The University of Portland announced on Monday that head volleyball coach Brent Crouch was leaving the Pilots to take on the same position as head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans women’s volleyball team.
Crouch came to UP in 2014, a year after the team had just finished 0-27. Three years later, the team won an unprecedented 17 games in 2017, and have finished third in the WCC the past two years. Crouch also won WCC Coach of the Year in 2016.
Crouch is taking over a historically accomplished USC team. The Trojans have won six national championships and have advanced to 27 straight NCAA tournaments, including an appearance in the NCAA Regional Finals this past season.
“It is with mixed feelings that I leave University of Portland,” Crouch said in a news release from University of Portland. “I'm excited for the new challenge that awaits me at USC, and to be closer to my wife, Marcy's, family. But, I have loved my time here in Portland and have spent it with simply amazing administrators, faculty, and most of all, the wonderful players on the team.”
During Crouch’s tenure at UP, the Pilots experienced one of their best three-year stretches in program history. After going 7-23 in his first year, He led the Pilots to a .500 record or better during the next three years, and finished his time at UP with 48 wins. Three of those wins were against ranked teams, the Pilots’ first three victories against ranked teams since 1986 when the UP volleyball program became Division 1, including a victory over the University of San Diego in 2016 when the Torerros were ranked seventh in the nation. He tripled the number of All-WCC first team nominees and also brought in one of the best recruiting classes in UP history in 2017.
Crouch coached at St. Mary's College in Moraga, Calif. before coming to UP.
"Brent will always be a part of the Pilot family and we wish him the best at USC," University of Portland Athletic Director Scott Leykam said. "He left the program in great shape and we are in well-positioned for the future. We are committed to the continued success of Pilot volleyball, and to finding a new head coach that will keep the program moving forward."
