The Curious Case of Linfield

In looking across the coaching landscape in our region, I was trying to figure out if we had any more head coach openings. It may seem strange, but some programs don’t announce when a coach is leaving no matter what that coach has done for the program and school. In most cases these coaches are leaving a team that is still very much attached to them. It all seems very disrespectful if I’m being entirely honest about it and frankly says a lot about the athletic leadership at that school. Think about a Heather Pavlik (Juniata) or a Julie Jenkins (Trinity) leaving for another opportunity and the school not releasing anything praising them and thanking them for their efforts. It wouldn’t happen. You might think this is different than a coach from a school without that pedigree, but I’ve seen programs not say a word about a coach leaving who holds their record for most wins. It really doesn’t matter the pedigree of the program. If the outgoing coach has poured their heart into the program, then they never truly leave and a few words thanking them is the absolutely bare minimum the athletic leadership can give them. All of that brings me to Linfield College.

Since 1980, Linfield has had 4 head volleyball coaches. That is mainly due to Shane Kimura who coached from 1980 to 2017 taking the program to four NCAA Tournaments. Since 2008, however, the program has been unable to achieve double-digit wins in the NWC. Since 2017 and prior to this year, the team has won a total of 11 NWC matches combined with previous coach, Haley Domeck, accounting for 9 of them. Coach Domeck entered the 2024 season having recruited 10 first-years but decided to step down days before her players were to report to school. I never did learn the reasoning for this but to say that is strange timing is an understatement. (And, no, there never was a press release from the school.) In stepped “Interim” Coach Lacey Bell who had been at Pacific for one year as an assistant after spending 15 years playing professional and semi-professional volleyball in France. She also brought a lot of coaching experience with all age groups with her. Think about that team that had gone all summer expecting Coach Domeck only to have their volleyball world turned upside down. Think about those 10 incoming first-years (6 of whom were from Hawaii). Think about the parents of those first-years who probably only had a relationship with Coach Domeck who now had to entrust their daughters to someone they did not know in any way. Coach Bell was announced on August 19^th, days before the players showed up on campus and less than 2-weeks before real matches started. This has all the makings of an epic disaster where the program relinquishes the gains they had made the season prior. It has all the making of another team uprising, which occurred with the coach that replaced Shane Kimura.

Fast forward to, well, now. Linfield basically replicated their 2023 results despite the turmoil of that coaching change. They matched exactly their conference record with four wins. Three of them coming in the back half of their conference season and highlighted by wins over the 5^th and 6^th place teams. This was certainly not a team in turmoil and with so many first-years and sophomores contributing, you’d have to say it was a team on the rise. It was an absolute no-brainer to see an announcement from the school that stated they were removing the “interim” tag from Coach Bell’s title. So, imagine my shock when I got a text from Ricky Nelson telling me that the Linfield Head Coaching position was open and had been posted. My immediate thought was that the school was required to have Coach Bell interview for the position but that it was hers for the taking. I was wrong.

I reached out to Coach Bell regarding the situation. She had nothing but praise for her team and the Linfield amenities afforded to her team. She absolutely loved the experience. She had a talented recruiting class lined up and received nothing but positive feedback from her current team. So, the question, remains, why won’t she be the Linfield coach in 2025? Coach Bell was unable to help in that answer. She indicated that unless something opened up in the Pacific Northwest (near her family) that she would be heading back to France where opportunities with the French Volleyball Federation await. (So, a national team wants you but not Linfield?) I sent an email to Athletic Director Scott Brosius searching for answers, but I have not received anything back from the school.

Here is my take. Linfield is not a volleyball school. They care about football and baseball (notice that the AD is a former major league baseball player and former baseball coach at Linfield). Nothing wrong with that but if you couple that with their recent Title IX issues, you’d have to wonder if women’s volleyball is a priority and whether they want someone coaching that team to do anything more than just be a nursemaid and keep the uprisings to a minimum.

Maybe I’m reading too much from the tealeaves, but there is no reason Linfield can’t succeed in volleyball. What I do know is that this will never happen without the full support of the athletic department. I will be very curious to see who the next coach for the program is and how they compare to Coach Bell’s résumé.

As for Coach Bell, you may never get that “thank you” press release for coming into a situation where you quite literally saved them from a situation where “Coach” Brosius had to pickup the clipboard and wonder why the hit-and-run play he called didn’t work with his setter and middle. You definitely deserved better and it will be a shame if you have to go back to France to find it. So, from me, thank you. Thank you for your heart, thank you for your passion and thank you for the love you showed the program. Thank you for giving so much more than you received.

Potential coaches! Linfield’s Head Volleyball Coach Position is open! Proceed at your own risk.

Note – Other Region X openings are at Concordia, Dallas and UC Santa Cruz.