Volleyball Coaching Life-An Appreciation for Mike Hebert

I had met Mike Hebert a handful of times, had some nice chats with him during the times we would see one another in between sessions at the AVCA convention. He was a hero to me and probably many others. His accomplishments are many and his influence on how we see and play the game of volleyball in the United States is immense. I don’t want to give the wrong impressions: he did not mentor me in my coaching, we did not have deep conversations fueled by adult beverages long into the night, and we did not share any war stories together while out on the long road which dominates the life of a volleyball coach; even though it did feel like he mentored me, it did feel like we had long and deep conversations, it did feel like we had gone through the wars together, all because of his wisdom and his willingness to share. Mainly he communicated: he spoke, he wrote, and he shared. Through those means of communications and through various haphazardous links with those in his coaching tree, I learned about volleyball the Hebert Way.

I was eager to read his first book, Insights & Strategies for Winning Volleyball

 (M. R. Hebert 1995). I was just dipping my toes in the volleyball coaching world, and it helped that he was the head volleyball coach at my alma mater: University of Illinois. He arrived on campus just as I was graduating from my undergraduate studies, so we didn’t overlap at all. I chewed on and digested his chapters piecemeal. I looked to implement his Primary Hitter System to disastrous results, not through his explanations, but through my own poor understanding of the game and my insensitivity towards my player’s needs. The fact that I was coaching 14 and under really did not make the choice sensible or productive, yet I kept on trying to absorb as much as I can from the book, as well as trying to interpret what he is saying within my own context.

When he left Illinois to go to Minnesota, my heart broke a little because of my loyalties, but I understood that changing universities is a part of being a successful coach. I cheered on the Gophers as well as the Illini from that point onward. As I started to attend the AVCA conventions, I made it a point to attend his sessions on any and every topic. In 2011, he gave the Pre-convention seminar with Shelton Collier, who coincidentally was at one time the head coach of my other alma mater, Georgia Tech. The dynamic duo captivated my attention, they gave a brilliant talk about building a gym culture, not just the fact that you needed to build a gym culture but what purpose that gym culture served and how you would go about building that culture. Once again, I took their lessons and implemented on my teams, this time to much greater success than what I had previously experienced.

In that seminar, he told the Hebert original Pakistani chop serve story. I had heard it before, but I enjoyed the story regardless. Those who knew the story had the same Cheshire cat grin as I did, while the others in the seminar were furiously writing down the description of this supposedly lethal and effective serve. Until Mike hit them with the punchline. I was giddy to be in the know as I looked around at the others who knew the story and shared a conspiratorial smile. This was pure Mike, a bit of snark to lead you to the truth.

In the meantime, I had read his personal story in Mike Hebert, The Fire Still Burns (Mike Hebert 1993). I gained more respect for the man, learning of his experiences in the Peace Corp as well as his journey from Santa Barbara to Pittsburgh to Illinois. I was especially interested in his sojourn through the gradual school process and how he had attained his degree, as I had followed the same path. It made me feel a kinship with him knowing that we had gone through the fires of hell that is the doctoral process.

As Minnesota became more successful and more visible in the national collegiate volleyball stage, I always cheered for the Gophers even though I had no connections with the school. I wanted my hero in coaching to win the ultimate prize in collegiate volleyball.

I was, of course, devastated for him when he announced his retirement and revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Yet, the man still managed to surprise. He wrote his final book: Thinking Volleyball (M. Hebert 2013) in 2013. Indeed, I bought the book from the man himself after one of his AVCA sessions. As I was also buying the book for a good friend, I asked Mike to sign them both. I gave him my friend’s name and he stopped and looked at me to ask: “Is this for so-so from XYZ University?” I replied in the affirmative and he happily signed and said: He’s a good friend, tell him I said hi. My friend was just a little pleased to hear that.

The book of course was a much-appreciated upgrade on his Insight & Strategies book. More than that, it was a summary of a lifetime spent working in a profession he loved and in service to a sport that had been an obsession for him since he was very young. You can read the passion in his words and sense the breadth of his intellectual horizon in his incisive analysis. It is still one of the most treasured volleyball books that I own.

One thing that I will remember from my limited interaction with the man is his kindness and his sense of humor. I was at the convention when Shelton Collier introduced me to him. I was fanboying in a major way and as I shook his hand, he introduced himself. I was thinking: Uh yeah, everybody knows who you are. I introduced myself and he said: I know you, I read your comments on Volleyball Coaches and Trainers and on VolleyTalk. The fact that he recognized my name made two things abundantly clear, he reads the postings in fine detail and that my alias on VolleyTalk is worthless.

I can not truly express just how much I learned from the man, through his writing and his talks. The originality of his ideas and the ability that he possessed to communicate his ideas to the audience is remarkable. It was like talking to your favorite college professor, except it was on volleyball, and he realize that the passion that he has for the sport is shared by you.

The volleyball world has lost a great coach and intellectual. We will sorely miss his wisdom.

I wrote this on his Facebook page as a farewell, and I mean it truly.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity with your time and knowledge. You won't know just how much of an impact you had made on the life of this dilettante engineer/volleyball coach, but you have helped me define my philosophy and affected my coaching life profoundly. Your thirst for knowledge and willingness to talk to everyone who loved volleyball is infectious and inspirational.

Rest In Peace @monkeyboy (Coach Hebert’s alias on VolleyTalk)

References

Hebert, Michael R. 1995. Insights & Strategies for Winning Volleyball. Champaign IL: Leisure Press.

Hebert, MIke. 2013. Thinking Volleyball. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics Inc.

Mike Hebert, Dave Johnson. 1993. Mike Hebert the Fire Still Burns. Sagamore Press LLC.