Q&A with Josh Lauer
9/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2009
Throughout the season, Rolltide.com will sit down with various members of the volleyball team and staff and ask a series of questions to get to know them better. Today, we took the opportunity to sit down with assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Josh Lauer to discuss his first season with the Crimson Tide and what life is like on the road when recruiting.
RT: You are now entering your second season as assistant coach. What was your first season like, and how, or do you, plan to make any changes this upcoming season?
JL: My first season at Alabama was good. I think I learned a ton about recruiting at the Division I level. I had to get a feel for our staff and our girls. It was good for me to get a view of the level of volleyball in our conference so that when we are out looking for the future of the Crimson Tide we know the type of players that we need to compete at the level we want to compete at, which is to be one of the top teams in the conference and to break into the Top 25. It was a good first year; it was a lot of learning, and I'm excited to have that knowledge as we move into year two.
RT: What exactly does your job as assistant coach entail? Do you work with a specific position or just the team as a whole?
JL: Well my position as assistant coach is broken into two areas. Number one, I am the recruiting coordinator, so I handle all of our evaluation of our recruits, mail-outs, contacts, things like that, to make sure that we have the chance to bring in the best players in the country to the University of Alabama. The second half is my role with our team in the gym. I primarily coach our outside hitters, so Brooks Webster, Ashley Frazier, Kayla Fitterer and our defense specialist so Jennifer Weber, Kelsey Anderson and Mary Catherine Aune.
RT: In just two seasons you have landed Alabama its first Top 30 recruiting class. What is your philosophy on recruiting?
JL: Well we are looking for the best kids, you know? Alabama is a great school. We can recruit nationally and we are lucky that we are close to some really good volleyball areas. Volleyball continues to get better here in the state so that is good for us. But as important, you know I come from the Midwest, and there's great volleyball there; whether is Louisville, or Saint Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Ohio, there's great volleyball there as well as in Texas and we've had a lot of luck there. We are trying to bring some of the best talent from those areas and introduce them to the University of Alabama. A lot of them know about it, and know about our traditions, but once they get on campus they fall in love because this is a great place.
RT: How do you think the title of having a good recruiting class will help when it comes to this upcoming recruiting season?
JL: Well, every recruit wants to play with good teammates, so when they come they are looking to try and get a feel for the university and trying to see if the university has what they want, but one of the main things they are looking at besides if they can study what they want to study, is what are my teammates like? Are they good people? Can they play volleyball? Are they going to help me win matches when I get here? I think that the more highly touted our recruiting classes are, that means we are bringing in better players. The future players can look and say, "Hey that's a great player. I want to be her teammate." But more importantly than those things, is our future recruits need to have future teammates here at the University of Alabama that are going to treat them the right way and are going to push them to be great people not just great volleyball players. That's something that is very important to us as a staff and that is what we are looking for. We want you to be a great athlete, we want you to be a great student, but we want you to be classy and the type of person everyone wants to be around and you're going to make everyone around you better.
RT: Have you found a specific hook that makes the girls and their family choose Alabama over other schools?
JL: I can tell you that, but I would have to kill you. No, actually everybody is a little bit different. I think the thing we try to do, is we try to be ourselves. We know what we have here at the University of Alabama, we know what our goals are, and we want to attract the recruits that want the same thing. One of the big things we have going for us here is, I think we have a very close-knit team. We talk a lot about our family presence. Our girls get along very well on the court as well as off the court which is very inviting to our recruits. We need to be as competitive as can be and win as many matches as we can because let's face it, players want to win.
RT: Do you have to give the families any assurances to promote them to choose Alabama as the place for their daughter?
JL: I think the biggest assurance that volleyball families are looking for, is making sure that their daughter is going to be taken care of and cared for while they are away from home. I think that's why it's important that here at Alabama, we sell our family atmosphere. Coach Green is passionate but at the same time she cares a lot about the girls and I think that has kind of infected our team. The girls are passionate, but I think they care about each other and us as a staff very, very much and that is a good dynamic to have. When recruits and their families come here, it's always important for mom and dad to know that their little girl is going to be okay. More importantly, as they grow up and mature and become young women, they are going to be around people that are going to help them make good decisions in life. They also might like to know that the staff has the same values that they have as a family as well as the girls that are here. I think those are some of the things that we do very very well.
RT: Judy Green believes you are one of the best recruiters in the nation; what attributes do you bring to the recruitment process as opposed to other volleyball programs?
JL: That's very nice of Coach Green to say; I think I have a lot to learn, and I think I'm learning everyday that I am on this job. There are some great recruiters in our conference and around the country, and what I am trying to do is to bring the best players that we can bring to the University of Alabama. I think that my experience coaching at the club level, at a very high level, and having been around players that are this age, and have been in similar situations and been recruited by schools like Alabama, I think that helps me because I know what they are going through and I can make a connection with them and help them understand the process a little bit better and help them make a good decision. Sometimes for players, that is not always picking Alabama, for a lot of players it is. I think that one of the things Judy and I have talked about is that we can't be afraid to go out and recruit the best players, the very best. We have a lot to offer here at the University of Alabama, and we can attract the very very best players in the country. We also can't be afraid to lose the very best players in the country, and that is a fine line that we have to walk because we want players that want to be here, and you have to be willing to go get them but you have to be willing to lose them. I want all of our recruits to make good decisions, the best decision for them. I think for a lot of them it could be the University of Alabama, but for some of them it may not be and that does not phase me. If they pick another school and I wanted them to be here, I'm going to be sad but I'm going to be excited for them. I think that is a difference in philosophy than other schools. We want to get to know them as people, we want to treat them as maturing young women, and we want them to make great decisions. If the University of Alabama is the right choice, we want to make sure they know that. If it's not, then we want to make sure we help them find that out too.
RT: What are you most excited for in this upcoming season?
JL: Well I think that our team dynamic is much healthier this year, so I am excited to see our girls grow and play with a little bit more unity. We have some players in key positions again this year that they are stepping into and they are going to have to make an impact so that is going to be an interesting dynamic to see play out. Our coaching staff has only been together for a few months so we're still working on our relationships. Everything is coming together but patience is going to be the key for our season. We started out with a very difficult first weekend and I think that we weathered the storm very well. I think we know that we are going to get much much better as the season goes on so I'm excited to see our growth from start to finish. I think we have a very talented volleyball team and I think that as long as they can stick together and be most concerned about the team and how we can be successful then we will be successful.
RT: Are they any specific players to look out for this season?
JL: I think that with Kayla Schmidt transferring in this semester, she has a big role on our team this year as one of the starting setters. I think she is very talented and as she gets more comfortable and believes that she is the setter at the University of Alabama, we're going to see her lead our team to really good places. I think that Sarah Machen who is another transfer, is going to be logging a lot of minutes at the middle hitter position. Her passion of the game and how she can excite our team is something that we desperately need so I'm excited to see how she impacts our team as well. I really think that the influence of our team chemistry, coming from not only our seniors, Liz, Brooks and Jenn, but also how our other players in the junior, sophomore and freshman classes, how they respond to that and melt themselves into that is going to be really important. It's an exciting time for Alabama volleyball!
