Grand Canyon University Athletics
Coro: Werle's rapid rise honored
4/5/2018 5:48:00 PM | Men's Volleyball, Paul Coro
GCU boasts only men's head coach on AVCA's '30 Under 30'
Matt Werle is on Earth because of volleyball. His parents met while coaching high school games against each other.
Werle crawled on a volleyball court before he could play on it. He grew up amid the sport and excelled to a nationally acclaimed level. All the while, Werle unknowingly was taking on a coach's mindset by osmosis.
For a guy who did not want to follow his parents, Werle has raced along that path. He became Grand Canyon's head men's volleyball coach at age 27, has the Lopes ranked 14th in the nation in his fourth season and is being honored by his peers.
Werle was announced Thursday as the only men's volleyball head coach in this year's American Volleyball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 Award class. The AVCA recognized men's, women's and beach volleyball head coaches and assistant coaches, from all school evels, who were younger than 30 last year. Werle turned 30 in July.
"It's definitely an honor to be recognized," Werle said as his Lopes (17-10) prepared for a 6 p.m. Friday regular season finale against USC at Antelope Gymnasium. "Obviously, it's an elite group of young coaches. With the sport growing the way it is, I'm very proud but I also couldn't do it without the supporting cast of GCU, family and friends and athletes along the way who have helped me move my career along."
Werle's volleyball story began before he was born when his father, John, was coaching University High School in San Francisco and his mother, Cathy, was coaching Crystal Springs Uplands High School in nearby Hillsborough, Calif. Those court meetings led to courtship and baby Werle wound up being pushed in their ball carts before he could walk.
When Werle was 4, his father appeared in the Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd" section in 1991 when his University High girls volleyball team won for the 100th time in 101 matches. His mother also was mentioned because her team was the one that beat his father's team.
"I loved to go to practices and sit on the bench with my mom and dad for their matches and games," Werle said. "Seeing things that work and don't work and piecemeal together my own style. It has been super beneficial to have my mom and my dad. My dad still tries to coach me. He definitely still gives a lot of feedback. They come to every (GCU) match."
Werle became the national Division III Player of the Year for Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he set for three national championship teams. He was training with Team USA in California in 2010 when the coaching bug bit.
In need of money, Werle took a coaching job with a club team and fell for mentoring young players as a big brother, a style he tries to maintain as a young head coach with a nine-senior team.
Werle came to GCU in 2011 as a graduate assistant for the purpose of pursuing a master's degree, not a head coaching job.
"I dove in head-first and I just fell in love with being there for the guys and creating the bonds and the relationships and trying to get them to see the big picture of life through a sport," Werle said. "People involved in volleyball are very special. It's definitely a unique, quirky group of guys and the community that is there is just something that is like none other across the board."
Werle has lifted the program to its third consecutive winning season and a chance to host a conference playoff game next week if the Lopes beats USC, Stanford loses to two top-five teams this week and USC also defeats No. 13 Concordia.
"You never see him freak out," GCU senior middle blocker Ashton King said of Werle. "You never see him get overly excited or mad. He just stays really constant. If we're nervous, we can look at him and see him with that straight face and think, 'OK, if he's not freaking out, there's nothing to freak out about.' It's really almost comforting to see his confidence and it brings our confidence to a higher level."
Werle drew some of that coaching style from his father, who became kinder and more relationship-driven when it came to girls season after being rough on the boys teams (his dad was the only coach to kick him out of a gym). Werle also hung on the words of a Character Matters conference that GCU hosted early in his Lopes tenure.
"If you're frantic or anxious or appear to be stressed out on the bench, the guys will see that and then they'll just inherit that naturally without even knowing that it's happening," Werle said. "I've always tried to be calm and let them see me calm because hopefully they'll be calm on the court as well."
His Lopes test his cool at times, going to five sets in five matches this season. But GCU has won four of those matches.
"Even if we're down whatever to none, he still believes we can win and gets the best out of us," King said.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Werle crawled on a volleyball court before he could play on it. He grew up amid the sport and excelled to a nationally acclaimed level. All the while, Werle unknowingly was taking on a coach's mindset by osmosis.
For a guy who did not want to follow his parents, Werle has raced along that path. He became Grand Canyon's head men's volleyball coach at age 27, has the Lopes ranked 14th in the nation in his fourth season and is being honored by his peers.
Werle was announced Thursday as the only men's volleyball head coach in this year's American Volleyball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 Award class. The AVCA recognized men's, women's and beach volleyball head coaches and assistant coaches, from all school evels, who were younger than 30 last year. Werle turned 30 in July.
"It's definitely an honor to be recognized," Werle said as his Lopes (17-10) prepared for a 6 p.m. Friday regular season finale against USC at Antelope Gymnasium. "Obviously, it's an elite group of young coaches. With the sport growing the way it is, I'm very proud but I also couldn't do it without the supporting cast of GCU, family and friends and athletes along the way who have helped me move my career along."
Werle's volleyball story began before he was born when his father, John, was coaching University High School in San Francisco and his mother, Cathy, was coaching Crystal Springs Uplands High School in nearby Hillsborough, Calif. Those court meetings led to courtship and baby Werle wound up being pushed in their ball carts before he could walk.
When Werle was 4, his father appeared in the Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd" section in 1991 when his University High girls volleyball team won for the 100th time in 101 matches. His mother also was mentioned because her team was the one that beat his father's team.
"I loved to go to practices and sit on the bench with my mom and dad for their matches and games," Werle said. "Seeing things that work and don't work and piecemeal together my own style. It has been super beneficial to have my mom and my dad. My dad still tries to coach me. He definitely still gives a lot of feedback. They come to every (GCU) match."
Werle became the national Division III Player of the Year for Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he set for three national championship teams. He was training with Team USA in California in 2010 when the coaching bug bit.
In need of money, Werle took a coaching job with a club team and fell for mentoring young players as a big brother, a style he tries to maintain as a young head coach with a nine-senior team.
Werle came to GCU in 2011 as a graduate assistant for the purpose of pursuing a master's degree, not a head coaching job.
"I dove in head-first and I just fell in love with being there for the guys and creating the bonds and the relationships and trying to get them to see the big picture of life through a sport," Werle said. "People involved in volleyball are very special. It's definitely a unique, quirky group of guys and the community that is there is just something that is like none other across the board."
Werle has lifted the program to its third consecutive winning season and a chance to host a conference playoff game next week if the Lopes beats USC, Stanford loses to two top-five teams this week and USC also defeats No. 13 Concordia.
"You never see him freak out," GCU senior middle blocker Ashton King said of Werle. "You never see him get overly excited or mad. He just stays really constant. If we're nervous, we can look at him and see him with that straight face and think, 'OK, if he's not freaking out, there's nothing to freak out about.' It's really almost comforting to see his confidence and it brings our confidence to a higher level."
Werle drew some of that coaching style from his father, who became kinder and more relationship-driven when it came to girls season after being rough on the boys teams (his dad was the only coach to kick him out of a gym). Werle also hung on the words of a Character Matters conference that GCU hosted early in his Lopes tenure.
"If you're frantic or anxious or appear to be stressed out on the bench, the guys will see that and then they'll just inherit that naturally without even knowing that it's happening," Werle said. "I've always tried to be calm and let them see me calm because hopefully they'll be calm on the court as well."
His Lopes test his cool at times, going to five sets in five matches this season. But GCU has won four of those matches.
"Even if we're down whatever to none, he still believes we can win and gets the best out of us," King said.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Players Mentioned
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