July 24, 2008
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Entering into a new era of UCF women's volleyball, the Athletics Communications staff recently sat down with first-year head volleyball coach Todd Dagenais to learn more about the coach and his visions for the future of the volleyball program. In the final of a three-part series, Dagenais discusses why he became a coach, what he would be doing if he had never become a coach and his expectations for the season ahead.
When did you know that you wanted to become a volleyball coach?
"I think when I realized that I was not going to be a high-level national-type player in any capacity in the game, that is really when I started to learn about the game. That has really filled a greater passion when I started learning about the nuances of the game, how the game works, how you can manipulate the game, how you can beat opponents and all of that kind of stuff. Once I started to get into that part of it, then I realized that I may want to coach this somewhere down the road. I was working as a physical therapist in Bay City, Michigan and I had the opportunity to be a volunteer assistant at a local high school. Probably within those first two weeks, I realized that I had something to give back to the game in that capacity. That just goes along with me wanting to teach, knowing that I can teach, knowing that I can have an impact on their athletic career and then have a greater impact on their life. That is when I knew that I wanted to coach. Then that whole direction of my life took off on a tangent away from my physical therapy and sports medicine and more towards the teaching and athletics part of volleyball."
What would you be doing if you were not involved in coaching?
"I would probably be an athletic trainer with a college or a professional sports team. Athletic training just did not satisfy me competitively. I was on the sidelines and I wanted to coach or play. I knew that I was not going to play because I was not a good enough athlete. I knew I could coach because I knew that I could teach and I knew that I could have an impact on people's lives. Sports medicine really limited my ability to do that. Some of my favorite moments happened in sports medicine by rehabbing people and seeing them back in their first game. That was very rewarding, but not nearly as rewarding as coaching has been when you have such a greater impact on so many levels. "
What are your expectations for the team this season and beyond?
"I think that it is very important to keep our expectations realistic. I do not know right now. I could sit here and say that I think we are going to do this or that. All that I know right now is that we are trying to build upon a foundation. That is it. Other than that, I expect to have a foundation in place and expect to be able to recruit athletes that can help to carry out our vision in the future. I expect that this team will be the closest that it has ever been. I expect that everybody is going to contribute to go in one direction. Really, those are the expectations when you are building a program back up again. Those are the kinds of expectations that you have to have. I want to be competitive. I want to knock off some of the top teams in the conference. Do I expect that we are going to win every match? I do not expect that we are going to win every match, but I expect that we will have a chance to win every night. If we can go out there and expect to have a chance to win every night, then this first year will be a successful one. I do not want to bow down to anybody, and that is why we scheduled Stanford. I want them to see that we are serious to stepping up to every single challenge that is put in front of us. They are going to look at Stanford and see a huge mountain. I am going to ask them to climb it. I am going to ask them to climb it until they can't climb anymore. If they are willing to do that, then it will pay off at the end. I think that is the type of thing that you use, those are the kinds of attitudes and mentalities that you have to have to build a program. When you look at the totality of it, this team is on an impossible path, but when you break it down step by step by step and put one foot in front of the other, all of a sudden, you look back and you realize that you have done something. That is what we are trying to build. That is the expectation."
Season tickets for UCF's 2008 volleyball campaign at The Venue are currently available by calling the UCF athletics ticket office at 407-UCF-1000. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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