Brent Crouch, the 2016 WCC Coach of the Year, was named head coach of the University of Portland volleyball team during the spring of 2014. In three seasons on The Bluff, Crouch has made an immediate impact on the Pilot program. Crouch, a coach with ongoing work with USA Volleyball, has already coached the Pilots to their two most successful seasons since joining the WCC, and has accomplished a multitude of feats with the Pilot program, including:
• 2016 3rd Place Finish in the WCC
• 2016 WCC Coach of the Year
• First-ever program wins over a Top 10 opponent (#7 USD, 11/10/16), over a Top 15 opponent (#11 BYU, 10/13/16), and over a Top 25 opponent (#23 USD, 11/14/15)
• Top-two winningest seasons since joining the WCC (17 wins 2016, 16 wins 2015)
• Most conference wins in WCC-era (10, 2016)
• Two First-Team All-WCC Selections (Emily Liger 15’, Hannah Troutman 16’)
• One All-Freshman Team Selection (Cali Thompson, 16’)
• One Honorable-Mention WCC Selection (Katie Sullivan, 16’)
• Four WCC All-Academic Team Selections Â
In addition to his work on the court, Crouch was integral to the addition of beach volleyball as a varsity sport at Portland in the spring of 2016. His previous beach volleyball expertise combined with his drive to improve the volleyball program was a solid foundation to build upon. Outside of UP, Crouch has also coached with USA Volleyball, and helped coach the US Collegiate National Team to a Gold Medal in the Summer of 2016.
Â
Prior to his arrival on The Bluff, Crouch spent the previous four seasons at Saint Mary’s College, most recently serving as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator for the indoor program and head coach of the sand volleyball program.
Â
Crouch arrived in Moraga, Calif. in 2010 and has helped the Gaels finish in the top three of the highly competitive West Coast Conference all four seasons. Working under head coach Rob Browning, Crouch and the Gaels earned a 2012 NCAA Tournament berth and advanced to the second round. Crouch was directly involved in all aspects of the Saint Mary’s volleyball program including recruiting, scouting, practice planning, statistical and video analysis, scheduling, academic support, and other duties. He managed both the offense and defense in matches over the course of his tenure, and led the Gaels offense to the top of the WCC in 2013.
Â
Crouch had particular success as the academic coordinator, mentoring multiple WCC All-Academic players and assisting the team to the highest GPA of all Saint Mary’s athletic programs. The Gaels have received several academic awards during his time, including public recognition from the NCAA as a top APR school and the AVCA team academic award for the 2012-13 seasons.
Â
In addition to the indoor success at Saint Mary’s, Crouch took over sand volleyball head coaching responsibilities prior to the 2013 season and in his first year led the program to the best record in the NorCal Consortium, which includes Stanford, California and WCC schools Pacific, San Francisco and Santa Clara. His top pair earned a bid to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships and finished in the top 16 nationally. The team finished the season ranked No. 9 nationally.
Â
During his time in Moraga, Crouch also served as both an indoor and beach coach in the USA Volleyball High Performance Program.
Â
Prior to his time at Saint Mary’s, Crouch spent the previous six years as head coach at various levels. On the club circuit he served as the Associate Director/Recruiting Coordinator for the Skyline Juniors Volleyball Club in Dallas, Texas. He was also the head coach for the 14-RoShamBo Girls Volleyball, part of the Skyline Club. In 2008, as the head coach of the 17's for the Wave Girl's Volleyball club in Encinitas, Calif., his team finished third in the Open Division at the Junior Olympics. That season also included a gold medal at the Southern California National Qualifier in the Open Division. His former club players have competed for various Division I programs including Stanford, USC, Pepperdine, Santa Clara and others.
Â
Crouch served as head coach of the men's volleyball team at San Diego City College from 2006-08. The first-year program finished fifth in the Pacific Coast Conference as he recruited and developed two all-conference players in 2006 and 2007.
Â
He was the head coach of the University of Oregon's club men's volleyball team, helping the Ducks finish 15th in the nation in Division 1-AA in 2005
Â
Crouch had a decorated beach volleyball playing career as he was a AAA-rated player in the California Beach Volleyball Association from 2005-07. He finished second in the California Cup State Championships in Manhattan Beach, Calif. in 2005. Crouch played collegiate volleyball for Texas A&M from 1993-96.
Â
He earned his bachelor's degree in history in 1998 from Texas A&M and earned his master's in philosophy from Texas A&M in 2000. Crouch went on to earn his Ph.D. in philosophy from Oregon in 2006 and has held various teaching positions at Oregon, San Diego City College and Saint Mary’s since 2000.