips right in your inbox.
Thanks for listening, and we'llsee you next time here on
Significant Coaching.
(37:44):
Okay.
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