Sean Kiracofe, a 10-year head coaching veteran, joins the program as an assistant coach.
He spent the previous 10 seasons as the head coach at Northwestern State, where he was the longest-tenured coach in volleyball history. During the 2022 season, he became the program record holder for career wins and earned his 100th career victory in a 3-0 sweep of Grambling on Sept. 12, 2023.
The Demons recorded their fifth season with a .500 or better record during conference play under Kiracofe in Southland Conference play during the 2023 season, the most by one coach in program history. They earned their seventh trip to the Southland Conference Tournament in nine seasons that year.
Kiracofe’s wealth of knowledge as a blocker helped NSU produce six of the top 10 blocking seasons during his tenure. In 2021, Jaylibeth Garcia-Rosa produced the eighth-highest single-season mark at the time in total blocks with 99. A year later, the freshman duo of Reaghan Thompson and Jordan Gamble became the first teammates to record 100 or more blocks in a single season in school history. Thompson broke the school single-season record for blocks with 164 in 2023. Thompson ranked in the top 10 nationally in total blocks and blocks per set on the season and as a team, the Demons ranked 15th in the NCAA in blocks per set at 2.71. Thompson and the Demons led the Southland Conference in blocks each of the past two seasons.
Kiracofe-coached players now account for eight of the top 13 best single-season block totals in program history.
His emphasis on defense was also proven by libero Ashlyn Svoboda and six-rotation outside hitter Symone Wesley being the first teammates to record 500 digs in the same season during the 2022 campaign.
Kiracofe became the 14th head coach in NSU program history on April 7, 2015. He brought a decorated resume to the position, having coached at SMU, UNLV, Montana State and UTEP in a career that has spanned more than a decade.
In 2011, his first season after returning to SMU, Kiracofe tutored Courtney Manning, the NCAA’s leader in blocks (184). Kiracofe produced the top blocking team in the American Athletic Conference in 2014 and the 2011 Conference USA leaders in that category.
A native Texan, Kiracofe helped lead SMU to a 48-14 record in his final two seasons in Dallas and coached a pair of first-team all-conference middle blockers. Under his direction, SMU’s Caroline Young was a three-time, first-team all-conference selection and an honorable mention All-American.
Kiracofe is a 1999 graduate of Texas Tech with a bachelor of arts in political science and a minor in history. He was a four-year starter and a two-year captain for the Red Raiders club team, which he helped lead to top-25 rankings in 1998 and 1999.
He and his wife, Kerri, have two children – a son, Walker, and a daughter, Reese.