To new head coach Jeremy Garcia, being a volleyball coach is more than just a job, it’s a lifelong passion. Some of his earliest memories involve being surrounded by college sports, since his mother had an administrative role at the University of Texas at Austin Athletics Department. She worked particularly closely with the Longhorns volleyball team, which sparked Garcia’s love for that environment and for the sport.
“Me and my sister grew up in that space,” Garcia said. “We would get to go to every home game of the sports there, we would get to go on roadtrips with teams, postseason trips with teams because of the work that my mom did. We were very fortunate to grow up in that world where all we knew was college athletics.”
The Austinite recalls watching his mother at work and thinking that he also wanted to be in a similar position when the time came. Although Garcia did not know what that meant at the time — whether he would want to be involved on the coaching or administrative side of things — he knew he wanted those experiences to become his own in his future.
Although Garcia’s family was involved in all things athletics with the Longhorns, volleyball was the program that his mother was most involved with. The sport welcomed him with open arms, and he recalls that the volleyball team was “always the group that was most welcoming” when he was a child. The connections Garcia established from a very young age with the program and its staff would become useful in his future career.
His involvement in high level volleyball and the environment of athletics sparked his interest in playing the sport himself. Living in Austin and having connections through his mother, Garcia’s family had a relationship with the founders of Austin Juniors Volleyball (AJV), a youth sports organization located across the street from St. Edward’s. The club, founded in 1984, has a very successful history with girl’s volleyball teams from 10 to 18-year-olds and realized it was time to create a space for boys to practice the sport as well. Being in the age range, Garcia joined Austin Juniors on their first ever boys’ team. After that, it turned into “the only thing” Garcia did growing up.
“Volleyball brought me the coolest people and the most welcoming people,” Garcia said. “That’s when I was like ‘I think this could be something I could do for as long as I can.’ That was the space where it was always just fun for me. My teammates turned into best friends, old coaches turned into mentors. It was always the space where I felt the most welcomed and felt the most at home.”
Once getting to college, Garcia stopped playing and began to focus on the coaching side of volleyball. While pursuing a business degree at the McCombs School of Business at UT, Jerritt Elliott — who has been the head coach for Longhorn volleyball since 2001 — personally offered Garcia the opportunity to work with the team. With them, Garcia handled managerial responsibilities, drills, statistics and other behind the scenes operations during the fall. Garcia acknowledges his involvement with the program and Elliott’s mentorship as some of the main contributors to his personal and professional development, as well as a reason why he was able to have access to so many other opportunities. Along with his work at UT, he continued to foster his ties at AJV by coaching up to two teams during spring semesters.
“Just to be around and see how (UT) operates solidified and set in motion what I wanted to do for the rest of my life: it was to be around high level volleyball, be a part of programs where there are expectations, there’s pressure,” Garcia said. “I didn’t wanna be around programs that were just kind of ‘we’re just here to be here.’ We’re here to do the best of what we do or at least try to do so.”
Despite his interest in college athletics and desire to continue to learn and grow in his profession, Garcia’s goal is to inspire players and to instill the passion he feels for the sport in them. When looking for a new head coach for the program, St. Edward’s athletic director Jim Sarrá, was not only searching for someone with experience, but also for someone who is passionate about what they do, which is one of the reasons why Garcia was chosen for the position.
“He’s from Austin, he gets the Austin community, but another piece that I was picking up is that he is very passionate about volleyball,” Sarrá said. “That set him apart, the true passion for the sport. Those are the people you want. Those are the people that have that passion for it, you know they are going to put their best effort into it every single day and make sure that our student athletes have the greatest experience possible while they are here.”
The passion observed by Sarrá was also clear to those that worked with Garcia during his time with the Longhorns. His commitment to the sport, along with the thorough knowledge of college athletics that he acquired during his undergraduate years, allowed him to be recommended for a role at Penn State University after his graduation.
“I had three weeks to pack up my car and move 1,700 miles to a place I had never been before,” Garcia said. “But hey, you gotta do it. If this is something that you want to do and trying to figure out if this is the career path, there aren’t many, if no better options than that one, to go work for a legendary coach, in a legendary program to see a different side of it.”
There, the Texas native was also a volunteer assistant coach and was able to continue handling the same responsibilities he had at UT, along with giving players feedback directly, which is something he had only done while coaching at AJV.
“Penn State for me was about ‘what kind of coach do I want to be?,’” Garcia said. “(It was) my first time at that level giving feedback to a Division I student athlete. The experience there was about how I want to communicate to young women who have a lot on their plate, who are competing at a very high level while also going to school. What does that world look like and what kind of coach do I want to be?”
During his time in Pennsylvania, Garcia grew into his coaching voice and developed the confidence he needed to advance in his profession. As a volunteer, the work he put in came with no pay, but that made him realize that this was truly his calling. Garcia had a close relationship with his family, so being away from that main support system was one of the most difficult parts of the job, but he embraced the challenge as he knew it would be a valuable learning experience and something that would help propel his career.
After a year, Garcia left Penn State to be a full-time assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Duke University Blue Devils. Despite being new to the recruiting aspect of college athletics, Garcia said that his energy and ability to connect with other people were traits that his fellow staff members at Duke saw in him and that allowed him to step into the role and be successful in it.
“Getting to Duke was about heightened responsibility and a heightened role,” Garcia said. “Duke was about being true to myself, operating the way I want to operate and having a reason for it. Saying ‘hey, I’m doing it this way because I feel passionate about it, because I’ve seen it and it’s worked in the past and I think it can continue to work.’ That was the biggest lesson there.”
Garcia understands that it is basically impossible to have a template for every situation when occupying a coaching position. Because of his experience across several high level institutions, he recognizes that the unique experiences from each of them — especially when it comes to the growth in his responsibilities as he transitioned roles — have helped him get to where he is now. Adaptability, problem solving, communication and energy have become some of the main foundations of his work, along with drive, passion, purpose and commitment.
Garcia draws from his experience at institutions that value both athletics and academics at a high level when entering his new position at St. Edward’s. Although he was unsure of taking a head coaching role this early in his career, Garcia and his previous mentors sensed that this opportunity was a challenge worth facing. Having played and worked across the street from the hilltop at AJV and assisted at UT, this opportunity was more than just another step in the Austin-native’s career, it was a chance to come home.
“For me it’s this seamless transition of this being another academic institution,” Garcia said. “Recruiting here will be different than recruiting at Duke, but figuring out that the families that are attracted to this place are gonna value similar things … We’re coming to get an elite education, we’re coming to play some of the best Division II volleyball in the country, I think for me giving that message was important.”
In going from NCAA Division I institutions to a Division II school, Garcia recognizes that it will be a learning process, but will not let that affect his vision and his work here. He understands that there will be differences across funding, recruiting and regulations, but maintains his purpose and passion at the center of his work on the hilltop. To him, if those elements — along with camaraderie, drive and joy — also become the core of his athletes’ efforts, “the other pieces will fall into line.” He strives to make an impact in his hometown, as well as in the Hilltopper community, and use his coaching experience to elevate the existing environment and culture to create a successful program.
“How can I be valuable to create the environment they need so that they can go be successful and learn what it feels like to win,” Garcia said. “What it feels like to upset someone and surprise the Lone Star (Conference) and for this program to be relevant. When people think about Lone Star Conference volleyball it’s like ‘St. Ed’s down in Austin, they’re in the mix every single year. I want them to feel that ‘cause it’s fun. It’s fun to win.”
Garcia believes that the process of fostering an ambitious mindset, a well-known program image and an environment for constant growth will take time, but will come with valuable results: winning. Being new to his position, he has set realistic goals to ensure incremental progress in order to achieve greatness in the future and establish a lasting legacy for the St. Edward’s volleyball program. The 26-year-old coach trusts the student athletes to make this program their own while combining the values of the institution with the ones he hopes to build the foundation of his tenure around. He wants this to become a place where families and students will feel safe, valued and supported, while having an experience that will allow them not only to become great athletes, but to become great people and adults once they graduate college.
“He’s going to elevate the program … In my first conversation with him, I could get a feel for the passion,” Sarrá said. “You could hear it in his voice and then when I met him in person you could feel it. You could have an idea of where he wants to be and what he wants to accomplish while he’s here.”
