University Southern California Trojans
Bob Yoder - USC Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2015
- Class:
- 1979
Bob Yoder won NCAA men’s volleyball championships first as a USC player and then as its head coach. A four-year (1976-79) letterman outside hitter, he was an All-American first teamer on Troy’s first-ever NCAA titlist squad in 1977 (he also helped the Trojans to the runner-up spot in 1979). Also a standout in the classroom, he won an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1978. After playing with the U.S. National Team, Yoder was the head coach at Ohio State in 1980 and 1981, leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA Final Four both seasons, then he returned to USC as its head coach for eight years (1982-89), winning the 1988 NCAA championship (and finishing second three times and third once). He was the National Coach of the Year in 1988. With his retired jersey hanging in the rafters of the Galen Center, he is the patriarch of the “First Family of USC Volleyball,” as he is one of six Yoders to have played for the Cardinal and Gold (along with his brother, daughter, and three nephews). He is a member of the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame and San Clemente Sports Wall of Fame. After his USC coaching stint, he was involved in real estate development and also then returned to the coaching ranks as an assistant at Concordia University and head coach at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School.
