JJ Van Niel - Women's Volleyball Coach

JJ Van Niel — USC Trojans Women's Volleyball

Photo by: John McGillen

JJ Van Niel

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
vanniel@usc.edu
Phone:
(213) 740-4151
Year:
3rd
Instagram:
USC '98

JJ Van Niel is in his fifth season (2022) as the associate head coach for the Women of Troy.

Initially hired by Brent Crouch, in two seasons (2018-19), Van Niel helped the Trojans to a 40-25 overall record and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the program’s 29th straight berth (37th all-time) in 2019. After Crouch’s departure, Van Niel was retained by head coach Brad Keller.

Previously, Van Niel served as an assistant coach at Utah for two seasons (2015-16) before he was promoted to associate head coach for the 2017 season. He helped the Utes to a 20-12 season in 2016 and a 24-10 record in 2017 as Utah advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal for just the third time in program history.

Prior to his time at Utah, Van Niel was a consultant coach and scout for the U.S. Women's National Team, where he also served as a team leader and has assisted group training since 2013. While with the USWNT, Van Niel was responsible for coordinating and performing data analysis, game planning, and assistance during on-court practices.

Van Niel helped lead Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the 2013 U23 World Championships, a silver-medal finish at the 2014 VolleyMasters and a gold medal at the 2014 World Championships. In 2016, he served as a scout coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Rio Olympic Games.

Since 2006, Van Niel has worked with Coast Volleyball Club in San Diego, where he has served as head coach for the club’s elite travel teams. His 17-1 squad won the Pacific Northwest National Qualifier and earned a bid to the USA Junior Nationals Open Division. In addition to his coaching duties, Van Niel also served as the club’s Chief Financial Officer.

Van Niel led four different Coast 16s and 17s teams to gold, bronze, fifth-place, and 10th-place finishes in the Open Division of the USA Volleyball Girl's Junior National Championships. In eight national qualifiers, his teams earned five gold medals and a pair of silver medals. In 2012, VolleyballNow.net named him Coach of the Year.

While in San Diego, Van Niel was also an assistant coach for the UC San Diego men's program from 2011-14 and was also head coach at La Costa Canyon High School in 2014. Prior to his stint as head coach, he had served in various capacities at LCCHS since 2010.

Van Niel's coaching education includes being a USA Volleyball CAP Level III coach, working at the USA Volleyball High Performance Coaching Clinic, and having completed both Gold Medal Square Level I and II programs.

Van Niel, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance, Cum Laude, from the USC Marshall School of Business in 1998. He then spent 12 years in the financial world (two in investment banking in San Francisco, four at a distressed debt hedge fund in Los Angeles, and six at an activist hedge fund in San Diego) before entering the volleyball-coaching field.

Van Niel and his wife Maria have three children: Kaleb (18), Olivia (13), and Nathaniel (11).