Two Successful Coaches, but Only One Job : Return of First Could Serve Up a Dilemma in Pepperdine Volleyball

There will be some interesting decisions made at Pepperdine University in 1988.

They involve the fate of two coaches, one past and one present. One, Marv Dunphy, has already proved what he can do with a volleyball team. That’s why he is currently guiding the U.S. National Team in San Diego, preparing for the ’88 Olympics in Seoul.

Rod Wilde, who replaced Dunphy at Pepperdine before the 1986 season, led the Waves to a national championship in his first year as coach.

Dunphy’s squad won the title the previous year.

So, what if Wilde, the 29-year-old former Wave All-American, continues to win national titles? Dunphy, if he wants, can return to Malibu when his tour with the U.S. team ends. But if Wilde continues the kind of success he’s had, it might be awfully hard to make a coaching change.

Knows Adversity

If, however, Wilde must step down as head coach, it won’t be the first time in his volleyball career that he has had to deal with adversity.

A three-time All-American setter, Wilde led the Waves to the 1978 national crown.

His coach was Marv Dunphy.

After graduating, Wilde joined a pro league, leading an Arizona club to the championship. The league folded the next year, and, after spending time doing odd jobs, Wilde tried out for the 1984 Olympic team.

He made it, but broke his leg two months before the Olympics began in Los Angeles. In a tournament in the Soviet Union, a Soviet player came under the net just as Wilde was in mid-air. Wilde broke his left leg in two places when he landed on the Russian.

‘Just Devastating’

“After training for 2 1/2 years, I felt the victory of attaining my goal. Then, to have it taken away because of an accident . . . it was just devastating,” Wilde said.

But forget, if you can, that one incident. Everything that has happened to Wilde since then reads like a movie script.

Dunphy made his decision to leave Pepperdine in January, 1985, and Wilde was suggested as a replacement by Athletic Director Wayne Wright.

What did Dunphy think of his former pupil taking over for him?

“A very positive move for the program,” Dunphy said from San Diego. “It goes back to his days as a player. Some guys are big and strong, some guys have a great arm swing. Then there’s the guy who has great court sense and intelligence.

“And that is Rod Wilde.”

Wilde’s gifts as a volleyball player are unexpected considering where he was born and reared: Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Parents Involved

But his parents introduced him to the sport. His mother coaches a high school team back in Fort Dodge, and his father is on the Board of Directors of the United States Volleyball Assn.

“I’ve been involved in volleyball all my life,” Wilde said. “The coaches in Iowa told me to get out to California. Marv recruited me from a volleyball camp in Santa Barbara, and the rest is history.”

After his career at Pepperdine, Wilde joined the pro league, but when it folded, went on to landscaping and other pickup jobs. After he broke his leg, he became women’s volleyball coach at Drake University in Iowa.

“When Marv decided to leave, he contacted me,” Wilde said. “It was just too big of an opportunity to pass up.

“The fact that he may return doesn’t bother me. If I want to stay on as an assistant coach or in the university somewhere, I will have that option. It’s not positive that Marv is coming back. It will be a tough transition for him, going from the elite back to college. It’s a matter of what he wants to do.”

Dunphy said that while nothing is certain, his plan as of now is to return to Pepperdine in 1988.

To the Waves players, it really doesn’t matter who the coach is. The team is talent-rich, and each individual feels that the team can win no matter who is coach.

“It’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment when Marv comes back, but all the guys are flexible,” said Troy Tanner, a senior outside hitter who is one of the top college players in the nation. “I don’t think there’ll be a big change.”

Said Matt Rigg, another senior outside hitter: “When Marv got the offer, he called me to his office and asked me what I felt. I told him anything that benefits him, he’s got to do. There’s a lot more money, more benefits. It didn’t really hit us at first. Most of the guys knew Rod, so that helped.”

Still, there was an adjustment to be made. While their coaching philosophies are very similar, Wilde and Dunphy are on extreme ends of the personality scale.

This did have an affect on the team.

“Rod’s real fiery,” Tanner said. “He gets excited. He’s very emotional. We respect him, but he’s a little more fiery than Marv, and that took some getting used to.”

Another difference between the two coaches is that while Dunphy was considered a tough leader, an authoritative figure, Wilde is looked upon as much as a friend as a coach.

And he does nothing to stifle that feeling among his players.

“As far as being close to your players, you can be humanistic without giving away respect,” Wilde said. “When I got here, I already had their respect as a player. Last year was a big feeling-out period. Will they respect me as a coach and a person? I’ve proven myself. I can still be Rod Wilde. I can still chastise them. But still, if they’ve got a problem, they know they can bring it to me.

“I like that approach. It’s always been that way with Marv. He’s made it much easier for me.”

Learned From Dunphy

Dunphy taught Wilde a lot about the sport they both love, and many of Dunphy’s influences are evident in Wilde’s coaching.

“But he could offer some things I couldn’t,” Dunphy said. “He’s upgraded the team in some respects, especially working with the setters.

“The players were pleased when Rod came here because they knew it was just a continuation of the program. They didn’t perceive a big change.

“Rod has a boundless enthusiasm for the sport. I do, too. But if the gym time was available, Rod would stay there all day. I was able to make the separation. You’ve got to be yourself, and he’s doing it his way.

‘Proved Under Fire’

“No matter what your credentials are on paper, you’ve got to get into the arena and do it. He proved it under fire by winning the title in his first year.”

Winning the crown was the culmination of Wilde’s growing-up period as a coach.

“Rod is one of the few players I’ve met who made the successful switch from a loud and intense player on the court to becoming an almost calm coach who lets his people play,” said senior middle blocker Rob Scott. “For a first-year coach, he made the transition really well. In the beginning, he was more likely to be loud. But he learned to let us play and not disturb our concentration.”

Wilde’s maturity paid off in a come-from-behind win over USC in the championship game of last season’s NCAA tournament. His team went 22-7 on the season.

Glory Was Unexpected

He will try to repeat this season, but anything that happens now is just icing on the cake. As he says, Wilde never expected all this glory.

“My biggest point when I came here was to continue with exactly the same things that won for us in the past,” he said. “I couldn’t be Marv Dunphy Jr. I can’t imitate him. But I used his ideas and his influences. I used the same traditions: working harder than any other team, being stronger physically. Those are traditions I’ve tried to maintain, with certain Rod Wilde influences.

“Between our two influences, I guess it’s paid off.”