Volleyball

2016 NCAA national champion coach Tyler Taylor was Santa Clara volleyball's associate head coach for two seasons from 2017-18.

Taylor, hired in February 2017, spent 2015-16 as a volunteer assistant coach at Stanford. During Taylor's time at Santa Clara, the Broncos had four All-West Coast Conference selections, eight WCC All-Academic nods and one CoSIDA Academic All-District® 8 honoree. His primary responsibilities with the Broncos included on-court training and developing the team's defensive game plan.

The Broncos went 6-24 overall and 1-17 in WCC play in 2018. They won four of five matches early in the season from Aug. 25-31 to go to 4-2, but won just twice in their final 24 matches.

The early part of the 2017 campaign featured a landmark victory as Santa Clara downed No. 9 Kansas 3-2 on Sept. 15 in Leavey Center. The Jayhawks are the highest-ranked team Santa Clara has defeated at home in program history and the Broncos were the first unranked team to defeat Kansas since 2014. Santa Clara hit its stride during conference play, winning six straight matches from Oct. 21-Nov. 11 to match its longest WCC winning streak since 2015. Kirsten Mead topped all WCC players with 1,232 assists for the year. The team finished the season at 15-15 overall and 8-10 in conference action.

Taylor brought more than a decade of coaching experience to Santa Clara. In his previous role, he orchestrated a defensive game plan and serving strategy that helped Stanford hold its opponents to the lowest good pass percentage in the Pac-12 in 2016.

Prior to his time with the Cardinal, Taylor worked for two seasons as an assistant men’s coach at Golden West College (2013-15) and helped the Rustlers to a CCCAA state championship in 2013. The new Bronco coach’s tenure also includes stops at Central Arizona College (2011-12), University of Nevada (2010) and Cienega High School (2008-09). In addition to on-court responsibilities, Taylor created and implemented fitness programs for the teams at Golden West and Central Arizona.

Taylor began his club career with Zona Volleyball Club (2005-12) and he has also spent extended time with Arizona Premier Volleyball Club (2009-12) and Huntington Beach Volleyball Club (2012-15). His club teams medaled eight times across all competitions, including gold medals at the 2013 Boys' Junior National Championships and the 2015 Boys' SCVA Summer Classic.

In 2014, Taylor earned his master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University Irvine. He graduated from Arizona in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in psychology.

“I am very excited for the opportunity I have to work with Coach Wallace and the Santa Clara volleyball team,” Taylor said upon his hiring. “It is a young, talented group of players with a great amount of potential. I am looking forward to working with the staff, the Santa Clara athletics department and the entire Bronco community.”

FROM THE COACHES

"What drew me to Tyler was his great passion for coaching and learning the game. He’s a young guy with a wealth of experience that stems from a strong commitment to learning how to coach our sport. I like that he spent the last two seasons at Stanford and helped them to win the national championship last year. He has progressive ideas that will help us reach our goals." - Jon Wallace, Head Coach — Santa Clara Volleyball

"Tyler is a veteran of the sport and has a very broad spectrum of experiences. All of that added up brings very different and confident opinions — opinions I learned to trust. Tyler is also extremely focused, he will throw his whole life into the Santa Clara volleyball program. I am very happy for him, he has worked hard for a long time for this opportunity.” - John Dunning, Former Head Coach — Stanford Volleyball (2016 National Champions with Taylor on staff)

COACHING HISTORY

Santa Clara University – Women’s Associate Head Coach – 2017-18

Stanford University – Women’s Volunteer Assistant Coach – 2015-16

Golden West College – Men’s Assistant Coach – 2013-15

Central Arizona College – Women’s Assistant Coach – 2011-12

University of Nevada – Women’s Volunteer Assistant Coach – 2010

Cienega High School – Boys/Girls Varsity Coach – 2008-09

CLUB COACHING HISTORY

Huntington Beach Volleyball Club – 2012-15

Arizona Premier Volleyball Club – 2009-12

Zona Volleyball Club – 2005-12