Who Is Texas Volleyball's Secret Weapon? Jerritt Elliott Reveals Longhorns' Winning Formula

Intro [Music] hey everybody Welcome to the than tank with essentially Sports I'm super fired up to have National Championship winning Texas volleyball head coach uh Jared Elliott on the show today thanks for having me Trey excited to be on it when you think about you know the Milestones of the things that you created as you built this program what are the things that stick out the most for you I think how much I've had to evolve as a coach and as a a thinker in terms of being able to stay up with the times I think businesses always changed how do you balance helping them with but also staying within regulation and everything that's out there especially with all the changes two rules that we cannot do is we cannot collect a check and we cannot distribute the check what type of impact are you seeing that has you know specifically on your sport the women's game now is has been really consistent in terms of being a better Revenue producer for them [Music] hey everybody Welcome to the thank tank with essential Sports I'm super fired up to have National Championship winning Texas volleyball head coach uh Jared Elliott on the show today welcome Jarett thanks for having me Trey excited to be on it absolutely absolutely well it's been a blast getting to know you over the last it feels like a year um but uh super excited to watch the program this year I got my burn orange on I got to get you one of these brand innovators burn orange uh shirts and and uh flying flying the flag today happily uh so uh tell us a little bit about your your own personal Journey to the University of Texas you know you played played as a player at Pepperdine and and uh ended up being one of the longest tenure coaches at the University of Texas would love to hear how that came to be yeah I mean I'll try to make it as Jerritt Elliott's Journey as a Volleyball Coach short as I can but you know I played obviously college volleyball and when I was done I was a my degree was in teaching and I got to be a teacher and I was coaching my high school My High School uh girls team and just fell in love with the sport and so after my first year I got hired at a different School uh they paid me a little bit more money and then they gave me an opportunity to start my own club out there so within a year I went from just kind of my first year to running a club with about 16 to 18 teams um and I would teach elementary school in the morning and then I would go coach all throughout the evenings and and on the weekends and just fell in love with the sport um I love kids and that's why I was a teacher but I wasn't able to see development over a period of time and so when I got into coaching I just fell in this bug of that I could really develop people and I could really study the game at a high level and I just became passionate about it and then you the University of Arizona's Coach Dave Rubio was like he knew me and he got me to do a couple of his camps and he's like hey you should really be in the college game and think about it so at that point then I chopped around I actually came down to Texas at the final four and asked Mick Haley who was the coach at the time to be the volunteer coach then but he already had a full spot there and then I became the volunteer coach at USC with women's side um I had some opportunities to coach with some smaller schools but I elected to go big school and work my way up and that's what I did I was at USC I ended up finally stopping after two years there uh teaching elementary school and I became the first assistent and then my uh head coach Lisa love was also an administrator and she ended up getting asked to go full-time Administration so the job opened up at Texas and while I was there um they were able to interview me but I was 30 years old and kind of this young upand cominging coach and they hired mck haly the Olympic coach the Texas coach the former coach and but he had two more years on a stint to finish the Olympic Games so they hired me as the interim coach uh I was able to have back-to-back number one recruiting Career with the Texas Longhorns classes and we went to the final four my second year and then my second year I scheduled Texas on you know I wanted to schedule Texas cuz they were struggling a little bit and this was my dream job because my friend got his MBA down at Texas and I came down and visited a couple time and the people were so nice and friendly and um lo and behold the the job opened up at the end of that season and uh I was able to interview about 3 months later and everybody was telling me I wasn't going to get it because I was only 32 years old and my closest friend called me after the first day and he's like what do you think he go I go they're going to offer to me tomorrow and I said why I said they haven't asked me one question I've been on a recruiting trip the whole time and so uh I was in charge of rebuilding this when we were 10 and 18 and been very fortunate to be able to survive 24 years at at Texas or 25 now wow that's amazing and you're I believe you told me are you the second longest tenur coach at Texas or are you number one now I can't remember I think I'm uh go men's golf uh diving Matt scogan has been there and then myself I think are the three the three coaches wow congratulations I mean that's a that's really an amazing milestone in its own right to be at any University with the pressure around that University for you know two and a half decades uh when you think about you know the milestones the things that you've created as you built this program what are the things that stick out the most for you well I think you know I how much I've had to evolve as a coach and as a a thinker in terms of being able to stay up with the times I think businesses Beating adversaries with ‘pressure’ with The Longhorns always change and things change and so for me it was always you know how do I stay at the top because as you said there's a tremendous amount of pressure the expectations are to be in the top 10 and win and if not then you know you have a short lifespan here and I think in coaching that can get away from you really fast and it keeps you awake at night a lot but you know for me I think it's been able to build a really great Foundation uh and it's been based on people hiring the right people uh people that really care about the athletes and and developing those athletes at a high level well you've had tons of success at at Texas and going for if I'm correct this will be go would be your fourth National Championship if we're able to achieve that this year yeah this will be 3-peat with Texas Longhorns my fourth and we're going for a three repeat is what we're trying to achieve that's a that's that's incredible so what are what are really what are the keys to success when you think about uh you know maintaining that level of success over longevity and then also being able to you know strive for I mean just winning two in a row winning one is incredible winning two in a row is remarkable and certainly it would be a major feat to to hit a three-peat which is super rare in any sport what are the keys to success yeah I think you know it's it's a good question I think luckily I have kind of a crazy brain and my I have lots of thoughts and a little bit more on the business side at times so I'm always thinking about how to be Innovative and trying to make sure we stay up with the times but it all kind of happened in 2011 we had lost in the Elite 8 and just gave me some time to reflect uh on why I was coaching and you know there's there's so much heartache in terms of you put a whole year into it and you don't win and then you just go through this whole emotional Pandora's Box and I just remember that I gave myself permission to kind of I was in it because I I love kids and I that's why I got into coaching and developing them and so I reinvested in that area and I think that was really something that was really big for me because the communication skills got better I think the culture has improved tremendously over the years uh my maturity in terms of how to handle all the stressors that go on that and my staff have has really grown in that area so you know I think look you you've obviously we have an incredible University but we've had to create create a lot of different Dynamic a lot of people just think it's about you know the team that you have on the court but you got to create you know you you got to create a brand you've got to create a fan base you got to create a community you got to create people that want to work for you underneath you and you got to hire the right people to develop them to identify and then develop those players and uh you know over the years the school's done a tremendous job of supporting me and you know I've got you know two of the best assistant coaches in the country who are one of the things I've appreciated about getting to know you over the the past six to seven months is you're certainly Innovative and and definitely a leader and you know I think you from what I can tell you know you you act like a CEO and and not just a coach which I think is probably as you mentioned one of the one of your major reasons for Success uh I know you're a major advocate for women's sports and it's been really amazing to watch uh what's been happening uh in that space uh clearly the Kate and clarks's and Angel Reese are doing amazing in basketball and that's lifting up that sport um you know personally as you know I'm a I'm a big volleyball play fan my daughter's played volleyball I watched in the Olympics it's one of my favorite sports to watch uh who's who's the Madisen Skinner's Aura person in in volleyball that can really lift the sport up as a player and and and be featured like you know the Caitlyn and angels of the world yeah I think we're in a tremendous opportunity right now right obviously we got the Texas Brand and we're going for a threee but we also have the best player in the country in Madison Skinner you know she is a an athlete that started late she was a gymn or she was a dancer and kind of worked her way into it but you know she's one of our you know those once in a decade athletes that come through your program that is at a really high level and her game is really taken off and playing at a really high level and she's kind of has that wow factor when you come in I mean most men can kind of regulate like the rim is at 10 ft she's touching almost 11 ft and so she's got this physical component when you see to it and the the speed and the power of the game is so amazing when you come in person and it's she has the she's the one that is has the star power and you know not only is she a great volleball player but she's a great teammate she speaks really well um and she's able to kind of articulate the things that that need to go on as a as a premium athlete yeah there's no doubt about it I mean I I remember the first night we met was at I think South by Southwest at a brand innovators event and uh uh you brought her and Reagan Rutherford to uh who's also an amazing player and I think transferred out you know from Kentucky to Texas which is incredible job getting getting another great athlete to come in for the Run um but uh definitely spent a ton of time with Maddie and there's no question she is a she's very and and uh very professional and we've taken her around to Bren innovator events as you know to to France and she did a remarkable job there you know one of the things I think I told you this that really amazed me about that is there was all these professional athletes women and men at at the can allance Festival there was only three College athletes that we saw there and they were all women uh and only one volleyball player so it was Madison and then there was ju guu Watkins and and and FL from from LSU that were there and both basketball so Madison definitely represented uh the team well and you well and the University of Texas so it was an honor to have her come and join us um so let's talk a little bit about Name, Image, and Likeness- The NIL ERA you know nil I mean there's just been so much that's been changing uh since over the last several years right and um you know what type of impact are you seeing that have you know specifically on your sport well I think I I don't know what goes on in the other programs I just know what I'm trying to accomplish I think one of the things I wanted to use this for is cuz I'm about education and being a you know to me it's about my athletes but not why they're just here but longterm so we've been able to connect a really group of special women together that have been mentoring our athletes and trying to be able to start businesses with them and trying to get kind of their own Brands eventually to be able to do that but you know being able to meet you and brand innovators and be able to bring them kind of around our program has been really interesting to kind of learn about the the business of Brands and what they're looking for and now you start seeing all these uh these rois in terms of what athletes bring to the table and you know the women's game now is has been really consistent in terms of being a better Revenue producer for them so you know it's about educ I've had to now become a coach but I've also had to become kind of a business teacher to my athletes in terms of understanding what an LLC is what an escorp is how do you Market yourself how do you how do you interact with fans and how do you grow your base to be able to do that and then ultimately how you how do you position yourself to do something longterm that can really take care of you at a really high level and so and I has really changed obviously there's there's a money factor that's that's big for the athletes that they've never had an opportunity to deal with before but this is a a tremendous opportunity that we've really kind of had to shift hard hard right on to to become an expert on to to make sure that we're we're creating something that is impactful for our athletes and I know there I mean I feel like you got to keep up with the regulation every day I know one of the difficult things as a coach has been always like how do you how do you balance helping them with but also within regulation and everything that's out there especially with all the changes have there been any new changes that are allowing the coaches to talk to Brands more than they have in the past yeah I mean I got word yesterday and I need to double check this with my compliance but they're basically you know taking off the the gloves and letting us kind of go out and and represent the athletes like we can go do deals uh you know there's two rules that we cannot do is we cannot collect the check and we cannot distribute the check but if we meet people that want to come in and be a part of our program get behind our thetes we can have those conversations and I can be out there or staff can be out there being able to do that I think that's amazing I mean I think part of the problem with niil from day one is the ambiguity around it and uh and you know not to say anything negative about the NCAA but you know all the rules it's been very difficult for everybody to understand how do you how do you navigate that and operate and stay within compliance and be fair to you know the athletes so the athletes can really take advantage of it uh so it's great to hear that it's to evolve yeah I think it's evolving and I think what they want is true market value right that's what the ultimate goal was they didn't want boosters coming in and handing you a bag of a million dollars um and being able to do something like that they want these athletes to actually being able to do Real Deals and and have and they'll have a task force out there kind of I think to be able to kind of monitor that a little bit more and so I think that's ultimately that's it's it's a wonderful opportunity times have change but if these athletes and we can create the right foundation for them there's a tremendous opportunity to kind of build their own brand and you know it's great for sports it's great for growing the game you're seeing what's happened in the women's game and it's uh it's a tremendous opportunity and and and you know I'm a big believer in the game of women's volleyball and it's to me there's the best atmospheres in the country well unfortunately being at the University of Texas I think is also super helpful when it comes to the portal and things there I mean certainly everybody loses and everybody wins a little bit but I kind of liking it I remember when uh when NFL football went from you know their normal standard to free agency and at first everybody was upset it's going to ruin the game um but then ultimately everybody adjusts and uh it's kind of exciting to go out there and try to get that missing piece to help you win um but certainly can recognize it could be frustrating too uh because you're constantly having to recruit your current players you got to recruit portal players you got to recruit you know high school athletes so I'm just curious you know what is your perspective on the portal yeah I think it's a business change right it's another hard right that you've had to be able to change based on kind of what the nca's kind of model itself after it's is it the ideal situation no um but I think there's lots of advantages to it uh I think it's forcing coaches to as you said they got to take care of their athletes more and so if athletes are treated better if they've got a great home and they feel comfortable about what they're doing then coaches shouldn't lose them unless they're looking for an opportunity to play if they're not getting major playing time so for me it's been great uh I think we look at it in terms of building a culture around that and and and having success after it but you know it's no different than recruiting I mean it's always been a recruiting game it's just a just a different rule different place now so when we think about the state of Texas it's always been a you know it's a huge State uh Athletics is extremely Texas- ‘The Hotspot’ for sporting icons important in this state really across all sports you've had all kinds of Legends grow up here from you know Shaq to Lance Armstrong Earl Campbell and list goes on and on and a number of female athletes as well what what does Texas look like from a volleyball perspective is is volleyball a big sport in Texas and and would you consider it to be one of the bigger States for volleyball uh high school and uh Elementary and growing up through the state yeah it's tremendous I mean I I I would say it's the best volleyball state in the country right now um I think the Longhorn Network had a big play in that you know we are featuring on all of our games there and they were able to watch our players kind of developing and watching what was going on and and create some Role Models right I think it's really important that when you able to watch and fall in love with players obviously it makes our recruiting a little bit better and so the state of Texas has always been our priority we've wanted to put a fence around that and make sure that we keep the best players at home and being able to do that um and so the state of Texas has been great we've got really good club coaches and High School coaches that have really developing the athletes at a high level and there's a lot of continuity between the coaches to make our sport better in the state when you think about uh Rivals you know I mean that certainly the traditional Rivals of the school are um you know uh OU and A&M and and we're about to start playing Arkansas again which will which will be interesting and you know it was funny we had uh at one of the brand innovators events we had Rory Haron uh the the point guard for the basketball team and I asked her I said who's your biggest rival and she goes look I know the fans biggest Rivals are those schools and I get it uh but I don't like Texas Tech right and she went into the reason why I'm I'm curious from from our from your perspective and the team's perspective who are the biggest rivals in volleyball for the University of Texas well I think I mean you saw in the national championship game I mean right obviously when when teams start competing for national championships over a long period of time there becomes a natural rivalry and so and it's great for the sport but you know Nebraska and us are obviously been going head-to-head for a lot of time a lot of these years and and really pushing each other around on on different years to to get to the top of that mountain um you know I think A&M was a great when I got here that A&M had our number early on and uh since then we've had a lot of success but I think you know they've got a new good coach and I think the game is growing so I I'm expecting that we're going to sell out the arena at Texas A&M so that should be a very hostile environment uh to be a part of but you know I think teams that that you contend for championships for at least when you're at the Texas that becomes more a rivalry you know Florida was in that ballpark for a while but we haven't played them in so long that it's kind of dissipated from our players in terms of their mindsets these none of these players have played that um you know Kentucky beat us in the National Championship in 2020 so uh we'll get a chance at them at their place but there's we're getting no favors in the SEC the way that we open up at A&M at Florida at Kentucky pretty early on so were uh was M Madison and her sister were on that Kentucky team Elliott on Madisen Skinner’s move from Kentucky to Texas weren't they yeah yes we were you get just go you got had to go and get her it's like it's like when the Cowboys went and got Deion Sanders you know and and brought you know when she went in the portal she actually told me no really and I had to beg to get on a phone call with her and then we spent about an hour on a phone call together and she said you know what I'll come take a look but she had a completely different perspective of in terms of what our program was about compared to what she from the outside really well she's a Texas girl too right she's from She's Everything yeah so that that was definitely a big recruitment no doubt about it so you know one of the reasons I love watching you know watching our team or watching Longhorns is uh you know it's fast-paced aggressive you know attack style uh can you talk a little bit about your coaching philosophy yeah you know I I think my Jerritt On his coaching philosophy, challenges, and future plans with the Longhorns coaching philosophy has obviously changed a little bit I think as you mentioned earli I've become a little bit more of a CEO I've hired two really good coaches and David David Hunt who's was the 19 um he was 2016 Olympics and he was the H men's coach at Pepperdine University Eric Sullivan my other associate head coaches so I've got you know two of the Premier coaches in the entire country and this job has taken on so much for me that you know we work together and we collaborate but I give those guys a lot of responsibility in terms of you know developing our team and and having responsibilities David's our offensive coordinator Eric's our defensive coordinator and kind of uh we're working together as a unit to make it really successful but you know the philosophy is always about people uh I lost my mom in 200 or 1999 and the last words she said to me were good people love people so we've really tried to create a community around that and try to behave that way and and work through kindness and and a lot of gratitude and and making sure that you know I think in college 18 to 22 I think we all recall that's like the best time of our life but we also realize that we were basket cases back then and like you're trying to learn about life and the perspective of growing every seven years and being older to be able to give back to that age group of like understanding the struggles that they have right and so understanding and helping them you know knowing that every day is not a perfect 10 and being there for them and building trust and being a role model for them to to be able to be vulnerable and and really learn to be uh to work through the challenges that we have emotionally because I think you know we're all going through it and it's kind of this silent thing that nobody talks about but we try to make it pretty pelant and make sure that our kids are a good spot and and are there for them that's that's incredible you know the other part about this is we still have we have love volleyball the new pro league that's happening in Austin and we've got eight of our former players so my wife likes to call uh Texas 2.0 because a lot of our greats are going to be playing and performing in that chiaka Asia Logan Zoe uh cat bell Julianne faet um Sage I mean it's just it's an amazing group that that will be together and M M when is that uh when does the uh that League kick off again that should start in November okay and do you know where they're playing yet have they got that all finalized I don't have those I don't have those in front of me okay well that'll be that'll be pretty pretty pretty exciting to see all the Homegrown Talent right there with the professional a professional team and and I know we've got the Olympics coming to LA right and in four years so hopefully Maddie will be a big part of that team and some of some of the other players and and Asia will be on that team as well yeah hopefully we have three or four maybe Logan gets on there as well and uh it should be exciting zo think we have a lot of players in the mix for that yeah I bet I I would suspect there there would be maybe even some more here over the next year or two um when you I think you mentioned a little bit maybe some of you know the challenge of your first year and that kind of stuff but has there been a major challenge in your coaching career that you had to overcome that you'd like to share my major man I think the biggest one that I had to I mean we took the program over at 10 and 18 and trying to make sure that uh you know I picked the wrong retirement program because I didn't know what I was going to do if I was going to be successful right off the bat um but it's uh you know I think the challenges at Texas are there's just a tremendous amount of pressure and you know to be able to get overcome and and try to be able to build faith that you could actually build something special here was was a tremendous a lot ahead of be lifting early on uh with a lot of different athletes and fortunately we got some Buy in from some athletes that saw the vision and believed in the vision but um you know I think that's one of them and now it's just been I feel like I'm as one of the older coaches like there's this there's this responsibility to grow the game to develop the game to continue to to give different FES or different looks about our program where we can help the athletes become more successful women on and off the court but also you know have the right mentality to hopefully be a great significant other someday you know you talked about you know being a uh being a pillar for the the sport of volleyball you know I'm always curious in any given sport how much those coach is coaches share with one another because you're trying to lift a sport up you're trying to make sure you get the biggest audience possible you're trying to take care of young women and Mentor them uh which you know you started out as a teacher and everything that you mentioned earlier how often do you know coaches in the same sport actually communicate around things like that I think our Sport's developing in that area a lot um I think there's some things that we're doing to try to grow the sport together and make that happen I mean I have this we have this platform coming out where we're going to be doing some stories where you'll see here in a couple weeks of you know with Maddie or Whitney or Emma but we also I called chefi from Wisconsin and Mar from Florida and we've been able to get some other athletes on board and they're like why are you calling me if you're going to because you this is a tremendous opportunity for Texas and I said look we already have a great brand we want to do this but we want to grow the game and we want to create more excitement around the game and I think the more that we do that we can grow the game together and make this a real big possibility like I said that's always interesting to me so um well outside of volleyball what are what are other things that you're interested I mean do you play basketball or ski or what what what are the other hobbies that interest you well one of my dear friends Almost my second dad told me once that you're good at everything and great at nothing so uh I play a lot of sports played all of them I'm really into pickle ball right now uh I was on a ski team when I was younger so I'm getting ready to go over to the dolomites and at the end of January to do skiing probably for a week um so those are my and then traveling is my big passion um falling in love with Costa Rica here in the last that last year just that place is pretty special U my wife and I just got back from France uh we went to the island of Corsica and then went over and watched chiaka and the Olympics and watched the beach volleyball as well so that was a real cool opportunity that is that's that's amazing well I'm a big Costa Rica fan too so Pur um so any any piece of advice you'd give to aspiring volleyball players you know 12 13 14 year olds that want to come play for the University of Texas or Advice to young and aspiring athletes some other major program someday I get that a lot what I I'm I'm going to come play for you coach when little kids come up to me at like 9 years old I love it you know I think the biggest thing is they got to have a passion and enjoy the game and realize that it's a lot of fun and I think right now with the way the pressures of Club volleyball you know parenting and all the parents and all that stuff like let these kids be kids uh find vacation times for themselves to be normal and just you know you're going to be good enough if you have a passion for the game and so and your athleticism will take you as far as your as your your parents gave you the genes to be able to do and so we find that just kids that love the game that have great respect for the game that that have a lot of gratitude for the coaches and the people that around those are the people that fit our our mold at Texas that that's awesome well what uh you have any bold Sports prediction you don't have to Babe Ruth call your shot for for another National Championship Rise of women's sports but uh what what would be your big bold prediction out there um in sports any anything anything you have yeah I think it's going to be the biggest year ever in women's volleyball I think that's where we're seeing is the development of that I think we're going to start setting records all over the place in terms of attendances where we go and and what we're getting and we're just so excited to be working with you know people like you that develop the brands that you know want to get behind the sport of volleyball that want to tell storytelling because people that come to these games and see these games and see how what kind of tremendous athletes these women are are blown away when they get into the gym and see the EnV the environment and uh I'm excited about it I'm super excited about the fall season with our women's soccer team I think they've got a shot to to get to the Collegiate cup and Sark obviously has a team now that is going to get ready to go with the big boys in the SEC and I think he has a team to compete at a high high level to to bring home a national championship yeah I mean going to the SEC is super exciting I I live with a wife that went to the University of Alabama so now it's turned into a real family rivalry we we both both in the same conference together so excited about all of that and uh I know you've got um I guess a podcast that'll be Elliott announces His New Podcast ‘Dig Deeper’ coming out pretty soon you want to share with the audience a little bit about what that is yeah we're going to start that with uh you know I think one of the things that's a little bit different to me is I'm obviously the volleyball coach and running my program but we're also trying to develop the develop women and and grow the game so it's going to be called uh dig deeper it's going to be about 10 minutes on our program we're going to talk about you know the development and bringing business people into these podcasts and talking about how that relates to sports and also where we can take the sport and the development of all that so it should be fun uh there should be about four or five of us and hopefully we we'll get you on that show as well love to join would uh uh really excited to listen and tune in to that as well and uh really appreciate you joining today super fired up to come watch the uh volleyball team uh we're not too far away uh from kick or not kickoff but uh for for everything right for the entire fall season sure baby so so pretty pretty thrilled Friday what's that we we're excited we start on Friday our first match is at Milwaukee against Wisconsin which they should be a top three team along with us and so it's there's going to be some really good competition this year that's one of those Riv we talked about earlier right you guys are always competing with them so starting the season off and I think if I remember correctly we beat them in the final four last year was that was that right we did we beat them in the final four last year yes so it's and then we open up SEC with at Texas A&M which you know every person is going to come out from everywhere to cheer on A&M so our athletes have experien haven't experienced that atmosphere in quite some time no they're going to be rabid that's going to be a rabid fan base there's no doubt about it well uh I've seen some of that Hardware over at your house so I hope you get to bring some more of it home this year and uh really looking forward to watching the team progress and the sport progress and uh really appreciate our friendship appreciate you joining the show and hook them okay thank you so much [Music]