Too often in sports journalism, I feel like the brash, hard-hitting, expletive-filled head coaches get the mass amounts of coverage and media exposure.
I’m looking at you, Rex Ryan.
Meanwhile, the soft-spoken, lead-by-example coaches are tagged as boring.
Fortunately, in Indiana, we appreciate the coaches that let the wins do the talking. Think of Tony Dungy or Brad Stevens, who are the masters of patrolling the sidelines without saying a word, yet still managing to be in complete control of their teams.
But I say there needs to be another coach added to that group of respected low-key coaches: Steve Shondell.
Even after Shondell signed a three-year extension two days ago to remain the Ball State women’s volleyball head coach, it’s easy to forget just how lucky the school is to have him.
And don’t bother bringing up the team’s 14-17 record in 2012 if you disagree. When a team is one injury away from putting mascara and eyeliner on a men’s volleyball player and trying to sneak them onto the roster, its record won’t look pretty.
Shondell’s AVCA Hall of Fame resume — 1,070 wins as head coach of Muncie Burris Laboratory School in Muncie, 18 Indiana State Volleyball Championships and four national championships — speaks for itself, but that’s not his best quality as a head coach.
It’s his personable, friendly nature, along with his masterful scheming, that defines him as a volleyball legend.
While other coaches may force their players to run suicides after a bad loss, Shondell texts those on the end of the bench how they’ll be All-Mid-American Conference players some day.
While others coaches may blow up at a ref over a bad call, Shondell stays calm and collected (most of the time), letting his team give a response on the court.
It’s not that it’s hard to find a coach in any sport who’s nicer and more personable than Shondell. It’s that it’s hard to find a person who’s nicer and more personable than Shondell.
And that’s why Ball State needs him, at least until he’s ready to retire. After years of instability with the program, Shondell has rebuilt it in only a few seasons.
But even though he is strapped in to coach at Ball State through 2016, the rebuilding process is far from over.
Shondell’s first order of business is to get a great recruiting class next season. Injuries, redshirt years and inconsistent play have made his first two recruiting classes look underwhelming.
He can’t afford that to happen this year.
Two of Ball State’s best two players from 2012 in Kara Bates and Lisa Scott are gone, which removes much of the team’s offensive production. If the juniors and sophomores from Shondell’s first two classes don’t improve or he doesn’t get immediate production from his freshman class, next season could be rough.
The team’s injury problems don’t help. Several players are recovering from season-ending injuries, which could hurt the team’s depth even more come August.
But don’t worry yourself too much over it. For the next three years, Shondell will provide solutions to those problems.
And he’ll do it his way. The boring way.
