BENNINGTON, Vt. - Southern Vermont College recently named Tim Cole as the new head coach of the volleyball program at the college. Cole's philosophy on coaching will be the foundation on which he builds the program.
"Teams aren't problems to be solved, and players aren't things to be fixed," Cole said. "Great coaching is not fixing the deficiencies of the team; it is aligning its strengths. I view myself as an educator."
Cole joins the SVC coaching staff with over 13 years of playing experience under his belt, as well as four years of collegiate coaching experience. He served as an assistant coach at Division-III colleges Juniata and Otterbein for two years each. Cole also played a season of professional volleyball in Europe.
"Tim Cole is an extraordinary teacher of the game of volleyball and a solid role model for our student-athletes," SVC Interim Director of Athletics Don Schaffer said. "Tim is typical of the type of highly accomplished coaches, both from a playing and coaching perspective, that we are looking to continue bringing in to Southern Vermont College."
He takes over responsibility for the women's program which runs in the fall and the men's program that runs in the spring.
"Both programs are obviously in need of TLC, and I like the challenge of building from scratch," Cole said. "This also gives me an opportunity to completely implement my coaching philosophies."
Cole can see after a few short weeks where the program can improve but like any coaching position he does see a few challenges. "The challenge here is that I am head coach for both programs at SVC and devoting sufficient time without an assistant while recruiting will be taxing," he said.
Cole added that he will look to gain an assistant coach or two in the future, to make the training and overall coaching experience as successful as possible.
Cole also believes that his relaxed sideline coaching presence will allow his players to further concentrate on the match at hand. "I put the most emphasis on (practicing), and as a result I find my players play loose with a more relaxed attitude towards matches," he said.
The new coach intends to intensify the volleyball recruiting in order to bring in seasoned players that will compliment his current rosters. He said that in his first week on the job, he had to figure out where the Mountaineers stood as a team. "Basically I walk into the gym and ask 'What is good here? What do we have going for us?,'" he said.
Overall, Cole is optimistic despite having had only a few weeks to prepare for the season that kicks off today at the SVC Field House against Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 7:00 p.m.
"We are going to work hard and we are going to develop," Cole said. "The guys have a lot of trust in me. We are in a race against the clock to build our skills and get some experience under our belts by the time we hit the bulk of our schedule. I have been impressed with the effort in the gym and everyone's willingness to try new things."
Schaffer sees Cole setting the precedent for the Mountaineers' future volleyball program.
"I am certain that with a coach of Tim's ability, we will build both our men's and women's volleyball programs into regional and hopefully national prominence," Schaffer said. "This hiring shows the continued commitment we have here to upgrading all of our intercollegiate teams."
Cole is a native of Philadelphia, Pa., where he attended Pennsbury High School - and his love of volleyball began. Cole specialized at the setter position, was a team captain, and was an All-State selection while playing at Pennsbury.
While he played collegiate ball at Juniata, Cole's proficiency as a libero helped this two-time captain to be voted to the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) All-American Team twice. He played a significant role on the teams at Juniata that won the EIVA DIII Championship three straight years (2003-2005) and the Molten National Championship two years in a row (2004-2005). Cole was also honored as the Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year in 2006.
In addition to his collegiate experience, Cole had a stint as a pro volleyball player in Europe. He played for the MSC Moers team based out of Moers, Germany, for a season.
Cole has worked numerous volleyball camps, including men's summer camps (2003-06) and women's express camps (2006-07) at Penn State. He also served two years as head coordinator for Special Olympics Volleyball (2005-06) in Huntingdon, Pa.
Cole received a bachelor of arts degree in Literature and Writing from Juniata College. He currently is living on campus in the brand-new Hunter Hall.