Brent Crouch Named USC Women's Volleyball Head Coach

LOS ANGELES — Brent Crouch, the 2016 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year who inherited a winless Portland program and within 2 seasons guided the Pilots to their winningest season in 25 years, has been named the USC women's volleyball head coach, Trojan athletic director Lynn Swann announced today (Jan. 8).

"We are delighted and excited to welcome Brent to the Trojan volleyball family," said Swann. "He comes highly recommended by many in the volleyball world and he is well connected in the club, college and USA Volleyball communities.

"He has proven to be an outstanding coach who knows how to build a program, as evidenced by Portland's turnaround, and how to get the most out of his players. He has a knack for developing his players in the gym, using his background as an educator to efficiently and effectively teach them the game. Players love playing for him. On the court, he is a highly-proficient strategist and technician. He also is a tireless recruiter and has strong ties nationally, particularly throughout the West and in Texas."

Said Crouch: "I am honored to accept this position and this challenge. I would like to thank Lynn Swann, Donna Heinel, Steve Lopes and the rest of the USC athletic administration for this opportunity.

"USC women's volleyball is a premier program and USC is a premier academic institution located in the heart of the best volleyball in the world, indoor and on the beach. I look forward to arriving on campus, meeting the team and the incoming players, and, of course, getting on the court and working. It is time USC gets back to the Final Four and beyond. Fight On!"

Crouch replaces Mick Haley, who did not return to USC after 17 seasons as head coach.

Crouch, 43, took over at Portland in 2014 after the Pilots went 0-27 the previous season. After going 7-23 in his debut season, he guided the Pilots to a 16-15 mark in 2015 (its most victories since 1991) and then improved upon that in 2016 with a 17-13 mark. His 2017 team, which was hampered by injuries, was 15-15, with 5 losses coming in 5-set matches. His overall 4-year record at Portland was 55-66.

The 48 victories in his final 3 years was Portland's best 3-season total since 1984-86. The Pilots' 10-8 third place WCC finish in 2016 was its most league wins since 1985 and highest conference finish since 1989. He led Portland to the program's first-ever victories over Top 10, Top 15 and Top 25 opponents. He coached 3 All-WCC first team players and a WCC All-Freshman team pick, along with 3 WCC All-Academic first teamers.

He also helped establish beach volleyball as a varsity sport at Portland in 2016.

Crouch came to Portland after 4 seasons (2010-13) at Saint Mary's, where he was an assistant with the indoor program and head coach of the beach team.

During his time there, the Gaels' indoor team went 73-40 overall, finished in the Top 3 in the WCC standings each season by winning 73.4% of its league matches (47-17) and earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2012, advancing to the second round. Besides being involved in the team's offense and defense, recruiting, scouting, practice planning, statistical and video analysis and scheduling, he provided academic support, as he mentored several WCC All-Academic honorees and helped the team to the athletic department's highest grade point average, an NCAA Public Recognition Award and an AVCA academic award.

He also coached the inaugural Saint Mary's beach team in 2013, guiding the Gaels to an 8-2 record, the best mark among all Northern California teams, as well as a No. 9 national ranking and a bid to the AVCA national championships for the program's top pairs team.

"I have tons of confidence in Brent's ability to lead USC and to compete in the Pac-12," said Saint Mary's women's volleyball head coach Rob Browning, who had Crouch as one of his assistants. "He is a uniquely qualified coach because of his academic background and the on-court success he has had in a relatively short period of time. That background lends itself really well to getting the most out of his players and staff."

Crouch also has coaching experience with the USA Volleyball program, including working with U.S. Women's National Team head coach Karch Kiraly, being an assistant with the U.S. Collegiate National Team that captured a gold medal at the 2016 U22 Global Challenge and serving as both an indoor and beach coach in the USA Volleyball High Performance program.

"Congratulations to Brent, I am happy for both him and USC," said Kiraly, who guided the USA to a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics. "Brent did a great job at Portland and should be successful at USC. We have worked together in the past with the USA program and we share a similar philosophy on the way we approach teaching and learning the game of volleyball. With USC's proximity to our National Team's training site in Anaheim, I am excited about future possibilities for collaboration."

From 2004 to 2009, Crouch was a head coach at various levels. He was the head coach of the RoShamBo Girls Volleyball 14 team, which was part of the Skyline Juniors Volleyball Club in Dallas, Tex. (he also served as Skyline's associate director and recruiting coordinator). He was head coach of the Wave Girls Volleyball Club 17 team in Encinitas, Calif., that finished third in the 2008 Junior Olympics Open Division after winning a gold medal at the Southern California National Qualifier (his Wave program sent players to schools such as USC and Stanford). He was head coach of the San Diego (Calif.) City College men's team from 2006 to 2008 after serving as the head coach of Oregon's men's club team in 2004 and 2005.

He played for Texas A&M's club team from 1993 to 1997 and was named MVP of the Stephen F. Austin Tournament in 1997.

He earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1998 and his master's in philosophy in 2000, both from Texas A&M, then a doctorate in philosophy from Oregon in 2006.

He competed on the beach from 2005 to 2007 in AVP and CBVA events. He placed second at the 2005 California Cup state championship.

He has held various teaching positions in philosophy at Oregon, San Diego City College and Saint Mary's since 2000.

Born on Jan. 8, 1975, he and his wife, Marcy, have 2 sons, Jonathan, 2, and William, 9 months. Marcy is a physical therapist who grew up locally on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and received her doctorate in physical therapy from USC.

USC went 25-10 in 2017 and lost in five sets at No. 3-ranked Florida in an NCAA regional final. Four starters, including junior All-American outside hitter Khalia Lanier, return for the Women of Troy's 2018 season.

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Brent Crouch Named USC Women's Volleyball Head Coach

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