Rob Patrick on Wednesday announced his resignation as head coach of Tennessee’s women’s volleyball program. Patrick, who last month completed his 21st season leading the UT volleyball program, is the program’s all-time wins leader with 409 career victories.
His resignation is effective immediately.
“We’re very appreciative of Coach Patrick’s longstanding service to the University of Tennessee,” Associate Athletics Director and volleyball administrator Angie Boyd-Keck said. “Our program made tremendous progress under his leadership, and we wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
Patrick coached 16 of the program’s 18 all-time All-Americans, and his student-athletes earned 38 All-SEC honors and 26 All-South Region accolades.
He guided Tennessee to a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a program-best stretch of five straight from 2008-12.
“This is the proper time for me to move on to other opportunities, which will allow me to spend quality time with my wife and two young daughters,” Patrick said. “I am very proud of the academic and athletic successes we have accomplished during my tenure.
“I would like to thank the University of Tennessee—and especially Joan Cronan—for hiring me and giving me the opportunity to coach at this special institution. I’d also like to thank Angie Keck and Donna Thomas for all the support they have provided to me. Finally, I must extend my heartfelt thanks to the incredible assistant coaches I worked with, along with all the talented student-athletes who worked hard and sacrificed for the success of Tennessee volleyball.”
Tennessee’s most prolific seasons under Patrick came in 2004 and 2005. The 2005 Lady Vols charged all the way to the NCAA semifinals, and he was named NCAA National Coach of the Year by VBall Magazine.
The previous year, in 2004, UT posted a 32-3 (15-1 SEC) record and captured the first of two regular-season SEC Championships of his tenure (also 2011). Tennessee also won the 2004 SEC Tournament. That team’s 32 victories stand as a school record.
Following that 2004 campaign, Patrick was awarded both the AVCA South Region and SEC Coach of the Year awards, as well as CVU.com National Coach of the Year honors. He also was a finalist for AVCA National Coach of the Year.
Tennessee compiled 11 20-win seasons during Patrick’s tenure, including five in a row from 2008-2012. Prior to his arrival in July of 1997, UT had not recorded a 20-win season since 1988. His nine-year stretch of winning seasons from 1998-2006 marked the longest-such run in program history, topping the previous high of seven, set from 1978-84.
From 1997 through 2012, Tennessee volleyball finished outside the top four in the final SEC standings only one time (a fifth-place finish in 2007).
The success of the program during Patrick’s tenure was not limited to the volleyball court, however, as 47 Tennessee volleyball student-athletes earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll a total of 90 times during his career at UT.
Tennessee volleyball also has posted 11 consecutive years with a perfect 100 percent multi-year NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR). And in the most recent release of NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) data, the volleyball program posted a perfect single-year score for 2015-16.
Tennessee now will begin the process of executing a national search for its next head volleyball coach.
-UT Athletics
