The walls of the Firestone Field house on the campus of
Pepperdine University are cream colored, unassuming, humble. The staircase that
leads to the coach’s office is the same color and his office is fronted by a
large desk and two staffers. He is already working. He made good on his promise
from years ago and welcomes any coach to come watch him practice. He is
congenial but in a most genuine way but the first thing you notice, or
remember, is the voice. It is a peace time weapon; the potentiality of booming
but relaxed and assured, as if there is nothing it can’t handle. The depth is
at once friendly and commanding of respect.
It’s Marv’s voice, THE coach’s voice.
Marv Dunphy is in his 31st year as the Men’s
volleyball coach at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. His
accomplishments include four national championships, a gold medal as the head
coach of the USA Men’s Olympic team, a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame
and he continues to help both the Men’s and Women’s Olympic programs train and
compete in the Olympics. His litany of players he has influenced and coached is
a Hall of Fame unto itself and one of his prized pupils, Karch Kiraly now
coaches the Women’s National team.
Yet all that is wiped away when you step into the 15x15 office
with Pepperdine blue blinds on a large window that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
Marv is at work, breaking down by rotation what his opponent tomorrow, UCLA is
doing lately. Pepperdine has already swept them early in the season but an
injury to one of his better players has seen the team scramble a bit. “With
this guy, we can play big-boy volleyball,” he says smiling. Rotation by
rotation and Marv’s comments are much like the feedback he gives his athletes:
concise and spot on. “Look at this guy,” he says of UCLA’s Argentinean Gonzolo
Quiroga. “He’s not big but he sees really well.” Sure enough, the video shows
Gonzolo coming in the middle or a bic and then hitting it wrist away around the
block and past the libero for a kill. “Whew,” Marv says, half nervous but half
in awe. Someone who is as much a part of the history of his sport as Marv is
can play on both sides of that fence.
After watching film and breaking down rotations, it’s time
for the coaches meeting to discuss practice. Usually practice is done the day
before but with a short schedule this week, (Pepperdine lost to Stanford 3-1 on
Friday and swept UOP on Saturday) and a short serve and pass yesterday, the
week has caught up with them. Assistant coaches David Hunt, Jonathan Winder and
Rich Barraza crowd into Marv’s office. It’s a very subdued meeting; one that is
at the end of a long emotional weekend or maybe they all just agree. Serve
receive is going to need to be worked as is blocking, but there are other
considerations bantered around; namely that the guys are tired and some
players, because of injury or how much they are going to be worked on Tuesday,
need to be dialed down a bit today. Ideas are thrown out and Winder writes down
the drills in order, and the player’s numbers which he will soon transfer to
the white board in the gym. Within a half an hour, practice is set.
The Waves of Pepperdine are 2/3 through their season and if
you don’t know much about men’s college volleyball, here’s what you need to
know. The MPSF is perhaps (Marv’s opinion) the most competitive league in all
of NCAA sports. “You have 24 conference matches and they all mean something.”
He laments how in the NBA or other sports, there are throw away games and players
don’t always go hard. You don’t get that luxury in the MPSF. In this week’s
poll, 9 of the top 11 teams are from the MPSF. Marv doesn’t know what
Pepperdine is ranked (fifth) nor does he seem to care. He says later, “We just
have to look to the next serve, the next match.” He doesn’t look ahead.
Marv comes out and begins to set up for practice. No
doubt there are plenty of people to help
but Marv, who wrote a dissertation on John Wooden while in college at UCLA has
taken a note from (Who he fondly calls) “Coach’s” book where Wooden never felt
it beneath himself to sweep his own court before practice. Marv gathers the
balls into carts, pulls out the scoreboards and helps unhook and push back a
collapsed backboard used by the basketball team.
The team trickles in 30 minutes before practice. Marv makes
it a point to shake hands with each player, asking them how they are doing,
getting personal with some with regard to family and school. A game of off hand, half court basketball
shooting with volleyballs erupts on the far side of the gym and Marv smiles. He
seems at home with his family at the moment.
At 10 sharp, the team is herded into a tiny office where the
UCLA servers are shown one at a time. Winder goes over their tendencies and
what to look for. Marv, when the players have seen enough of a particular
server, will just say, “Okay” and the next server is shown. There is no time to
waste. Both Hunt and Winder talk to the team about the blocking it will take to
stop the UCLA attack tomorrow night. The hitters are shown in a match v.
Stanford and players are instructed to ‘start inside’ or ‘front him.’ The
players, each with a notebook of tendencies of league teams, pay rapt
attention.
“Any questions?” Marv asks after the 20 minute film session.
“Okay, let’s go.” The team hustles out the court.
They warm up with some pepper, moving each other around the
court. There are 18 rostered players and two others in the gym so three courts are
swarmed fast. The other thing you need to know about Men’s collegiate
volleyball is there are 4 scholarships per team. That is not a typo, FOUR!
Pepperdine is roughly $62,000 per year to attend which makes Marv’s first
question in the recruiting process, “What do your Parents do for a living?’ he
says. Doing the math, 80% of the men in this gym are here for the love of the game,
to be a part of something special or to be coached by Marv, OR all three.
One of the things Marv is known for is his penchant for
details, (like Wooden) and his belief in what is to be done in practice
transfers to the game. Because of that, music is played while the players warm
up, just like in a match. He also carries around a hand held whistle which he
presses for each server to serve. Game like isn’t an option in Marv’s gym.
Serve receive is worked on first. A machine is pulled across
the court to missile balls at the libero in between the players serving and
after spraying a few, he begins to get a rhythm. Reps are key in Marv’s
practices and this machine which spits balls out at 70+ MPH can serve three
balls in between two players’ serves.
Then the three courts condense to two. On one court, servers
v. passers play a drill called USA 50. The servers get 50 serves to try and
make the passers pass below a 3.0 on a 4 point scale but all the while, keeping
their error rate at 16% or below. Marv only stops the drill a couple of times
and his feedback is words, not sentences. He doesn’t give speeches, he just
fixes. In the end, the passers notch a 3.1 which they celebrate with high fives
all around. The servers came in at 18% error rate. They will live to serve
another day.
On the other court, the antennas are affixed to recreate a
hitting window for UCLA’s favorite hitting positions on the pins. The 2 ½ foot
window is further complicated by a string tied to the antennas two feet or so
above the net. The players reach into this rabbit hole and push into the
coach’s attack, sliding from one end of the court to the other. It goes quick
and it is intense. If a player overruns
the box or doesn’t press through, they go again. In the end, the players seem to
be reaching and stuffing the swing.
Finally, a drill of serve and bounce where a team will get a
bonus point for a quick or bic attack that is successful. The drill starts at
5-5 and off they go. After the first point of the drill, Marv stops it and addresses
one side about their lack of transition. “You can’t just stand there.” He says.
“You have to go.” Everyone has eyes on the Coach when he speaks. Gold medals
make for legit street cred. The drill is rough and ragged in the first game and
both Hunt and Winder talk about maybe sitting a player out but Marv just moves
him to the other side of the net. The player had his girl friend and family in
the whole weekend. When the Assistant coaches wonder if he’ll be ready for
UCLA, Marv just nods. “He’ll be ready.”
After two games in which the two teams split, the equipment
is put away. It should be noted that anyone that comes into Marv’s gym is greeted
by every member of his program throughout the practice. It’s not just a quick
handshake, it’s a genuine, and “Where are you from? What do you do there? Do
you know…?” They have learned something from Marv just in this regard.
On the white board in Coach Dunphy’s office, at the very top
in blue, is the phrase, “If it’s important, do it every day.” It’s the only
thing written on the board at the moment. This would explain why the practice
the day before UCLA there was much serve receive work done, and a focus on
blocking reps and moves. It would explain why, within almost every drill Marv
does there is an element of serving and serve receiving. It would also explain
why he is so meticulous in the transfer from practice to game including music
and whistles for serves. “If it’s important, do it every day.”
You will never hear anyone speak badly of Marv. He is always
extending a hand, opening his doors, sharing ideas and thoughts about his
favorite hobby…coaching. (Although he admits gardening is a close second) The way
he treats his athletes reflects on the way they treat people that come into the
gym. The world of social media would be turned on its ear with this hands-on,
look you in the eye, real person to real person contact. There is nothing about
Marv that is hidden and the way he treats everyone around him is an extension
of that openness. He shares of himself with his staff, his athletes, his family
and friends and even visiting coaches and admirers.
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