J.J. Riley refused to dwell on the past.
Montana State’s first-year head volleyball coach has experienced a slew of success in more than two decades playing and coaching the sport. Now he takes over a Montana State program devoid of success for the last decade.
Riley
The Bobcats have finished with a better than .500 record once since 2005. Since 2006, Montana State is 64-193 (win percentage of .249), including just 30-125 against Big Sky competition. Take away the 2012 campaign in which MSU went 15-14, including 9-11 in league play, and Montana State has averaged less than three Big Sky wins per year over the last 10 years. Last season’s 7-21 campaign led to Kyle Weindell’s termination after three seasons at the helm.
Riley, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Utah, doesn’t want to think about any of that as he enters his first season as a college head coach.
“I think having a new coach, new philosophies, a new standards and expectations are always good for change,” Riley said. “I have no idea what was going on in the past. That’s something we are not going to talk about with them. I just think when there is a change, that means new ideas and philosophies. It’s a learning process for all of us. As a coaching staff, we are learning how to get the best out of our athletes.”
Montana State begins its season on Friday at the Sam Houston State Classic in Huntsville, Texas. The tournament features matchups with Tulane at 9 a.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. against Texas-San Antonio later that afternoon. On Saturday, MSU takes on Prairie View A&M at 2 p.m. and host Sam Houston State at 7 p.m.
After three weeks of fall camp, the Bobcats are acclimating to Riley’s coaching style well.
Kiana Black
“We are really loving it so far,” MSU senior outside hitter Eli Svisco said. “They are definitely pushing us. Practices are shorter but they are a lot more intense so we are getting more bang for our buck. They are really pushing us in the right direction as far as our mindset goes. A lot of what they concentrate on is mentally preparing us and getting us excited and getting us to set goals. I think that’s something that is super important that was left out previously.”
For Montana State’s group of three seniors — Svisco, outside hitter Natalee Godfrey and setter Katie Harrington — Riley is their third coach. The group was originally recruited by Sarah Schaub.
“We are used to changing it up,” Svisco said. “We have gotten used to all the different obstacles that have been put in front of us. We’ve stuck through it all together and we’ve learned a lot from each other. It’s definitely hard when you have a completely new system you are learning but we’ve learned to work hard on it.”
Riley takes over a program without a winning tradition, at least since the turn of the century. He comes to Bozeman as a proven winner for most of his life. Utah won 20 games each of the last two seasons and finished at No. 18 in the country after a second-round berth in the NCAA Tournament. Before moving to Salt Lake City, Riley spent two seasons as an assistant for the Southern Cal men. He helped the 2011 Trojans to the No. 1 ranking in the country and a Final Four bid.
Riley with Team
Prior to USC, Riley experienced success on the women’s side as assistant coach for the Pepperdine Waves from 2001 until 2003. The Waves qualified for three Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s and earned the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Riley also served as an assistant for the Pepperdine men in 2000 and 2010, helping the Waves to the NCAA Final Four in his first stint and a final ranking of No. 5 in the AVCA polls in 2010. Riley was the head of the Oregon Volleyball Academy between 2005 and 2009.
As a player, Riley was a setter at Pepperdine from 1995 until 1999. He was a second-team All-America selection in 1998 as the Waves reached the NCAA championship match. He ended his career as Pepperdine’s all-time assist leader with 3,788, a total that still ranks fourth in Pepperdine history. As a prep star, Riley was a four-year letter winner and multi-year all-state honoree in both volleyball and paddling at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Riley helped guide the volleyball team to a pair of state titles and contributed to a remarkable 11-year win streak. He also won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Junior Olympics in club volleyball, and represented the United State on the Youth National Team for two consecutive seasons (1993 and 1994).
He wants to carry that winning mentality over to Montana State.
“I come from the school of thought that every time you step foot on the court, you expect to win,” Riley said. “That’s what you are training for. We believe in winning. We will talk about it on a daily basis. We will talk about the process. But the goal is to win the conference tournament and get to the NCAAs. That may sound lofty to some people, but as an athlete and as a competitor, if we aren’t thinking about that daily and trying to make our lifestyle fit around those goals, then I don’t know what we are doing out here.”
Alexandra Rader
Riley and his wife Emily wanted Riley’s first college head coaching job to be the right fit. They wanted a town in which they could raise their sons Rex (three in September) and Nash (seven months) with piece of mind. They found all that and more at Montana State.
“No. 1, the family environment was critical since I’m a family man,” Riley said. “I wanted a safe, nice place to raise my boys. Having the university in a college town is critical as well. It makes the experience something special for anyone that is involved with it. And I think also, there has been success here in the past. One of the biggest things that stood out for me was the attendance. Montana State has been ranked nationally in the top 10 before. That shows the support. The community loves their sports teams, loves this university so to be a part of that, it makes the whole college experience that much better.
“I love it,” Riley said. “It’s a great fit. My family loves it. The community is unbelievable. To know that we have that support and we are integrated with the university, it makes you feel special.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
