The "way too soon" top candidates to replace Karch Kiraly at the helm of the USA women's national team.

For the first time in over a decade, the USA women's team needs a head coach.

The USA volleyball women’s national team will not have a familiar face on the sidelines when they next take the court in 2025. It was announced today that longtime head coach Karch Kiraly would take charge of the men’s national team for the LA2028 cycle. The women’s national team has not needed to search for a head coach since Kiraly assumed the role in 2013. Kiraly’s tenure with the women’s national team has resulted in one Olympic gold, three Olympic medals, one World Championship gold, three VNL titles, as well as other podium finishes. The bar has been set for the USA women’s national team, and living up to it will not be an easy task.

The opening for the national team is an attractive one. USAVolleyball can offer a high salary compared to other national teams, and it can also boast one of, if not the largest, talent pools in the world. The USA can offer volleyball prestige (two major titles and medals at the past five Olympics) that perhaps other national team programs cannot match, even if they do have the money.

The new coach will be thrown into the deep end in 2025 as the new World Championship cycle (every two years) begins. Expectations may still be high, but the World Championships are not the title that the USA forms their team and goals around. The prize is the Los Angeles Olympics at home in 2028. There will be incredible pressure to continue the success at the Olympic level and perhaps even win gold on home soil.

John Speraw and USAVolleyball may have already determined who they want to succeed Kiraly, but until then, we will have to guess at who they may consider for the job or who wants to be considered.

Coaches that I believe will be under consideration can fall into three categories: international coaches, NCAA coaches, and wild cards. They may overlap more or less, but in general, they will fit into one of the above.

International Coaches

Danielle Santarelli: Santarelli is one of the most in-demand coaches in the market. After winning the 2022 World Championship with Serbia, he moved to Turkey, where he took charge for the 2023 VNL title and then a fourth-place Olympic finish. It’s no secret that Santarelli may follow the money when it comes to coaching (sorry, Serbia), but if it is titles and accolades he is after, the USA could offer him better potential than Turkey. His role with Conegliano has seen him work alongside many of the American national team members as well, which could serve a double benefit in the future.

Giovanni Guidetti: One of the most well-known international coaches, Guidetti is available after parting ways with Serbia this past summer. Known for his role in the rise of the Dutch and Turkish national teams, Guidetti is one of the most experienced national team coaches in the world. Although it also comes with faults, especially in the Olympic Games, where Guidetti has failed to meet expectations more than once. He will be quite familiar with the Americans due to his time with VakifBank and, most notably, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Ali Frantti.

Tama Miyashiro: Tama would be a logical choice to follow the same path that Kiraly did, from assistant to head coach. She knows the USAV culture and system, as well as all of the players within the program. Tama will get her first head coaching experience as she takes on LOVB Salt Lake next year. She would offer continuity and familiarity with both the NCAA and international systems, while most of the international coaches will have limited experience with how the NCAA works.

Stephane Antiga: Antiga would be an interesting choice. He won a world title with the Polish men’s team in 2014 and had a very successful stint with the Polish women’s club team Rzeszow, most notably alongside Kara Bajema. Antiga would be a risky choice due to his lack of women’s national team experience and his recent debacle with Scandicci, but he has the high-level experience that could carry on Kiraly’s legacy.

NCAA Coaches

NCAA coaches are probably not likely to want to step away from their fairly comfortable contracts that the NCAA can offer, but can the opportunity for Olympic glory sway them? USAV’s most successful coaches have not taken the NCAA path first, so it would be interesting to see how this plays out.

Dan Fisher: Fisher is probably the obvious answer. He’s from Southern California, has overseen the rise of the Pitt program, and has international experience coaching the USA youth teams. Fisher has many of the tools needed in an international head coach. The biggest question would be: does Dan Fisher want it? He has built Pitt from the ground up, has two of the best players in the NCAA who could very well win NCAA titles for him, and he (most likely) received a nice raise after Penn State’s interest a few years ago. Fisher’s lack of senior international experience may have Speraw looking at other options.

Erin Virtue: Virtue has been an assistant coach with the national team for the past two cycles before venturing into her new role as Michigan’s head coach. It would be very unlikely for a coach to balance both a high-level NCAA team and the American national team. Given that, I think it is unlikely that Virtue is seeking this role, but you never know. She has high-level experience with the international game and the USA system, and she is one of the most qualified coaches to carry on what Kiraly has built.

Jamie Morrison: Jamie Morrison has been involved with USAVolleyball and international volleyball for quite some time before taking the role as head coach of Texas A&M. He knows the ins and outs of what USAV wants from their coach and has coached the U19 team to a world title. The flip side for Morrison is that his experience as the Dutch national team head coach wasn’t as successful as he or they wanted it to be. Would that risk be taken on by USAV?

Wildcards

These are all wildcard choices. Choices that may be very out there, but you never know.

Logan Tom: Who better than the one who started the rise of the USA? Tom helped put the USA on the map internationally, and it is time for her to come home. Logan has been coaching throughout Israel, both for club and the national team, over the past few years. It would not be the first time a highly successful player shifted into coaching (wink Kiraly, wink).

Lauren Bertolacci: There is no more underrated coach in the world right now than Bertolacci, who is in charge of the Swiss national team as well as Swiss club Viteos NUC. She also has international experience with both Canada and Australia. Bertolacci is one of the few female head coaches in Europe right now and has proven her skill through her accomplishments with Viteos (five-time Swiss champion, Silver CEV Cup, their first European medal). She would be an outside-the-box idea, but maybe USAV needs an outside-the-box approach.

Salima Rockwell: If you couldn’t catch my drift, we need more female representation in the sport. Rockwell has had extreme success as a player and as a coach in the NCAA. She also has national team playing experience. Rockwell is well-versed in the international game, showcased through her analysis and commentary of matches. She could offer a shift for USAVolleyball, representing another former player as well as their first female head coach since Jenny Lang Ping.

Other names because it will be embarrassing if it doesnt come from this list: Luka Slabe, Marco Bonitta, Brad Keller, Jordan Larson, Hugh McCutcheon (lol), Matt Fuerbringer, John Cook (lol), any one else in the world because who knows, this is for fun! lol