Hold the Phone, Price Left Hanging by Bakersfield

John Price kept waiting by the phone--”Something I normally don’t do,” he said--but the call never came.

Price, Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball coach, is a candidate for the women’s coaching position at Cal State Bakersfield, but did not hear from Bakersfield Athletic Director Rudy Carvajal on Thursday night.

Carvajal, who was en route to Alaska for a vacation, said he would try to call Price Thursday night.

“Either he got caught up in travel, which is possible, or maybe he’s offering [the job] somewhere else and he’ll get back to me [today],” Price said.

Price’s competition for the position includes Tom Peterson, former men’s volleyball coach at Penn State, and Kip Yoshimura, the women’s volleyball coach at Lewis and Clark, an NAIA school in Portland, Ore.

Price spoke with Carvajal Thursday afternoon for about 30 minutes, during which time Carvajal expressed some concerns about the Northridge coach.

Carvajal said he would call Price back Thursday night, after he reached Alaska.

“It sounded like he was going to offer me a job, but wanted to straighten a few things out,” Price said.

“He was a little concerned about my reasons for wanting the job, whether it was convenient or close or something to do, versus going there to build a program and win a national championship.

“I told him I was 99.9% sure Bakersfield is what I want to do.”

Price was contacted earlier in the week about an international coaching position.

Fred Sturm, former U.S. men’s national coach, asked Price if he would be interested in coaching a Croatian junior national team overseas from September until June.

“In my mind, I had to talk with Sturm again before I made it 100% [with Bakersfield],” Price said. “I hope I didn’t blow it [with Bakersfield].”

The Northridge men’s volleyball team was eliminated om June 11 because of budget and gender-equity reasons.

There has been attempt recently, however, to have the program revived for one year.