Episode #94: Joslynn Gallop

🛩 Flying High: Joslynn Gallop’s 20 Years of Building Significant Volleyball at Embry-Riddle 

In this episode of Significant Coaching, Matt Rogers sits down with Joslynn Gallop, Head Volleyball Coach at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, for a conversation that’s as direct and energetic as her coaching style.

A former Division I standout at San Jose State, Gallop knows exactly what the best of the best looks like — and she challenges her athletes to get there. She’s built a program over her 20 years at Embry-Riddle that’s defined by a unique mix of fun, competitiveness, and tough love. From embracing a little good-natured trash talk to ensuring her players love the game as much as they push themselves, Gallop has created a culture that thrives on intensity with heart.

You’ll also discover why Embry-Riddle is much more than just a university for pilots and engineers, offering a wide range of academic programs alongside high-level athletics.

This episode is about what it really takes to compete fiercely, lead with love, and build a program that stands the test of time.

🎙️ Don’t miss Part 2 of this conversation on Significant Recruiting this Monday, where Coach Gallop shares her insights on the recruiting process, the traits she values most in athletes, and how recruits can stand out.

To learn more about Matt, his books, and how he supports athletes and families through the recruiting process, visit coachmattrogers.com. While you’re there, subscribe to the weekly newsletter for coaching insights, recruiting tips, and stories to help you lead and compete with significance.

Significant Recruiting Resources — Take the guesswork out of college recruiting with Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes, sport-specific Recruit’s Journals, and the Significant Recruiting Launchpad. Practical tools to help families research schools, stay organized, and build a smarter recruiting strategy. Learn more at CoachMattRogers.com.

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I don't wanna talk you into working hard every day. That's not gonna happen, and being Amber Riddle being a very high academic university, you've gotta take care of your schoolwork no one can do it for you. You gotta take care of yourself. You're away from home. Nobody can do it for you, and that's what we're looking for. And if you say you're in. It means you're in. Welcome back to the Significant Coaching Podcast, where we dive into the mindset, the methods, and the stories of the coaches shaping athletes, both on and off the field. I'm your host, Matt Rogers. You just heard a small taste of my conversation with Jocelyn Gallup, head volleyball coach at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and trust me, the full discussion is every bit as direct. Passionate and fun is that clip. Coach Gallup is a straight shooter who thrives on making the game fun, competitive, and intense. She's the kind of coach who embraces a little trash talk when it fuels competition and builds team chemistry. As a former division one standout at San Jose State, she knows exactly what the best of the best looks like, and she challenges her players to reach that level. Always with love, but never shine away from a little tough love when it's what they need. In our conversation, you'll also hear why Embry Riddle is much more than just a university for pilots and engineers. While it's world renowned for its aerospace programs, it offers a full range of majors and specialties from business to cybersecurity, to human factor psychology, all while competing at a high level in athletics, in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Sunshine State Conference. This is a conversation about building a culture where winning and joy can coexist, where athletes learn to compete fiercely while loving every minute of being together. On and off the court. And if you're listening today and wanna learn more about me, my books, or how I support athletes and families through the recruiting process, head over to coach matt rogers.com. Feel free to schedule a strategy session or just leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. Now let's get into my full conversation, part one with Coach Jocelyn Gallop. Okay. All right. Emory Riddle Aeronautical University. Yes. What do people need to know that they probably don't understand about those four words? First and foremost, we are the best flight in engineering school. Without taking away that we are much more than that. Okay. Okay. When I was looking for a job, I had no idea myself what Ember Riddle Aeronautical University was. Um, but we, it's a special place. It's a family place and it's somewhere that you can thrive academically, athletically, and enjoy Daytona Beach. Yeah. Yeah. So if I wanted to major in business or English or history, I can do that At Emory Riddle, you can. We have a few areas of education that we do not have, and there is no way that it's gonna work out here. But we do have so much more than just what's known or what you see on, uh, online. Yeah. And what's great is that our professors and our, um, you know, our committed. Faculty and staff really put it together and make it work, you know, um, for example, someone wanted to be a veterinarian. We have a doctorate program. It's not veterinarian school, but you gotta do that later anyways. Right, right. So get your medical piece done here and you are still gonna be dissecting sharks and rats, which gets you the veterinarian side, you know? That's right. Yeah. Love it. Yeah. And it's, it's a place that, you know, the, the faculty and staff can put things together and help. Get you whatever, wherever you wanna go. So it's not Goose and Maverick walking around in flight suits. It's, it's, we have that though. You have that, but, but we're so much more, you know? Yes, yes. Yeah. That's so cool. And I love that you didn't know much about it when you got there. You've been there 20 years, you've had a, you've had a great career. What's changed in your heart? 'cause you've stayed and you've, you've just, and one of the. If not the toughest volleyball D two volleyball conferences in the country. It's right there. It's probably number two if it's not number one. What's kept you there and what's, what's what, what makes you excited to go to work every day? Really it's the people, and I found this out 20 years ago. Um, our former ad, he's still our basketball coach. He's been here 35, 36. I don't wanna age him that well, but, um, he is been here for a long time. Our soccer coach, the same. It's a place where people come and really love it. Um, it goes from not only our coaching staff, but our administration. And then you go to the academic side. We have professors that have been here. For many of years our secretary just re um, retired at 46 years. Like it's a, it's a family place, you know, and it's, it is, like you just said, it's not, it's not work. Like I come to work and I'm like, sweet. I get to see my work friends who are, some of 'em are out of the office friends and some are not, you know, and, um, we, we are supported here and, you know, we're, we're just, it's just a place that you can have it all. Yeah, that's the part I miss about being a head college coach. I was a head college coach, athletic director for 15 years. I miss the relationships. I miss being able to walk across the hall to you and say, Jas, I need, I'm struggling with this kid. I need some advice. You know, it, it's, that is the best part of being a coach for me. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. It's the growth of, of these young student athletes, you know? Yeah. It's not just coaching volleyball, it's coaching life and growing and learning with them, still being here for 20 years, still learning and thriving and loving, you know, every day. What's one thing if you, if, if a high school coach came into your practices, they might see as unique or unconventional about how you run a practice. Um, well, I've got a few sayings. Okay. And I stick by those very well, and I just used it at camp with a bunch of 14 year olds. But, um, it worked. It's, you get what you tolerate. And from a coach's eye, um, we're very disciplined team. We're very systematic, um, team. And that doesn't come with, you know. Extreme consequences. It is just high standards. And so we don't, I don't say we over coach, but we coach very detailed. We take our time and let these young ladies learn why, um, not just how to do it, but why do we do it, you know, in the match when we only have two timeouts, they need to know why and figure it out. You know? And that's a lot of what we're doing is we're problem solving and we're not tolerating a lot of. Extra. Just keep it simple, you know? Yeah. What gimme an example of, of what that may look like in practice? Um, at practice, like it's just footwork patterns, right? Okay. We have ways that we do them, and if we do them efficiently, we can last for a really long time. If we do them inefficiently and waste a bunch of energy, we're gonna be gassed when it comes to set five. Yeah. And so our warmup is very detailed with footwork patterns, um, without the ball, you know, and then if you can do it without the ball, you do it with the ball and then you do it live. Um, and so there's lots of breakdown. There's lots of pieces that we, you know, that habitual stuff, those habitual movements, we need to learn. I was a basketball coach, so we, I could take my guards to one side and I could take my posts my forwards to the other side. We could work on individual things. I, I'm, that's gotta be a little bit harder with, on a volleyball court. So when you're talking footwork, is everybody working on their drop steps and their pivots and their framing? Is everybody working on their, on their hitting the ball? How, how do you, how do you work all that footwork in? Because every position's got different footwork. They've got a, they've got, we do. And we all have, they all have a. You know, kind of a warmup based on their position. Um, and then we collectively come together at the end. But really, we're, we're very fortunate. We have four courts here in our gym. Oh, that's awesome. And so we're spread out, like we've got this huge facility. You know, main court is usually designated for the setters and they're training. And then we've got a court for some hitters and Liberos are over here doing things. And so we're able to spread out and, you know, it's not micromanaged as far as they just know like, here's what you're gonna do to warm up, right? Get it done. And we get to float around and talk to people and see how it's going. Um, help out or, you know, answer questions. Um, but really it's goes to this. You know, this trust, and I'm gonna talk about that word a whole bunch because it, it matters a huge deal in, in coaching and leading. Um, but we trust that they're doing it to their best ability and they do. And because we don't tolerate the other stuff. I love that. Yeah. How, how, what role does your staff play in all that? Because when you have four courts and you're doing breakdowns, talk about trust you. Yeah. You can't be in every spot. You can't be hearing every little thing and coaching every little thing. So walk me through how you, you kind of develop your staff, how you use your staff and practice. Yeah. And I, I am glad you asked that 'cause I, I feel like I've got one of the best in the country as far as staff goes. My assistant coach played professional volleyball, played beach volleyball in the a BP, just as a gym rat. Like he just wants to train volleyball. Right. And so he is, by the end of warmups, he's like drenched in sweat. Right. Um, but we talk about it, you know, as far as like putting a practice plan together. We'll each have a plan. Going in. I don't need to know everything that he's gonna do with his group. Because again, the trust, um, we've got a couple student managers that may not do a bunch of the coaching part, but they're at least there to put balls in, you know? Yeah. Um, but they're super valuable in what they do for us and just really the energy they bring. 'cause they're unfortunately not playing the game. They're just around the game, you know? Right. And they just love being a part of what we're doing. Right. I love that. I, I, I never had a program where I had a big staff or I had a lot of managers. You know, if I had two assistants in the gym with me, it was, it was a, yeah, it was a luxury, right. So when you have three or four people, five people that can help expedite everything you're trying to do, get you through your drills faster, get more reps. Yeah, that's, that's such an advantage. Every day. And we look to our older, you know, our kind of, um, you know, the upperclassmen as well. Um, you know, if there's middles on a court and we've got a senior and a freshman, a sophomore, like, let's lead that, you know, or they get to talk about it together too. So it's a lot of team interaction, you know, a lot of ownership with what they're doing. I think that helps keep the trust very high, is they're not being looked at. You know, it's just the doing the right thing. 'cause it's what we do. Yeah. Um, and so they get to help each other out as well. Where does leadership start for you in developing that culture, that ownership with your kids? How, how do you get that freshman to become that senior who's leading or that junior that is leading with confidence? Say, this is how we do this, this is, this is, you know, we don't, we don't cut corners here. This is how we go about this. How do you create that? You know, I think it, it definitely starts in the recruiting process. It starts in the conversations about what do you really want? You know, what's your dream look like when it comes to college volleyball? You know, 'cause I was a kid and I, you know, you write a letter in ninth grade to yourself and you hide it, right? And it's like, I'm gonna play here and I'm gonna do this. And those are the conversations we're having during recruiting. It's like, what's your dream? You know, and being able to do that then gives us an advantage, I think, or maybe a headstart in the relationship building process. Um, 'cause it's all relationships and again, it'll all come down to trust, right? Yeah. Um, but if a freshman kind of knows, 'cause the recruiting process, it's easy for them to jump on. Right. You know, and it's easy for them to go, I already know about this. Like, coach already talked to me about this, or My teammates have already talked about this. 'cause we talked all summer leading up until when they get here. Um, you know, but it's that relationship that really, you know, I wanna know you and I wanna know what you want. 'cause if you tell me you wanna be the best, let's get there. But you gotta act on it too. You can't just tell me you wanna be the best. Right, right, right. Yeah. We all hear that, like, actions speak louder than words, but, you know, it's a, it's a good relationship process. I, I imagine it's huge on the other side too, where the recruit's going, I want that. I want somebody to gimme ownership. I want to be a leader. I want to be a part of that, where I can grow into that. I, I would imagine for a recruit, that's gotta be really exciting and it may weed out some of the kids that maybe wouldn't be good fits for you. Yes, for sure. And I think that that's, that's what we're trying to do in recruiting, right? Is like, are we gonna fit together? Right. You know? Right. I don't, I don't know what I am in other people's eyes, but I'm a little bit crazy 'cause it's all like happening, right? And we gotta put it all together and super organized. But you know, if you can buy into my crazy and I'll help you get to where you wanna go, you know, it's like yeah. We're all, we're all into it. And some people love it and some people don't. And that's what you're saying, that's where you're either gonna love it. Get into this, or I'm not right for you. And that's part of it, right? Like that's okay. When recruits say no, it's heartbreaking, but it's still okay. Yeah. I, you know, I don't think parents and kids understand how personal this is to us. When we recruit, there's a reason we're coming after you. We really like you. Right, right. We really, we wanna be around you for the next four years, and when you tell us No, it's, it's, it's, it's like asking somebody out to date and they say, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna date this person instead. Right. You know, it's, it's hard on us. So I, I, I love that. And I, I, and I don't think it can be talked about enough for kids to understand this isn't volleyball, this isn't just education. This is, this is your second family. This is mm-hmm. This is the world you're gonna grow up in, and you want to be with the right people. Right. Right. Yeah. I love it. And it's definitely like we're gonna have great days and we're gonna have really hard days and you're gonna cry and I'm gonna cry, and then we're gonna hug, and then we're gonna keep growing together. 'cause like I said, this is, you never end, never ending learning, you know? That's right. It's funny, I, you know, I teach kids how to get recruited and I teach them how to communicate with coaches. And I say at the end of the day, really all we're doing is you're saying, coach, I'm interested in you. I'd like to know if you'd be interested in me. And, and, and for me, there's no better way to start a conversation with a, a coach that you're interested in, because that's really what it's gonna be. I'm interested in you, here's why you've got my majors. I like the location. I've, I've researched your program. You sound like the type of coach I'd like to play for. Now I'd like to know if you'd be interested in me. So it sounds like you kind of take that approach as well. Yeah. The simplicity of that, right? Yeah, definitely. Because it's, I don't wanna talk you into working hard every day. Yeah. Like that's not gonna happen, you know? Yeah. It's like, come on, are you into this? And being Amber Riddle being a very high academic university, you've gotta take care of your schoolwork, right? No one can do it for you. Right. You gotta take care of yourself. You're away from home. Nobody can do it for you, you know? Right. And that's what we're looking for. And if you say you're in, you're in. It means you're in. You're not in and out and on this bubble. Like it's in or out. Yeah. For sure. I, I don't feel like you, you know, you and I have had this conversation. We've talked about this a little bit. I don't feel like you've had retention issues over the last 20 years, have you? Not so much. Um, we don't lose a lot of kids because of transferring. Um, we've, you know, some people don't make it here. Um, not because of a lack of resources or a lack of trying, it's just not the right place. But no, not a ton. I mean, in my 20 years, if I had to sit down and write a list, I bet you it's on my two hands. Yeah. Which is unheard of these days, which I'm proud of because it Yes, you should be. Yeah. It's a great place and you can really, you can really thrive here. Let's, let's talk about that. Every coach says the culture matters. What's something that you actually do to protect your culture when a player or a situation threatens it or you're, you're worried about it doesn't feel like it's supposed to feel, is there stuff that you do to kind of protect that culture? You know, it, that's, that's a tough question because it's, it's very open-ended, but I do believe that we protect ourselves with the right people and we have the hard conversations. That's my job as the adult and as the person here, if it's not working out, I have to be the one who steps up and approaches that tough conversation. Right. Um, because. We're, that's what we're doing. We're trying to teach these young athletes how to do that in life. And it's not easy. It's not easy, easy to have those tough conversations. Um, but really it's, it goes back to recruiting. And I'll, I'll say this, it's like getting to the families and getting to know what people want and holding 'em to an expectation and a standard, because that's all people want. Like if, yeah. You know, is too much freedom is kind of scary, right? Um, too much structure and too much micromanagement is super just intimidating and scary. And finding that balance, you know, finding the balance of, you know, what you sign up for is out there. It's very well communicated. It's very black and white. Um, and that's how we try to do things here. It, it's, it's so important because we have to push. You know, it's most kids, and I'm gonna put my hand here at my eyes. Most kids think that this is their, their level of potential. And as a coach, and I'm gonna put my hand above my head. Now it's our job to kind of get 'em further than they thought they could. Right. So for you, when it comes to challenging your players, how do you go about that kind of getting them past that comfort zone and, and understanding they've got more in them than they thought? You know, it's, it's good to have a background in doing it, you know, that's always helpful. Yeah. You know, being a successful student athlete myself, um, but also just. Being prepared as the leader, you know, being prepared as a staff, as the leadership. If we're ready to go in and battle, then they're gonna be ready to go in and battle. Right, right. Um, they're trusting us, we're trusting them, and they see like, okay, coaches habit. You know, it's very, it's very hard thing to do, and I thought about this conversation and whatnot. It's like, we don't get to have bad days. Even if we're having a bad day, we have to go give ourselves and be, have this giving mentality, this servant leadership no matter what we're going through. Right. And that's where I think it, it strengthen, strengthens, you know, we could. We could allow for a bad day or we can go, you know what, we've got something to do together. And it's always about us doing it together, our team, you know? Um, and that really keeps my cell my head kind of level in my life, you know, with kids and work and dah, dah, dah. It's like, how do stay prepared? Um, we've gotta stay level and know that we're all in this together. I, uh, I miss that. As much as I miss the conversations with other coaches, I miss that we're building something that's bigger than ourselves. And, and, and there's so many days where we, we might have 14, 15 practices, three, four games in a row. We're traveling and we don't realize how much we're growing together and how much we're learning about each other and accepting each other. For you. Are there things that you try and do throughout the year when you know you've had a hard stretch or there's, there's been midterms and you feel like the girls are wearing down? Are there things that you do to kind of say, I'm watching you. I see you, we, we need a breather today. Right. And that's, that's where we have to be really strategic and very good at our job is allowing for recovery. Um, allowing for fun too. You know, I think the, if you asked our team, what was the fun part of last year when we traveled to, you know, um, where did we go? We went to Lee, Tennessee last year. It wasn't the volleyball. We went thrifting. And I didn't know what that was and I'm, you know, I'm old school. I'm like, oh, is that become, what am I doing? Where am I going? And we all dressed up and we had a great time. Like it was like, let's go do something else besides, it's not all just volleyball in school. Right, right. You know? Um, but that was our, like, okay, we made it here after 11 hour drive. 'cause we sat two hour traffic, you know, we got some dinner. We don't play tomorrow until the afternoon. Like let's get up and do something like let's get up and have some fun. So we went to the thrift store and you've seen it on TikTok or whatever where Yeah, everybody picks out the outfit for so and so and whatever. Oh, it was so much fun. And that's the stuff that really helps you grow together. You know, it's remembering that we're all just human and we like to have fun and laugh and you know, get out of the serious mode all the time. Yeah, my, my 12-year-old son, one of the moms did a birthday party and she took him to a thrift store and they each had to do that. They had to buy each other 12 dress. That, that sounds d That was so, it was so funny what 12 year olds picked out for each other, you know, it was just, correct me, uh, um. The boys picked out a jersey. My my son is the smallest 12-year-old you're ever gonna meet. And somebody picked out this basketball jersey for him that was like a men's extra large. I mean, it was like a oversized dress on him, right? So it was great. Um. Again, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make your brain work a little bit when you look back and some of those, you know, there's a couple of decisions that I had to make. Were really, really hard that are always in my brain. You know, whether that's cutting a player or making a decision about assistant coach. Talk about a time in your career where you had to make that hard decision and you weren't quite sure what to do with it, but it turned out being absolutely what you and your team needed. That's, it's interesting because there's, there's so many stories that are hard, right? Right. This job is hard and this lifestyle is hard. Um, you know, and that's where I'm super grateful for the longevity of our coaching staff. 'cause I can go to our men's soccer coach, you know, who's been here for 35 years and has probably seen everything under the sun, you know, or a basketball coach or baseball, whatever. Um. But really it's, you know, it's one of those things, and I hate to say this out loud, and I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not, but I had a student athlete who was an only child, and I'm not judging old, new children. But she was so hard for me as a human, and I know exactly what you're talking about. What? I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. My assistant coach, she's a great player and you know, we wanna give some opportunities. So he gives her, she's committed. I don't have the relationship as maybe as deep as, because he took the lead on the one right. She was so hard. Her and I just didn't have anything in common. We had no, we didn't have work ethic in common. We didn't have anything in common. And I went to a senior coach and he said, you know what, you can't save everybody. And I looked at things completely different because I can want something for you. You can tell me what you want, but you have to really act on it. Right, right. And instead of doing the chop, like the chopping block, right. It was, we're gonna try this one more time. And it's gonna happen to be my way or we're done. Um, but without saying it like that, right. Without Right, without saying it, me versus you. It was the program and the big, the big picture, you know? Yeah. Seeing the big picture in what we're trying to do here. Um, again, it goes back to the why, not just how, but why. And her, I've been to her wedding, I have, um. Been to her baby shower and we see each other. She comes to our gate. Like, it's, it's become a great relationship. Well, but I, if, if I would've been like, cut and dry, I would've lost that opportunity to really be a, in a, you know, a, a guiding relationship and a friendship and Right. Just somebody for this young lady who is now a mom and, you know, successful career woman. Um, but that's what I take. I think at this time in my career is how can we impact, right? And we can't save everybody, but we can give it that one more try. You know? Yes. Um, we can't save every situation, but we can try a little bit better next time, you know? Yeah. And, and some kids, they just need you to get there where you're like, okay, I've tried to do this a hundred ways, now we're gonna do, here's your reality here, here's Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because you never wanna give up on somebody, but Right. When, when I was mentored of, you can't save everybody. Right. If it was at all on the defensive side by this young woman, or the excuse making, or you know, super defensive going, that's not me. I don't know if it would've worked. So we both had to kind of open our eyes to where we're trying to go. Yeah. You know, and that's that. I think the relationship part of this whole interaction, this whole business, this whole opportunity is the tough stuff. Yeah. And it's, it's so powerful too, because as a 19-year-old, 20-year-old, 18-year-old, whatever it may be, to hear someone who's responsible for your future, who has a lot of control over whether you play volleyball again, or whether you play volleyball here, to almost hear that person say directly, I can't save everybody. I'm to the point where I'm not sure I can save you. I want to, I want to have a relationship with you, right? But here's where we're at, and I'm not sure if there's a more powerful message for a teenager learning how to be an adult to here. Mm-hmm. This can end tomorrow. We can walk away and you can go your way and we'll go ours. I don't want that to happen, but this is where we're at. Yeah. That's pretty powerful. Yeah, and I think, I mean, are we all doing this for life after, right, right. Life after sport because when she's 30 or whatever, and having a tough time at her job, her career, and she's faced with these tough things. That's all we're trying to do is prepare, you know? Yeah. To give them a little bit of, a little bit of something Yeah. That they can take with them. So, yeah. When they get married, they get their first job, they have their first boss that doesn't fit them well. They're not hearing for the first time, you've gotta figure this out, or you're gonna go someone else. Right. Or we're not gonna be together anymore. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I, that's the role that I love playing as a coach, and it's the hard role, you know, it's, it's. I, I don't know. I, I don't think you can get into this job without wanting that even how hard it is. You know, you, you have to say, I, I, I want these kids to be better. I want them to leave here as capable, competent adults. And if I don't have some of these conversations with them, if I don't have high expectations for them, I'm failing them. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So I, I love that about you coach All I I, every season I have a college president on. And I, I, I just, I love talking to college presidents about the big picture. Some of them have, you know, athletics is such a small part of their brain and some of 'em athletics is the centerpiece 'cause they know what athletics can do for them. Um, the president I had on was the president of, uh, junior college. He's also the chair of the D three, um, uh, NCAA committee for presidents. So he had a great perspective. And one of the things he said, he goes, every time we hire a coach, I have a marker board in my office and I go write on the board what your program's gonna be known for. Right on the board. What your legacy or, you know, when we talk to people about your program, what are we telling them? I'm gonna throw that at you. 'cause I thought that was so great. I mean, and, and you gimme that look like you have to think about it. But you've been doing this for half an hour already telling me what your program so far. But when you think about. This is kind of the one or two things that really make our program special. 'cause you have a special program, you've done so well, you've had such a great career. What are those things you're like, this is, this is why we win. This is why our kids leave here prepared. I. Yeah, I think in that legacy, you know, we've had, um, a passing of one of our coaches recently and just thinking about what's his legacy and it's always just your legacy here, just for volleyball for me is just being a servant leader. You know, being someone that's just. Grateful for this opportunity and how can I help you? Right? Um, how can I, you know, be someone that doesn't keep score about, you know, well, I've done this for you and you need to do that for me now, you know, it's just about giving myself and give myself, not just to the volleyball game, but to these young ladies who I had the best college experience ever. Like I thought if I could go back, I can't play anymore 'cause I'm gonna have a knee replacement. But after that, if I could go do it again, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was so great. My coaches, um, you know, San Jose State was great. I wanna help provide that to these ladies who, who have worked so hard for this opportunity, you know? Um, and so it's much, it's so much of just a giving and, you know, trying to be a good. Good role model, a good person, a good advocate for our sport and for life as a career mother. Um, you know, having two kids and doing all that, it's not easy. My husband travels like, you can do it all. Yeah. You know, you really can. And that's what I want. I, I hope our team, our young ladies take away from here is like, I can do that. Yeah. You know, I can do it. Yeah. Well, I think that's what separates a great coach from a, a mediocre coach is we all talk about being a servant leader, but it's the ones that say, this isn't quid quo pro. I, I don't need that giving to come back to me. It's great when it does, but if I'm gonna be a servant leader, I, I've gotta give, I've gotta be generous. I've gotta my time's, my time's gotta go to a lot of different people. But when kids need me, I'm gotta be there for them. Yeah, right. I love that. Um. If I sat in on a practice, okay, because I, I love practices. Um, I love practice. It's the best part of my day. I do, I know, me too. Um, if I walked outta that practice, what would I, what would I still be thinking about and talking about two, three days later? Okay, first we're gonna jam in the beginning. We're gonna play music, we're gonna like get ready, we're gonna go right? We're gonna have fun. And I think you're gonna remember most just the competition, the level of competition, the battle that these young ladies are gonna go into every single day, and then high five each other, give each other a hug, and then see you later at the apartment, you know? Yeah. Um, but that's, that I think is something that. You would walk out of our gym and go like, man, that was fast paced and people were crushing balls and making things happen, and just really exciting. That's awesome. Well, and it's good. It's exciting to come to practice every day when you know that's how it's gonna be. For sure. Yeah. It's, it's, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're walking into a workout and Yeah. And you're gonna do it with your friends and you're gonna have a blast and you're gonna be challenged and that's great. Going back to that marker board, is that what your program's known for in terms of on the floor? Is it speed or is it something else that you feel like, this is kind of our identifier, this is what makes us special? Um, I would say we're. Discipline and the systematic, right? We're disciplined with how we move and, um, how our system plays out. All the, all the pins, everything's kind of working together, right? All the cylinders are rolling together and kind of feeding off of each other. Um, you know, and we'll, it, I think the speed of play is always dependent on the personnel. You know, everybody always asks me, are you gonna run a five, one, or a six two? Depends on the personnel. That's right. Can we cut fast or can do we have to slow down our offense? Depends on the passing, right? Right. It all depends. Um. But just the level of competition and, you know, the respectful trash talking is encouraged. Like, come on, get after each other. Like when you do something, be like, mm-hmm you can't get me, or, you know, just having those good banter back and forth as far as, 'cause that's real, like that's what people wanna do, not. Just this quiet volleyball. It's loud and it's, you know, it's intense. I would say intense over speed, maybe kind of intense, you know, and, uh, just a lot of fun. Like practice is my favorite. Like I, my assistant coach and I get here at eight 30 every morning and we sit here and wait, like, we're like, okay, when's practice? When's practice? You know, let's go, let's go, let's go. Can we talk about it more? Can we talk about it more? But yeah, it's, it's a great time. That's so much fun. All right. What's the truth about coaching at college athletics that nobody tells you before you sit in that head coaching chair? That's a, um, long story short, our, one of my best friends just got our head baseball job last year, and he is been an assistant for years and he looks like it's hard and I'm always going, Hmm. It's kind of hard, huh? Like this now is way different. But anyways, um. What's hard. I just love it all. It is hard, but I love it all. I think just, I dunno what to say. What, think about your assistants and, and some of the girls that have left your program that are went into coaching, what, what did they have to learn when they got that head coaching job or? What advice would you give me? That, Hey, you gotta be thinking about this. It's not just fun and games, you know, I'd like to tell you it's 90% volleyball and 10% everything else. You know? What are some of the things that a, a young coach, a young assistant, getting into this doesn't understand about being in that chair? I would say be patient with success. Right? Patience is. I think hard for everybody. It's definitely hard for me. Um, it's hard for this generation 'cause it's all instant gratification. Um, but be patient because success looks different for everybody. Right, right. Um, success to a non-starter, like what does that look like for them? And then that's the hard part I think managing all the different personalities, all the different roles that people play. Um, you know, but really. Making it intimate to that one person and finding their success, you know? Yeah. Um, because it's all so different, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I, I had to learn this the hard way. I got my first job at 26, and I was, imagine, I imagine that's where, where you were, you must been really young too. Um, how little I got to coach basketball. How many meetings I was in and how many, you know, loads of laundry I was doing and cleaning locker rooms, you know that. Yeah. It was, it was kind of, I, I did it all. Do you find that that affects coaches when they get that job for the first time, that that can negatively affect their desire to do it or affects how they do it when they realize that it's not just coaching and recruiting? I think so. 'cause it goes back to that servant part. Yeah, like we set up our match base. Like I, I set up the, the net for game day. Yes. Yeah. I take pride in it. Yeah. I want the chairs to be a certain way. Right. Our game management staff is out of this world. They're so great, but I take pride in doing those little details. Because it's, it's what I'm putting out there for whether you're on this live stream or you're visiting from out of town, or you're the parents that come every weekend, like we're putting on our production. Right? Yeah. And taking the step back and not, again, it's not like, what am I doing this for? What am I getting for this? It's what am I giving? And that I think is. Um, you know, you're gonna start at the bottom when you're a new coach. Um, but don't get rid of that, you know, that blue collar, that hard stuff, even when you've been doing it as long as I have, because that's the stuff that really, like, it matters to me. Those little things matter to me, you know? Yeah. You're, you're inviting people over to your house, right? Right. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, the floors, the, this, that, like we do it, my assistant coach and my staff, we do it for every home match. Um, you know, I wouldn't have it any other way. Right. Because it's our turn to show you what we've been doing, you know? Yeah. I love that. Are you ready for a little rapid fire, fun questions? Not that this hasn't been all fun. Sure. We're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna Colbert rapport. You we're gonna get to know you in a, in a okay way. Okay? Uh, is, do you have a go-to pregame hype song? Is there a music that you like before? No. So well, yes, but I listen to it every day in my car. I listen to chill out. Because I think life is so crazy and I don't need to be like jamming hard. I need to chill out, you know? Um, and here's just one little tidbit on top of that. Always the girls are like, it's six o'clock, you know, and we're doing our scout report, or you know, games at seven. Are you hyped? Are you ready? I'm like, no, 6 59, I'll be ready to go. If I'm hype for like 12 hours, I'm outta gas. By the time your game starts, like I gotta like, and then I can turn it on. Like a light switch. Yeah. But like, let me chill. I love it. Is it more instrumental? Or, okay. All right. I love that. Okay. Just kind of let your mind wander, like, woo, you know, I love it. Is there, um, do you have any superstitious before games? Is there anything that you do before every game? Um, well, I gotta eat 'cause I'm a foodie. Um, no. Yes, no. I wear black. Okay. I, I love black too. Yeah. I'm, same way black is like game day. It's like, here I am. Like, you wanna mess with me black? Yeah. I'm the same way. Yeah. You look at any pictures over the last couple years of me coaching, it's always in black. Yes. Love it. That's my thing. You're a foodie. Is there a go-to pre-game or post-game meal that you love or you often go to or a restaurant? Well, I just eat chips and salsa like every minute. So no, not really. Not really every minute, but like you could. I could. Right. Um, really it's whatever leftovers are in the fridge. You've talked about how fun your practices are. You've talked about how much competition and the girls connecting. Is there a player celebration you love the most? I just love it. Like the fist pump, you know, and the like, just that like. Ah. You know, I just love it. I, I mean, you see it everywhere in sports. Yeah. You know, not at a person, just like with your team and like Yeah. And especially when it's the quiet person who never does any, like, no facial expressions ever. And then they do something and it's like, and they get into it. I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. Like, we're into it. You know, we're in a zone if they're into it, you know? Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Um. Is there something you've taken from another coach? And it doesn't have to be like a drill or anything, it could be anything you want. You're like that, that you've kept all these years that you've made your own. Is there something you've stolen or borrowed? You know, we play a lot of wash games here and in the volleyball world there's a game called USA and you have to win three in a row and it's really hard. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Well we've made it ERAU, so now you gotta win four in a row. So we've leveled up a little bit. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We had a drill like that. We called it warrior. You had to score three times in a row. If the other team stopped you, you were off. You had to score three and you got to play off it. So I love that. Um, if you could coach any other sport for one season, what would it be? One season, any other sport. Can it be a men's sport? Absolutely. Okay. I would definitely do men's basketball. Okay. I don't know why. Just because my kids play and I think watching men's basketball is way cool. And I, well, you love, it's, you've been talking how much you loves speed and athleticism. Yeah. And yeah, it makes sense. And I love that these females are getting into the NBA and doing all these things. I'm like, that's cool. You get to like. Talk to that seven foot guy like that, you know? That's right. I love it. I dunno. I love it. Um, if you could have dinner with any past athlete or present athlete or coach, who would you choose? Probably Kobe. Kobe. Yep. Yeah, we've got a basketball theme here. I love it. You're speaking my, yeah, I mean, I got two boys. That's all we do right now. That's great. Alright. If I could bring them to dinner, that's all I need to bring my kids. Yeah, absolutely. You can't have, you can't go back in time and have dinner with Kobe and not bring your boys. Absolutely. Um, all right. Final question. I try and ask this to every volleyball coach. 'cause we have this debate in my house every day. I've got a club volleyball player, high school volleyball player, and my wife's a volleyball fanatic. That girl that wears the other color jersey, what do we call her position? LiRo. LiRo, what do you call it in Colorado? Well, we call it LiRo too, but every coach I talk to has a different story about why they call it something else. Liber. I don't know if it's technically Libro. Yeah. You know, I'm from the west coast. I'm from Oregon, so yeah, you know. Say, I don't know. Well, it's funny 'cause Becky Schmidt, the head coach at Hope, was on the podcast a few months ago, and I asked her this. She goes, Matt, we were in Italy playing, and I asked, you know, this is Italy, this is, yeah. Where the word came from. Right? And I asked the head coach, how do you pronounce it? And she said, he said, LiRo. And I go, all right, but it was in Italy. Of course, they're gonna say it a little bit differently than the way we say it here, so I That's important to hear and I'm not really good at it. Rolling my Rs. Yeah, I'm practicing. I've got a, I've got a Puerto Rican Libero LiRo, and I've like the coaches from Puerto Rico, and I try, but you know, yeah. I'm just a country girl. I I'm with you. I'm with you. And, and lib just, it rolls off the tongue in short, a little bit easier. The bros. There's the bros, right? They're the bros. Yeah, exactly. Coach, this has been awesome. Thanks for talking, coaching with me. I'm excited to do a part two with you. I've got, I've been holding back, talking, recruiting with you so I'm excited to have him do a part. We were go in there and I was like, don't say that. A. That was such a fun conversation with Coach Jocelyn Gallup. I love how she brings that perfect mix of intensity, fun and tough love to the game, and how she has built something truly significant at Embry Riddle over her 20 years of leading that program, creating a culture that goes far beyond volleyball. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you subscribe to my weekly newsletter@coachmattrogers.com for coaching insights, recruiting tips and stories to help you lead and compete with significance. And don't miss part two of my conversation with Coach Gallup coming this Monday on significant recruiting where we'll dive deep into the recruiting process, the qualities she looks for in athletes at each position, and the types of characteristics. That get her excited about a recruit. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time on Significant Coaching with Matt Rogers. I.