On the hallowed grounds of Rec Hall, Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour took to a balloon-filled podium to introduce just the third head coach in Penn State women’s volleyball’s 46-year history.
Barbour was flanked by Katie Shumacher-Cawley, the former two-time Nittany Lion All-American who has now been tasked with continuing Russ Rose’s legacy with the blue and white.
Rose announced his retirement in December following a historic 43-year tenure in Happy Valley. He ends as the all-time NCAA leader with 1,330 career wins as a head coach and brought seven national titles to the Penn State program.
A tough name to replace and a daunting task in front of her?
“Oh gosh, yeah,” Schumacher-Cawley said.
She’s not shy on acknowledging the legacy of Rose, and she made sure to thank him among many others for getting her here today. But it’s not too much for her.
“There's never going to be another Coach Rose... I'm excited about it, though,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “It doesn't scare me, and it doesn't scare this group. We're ready to get to work and take all the lessons that I have learned from him as a player, as a coach and as a mentor.”
When Rose retired, one of the top jobs in the women’s college volleyball landscape opened up for the first time in 43 years. Barbour said there was a laundry list of “exceedingly qualified” candidates lined up for the gig.
However, Schumacher-Cawley — the woman initially named interim head coach as soon as Rose stepped down — topped the list from day one.
“From the minute Russ began talking about retirement, Katie stepped forward and made it clear that if that time had indeed come,” Barbour said, “she was the right person to carry forward the legacy of success of Penn State women's volleyball that was made prevalent during the Russ Rose era.”
As a player, Schumacher-Cawley was a part of Rose’s first national-championship team in 1999 as well as three Big Ten Conference titles.
She began her career as a coach at Illinois-Chicago once her playing career was over. She spent 14 seasons there, including eight as a head coach, and rose to third on the program’s all-time wins list.
She then spent one season as the head coach at Penn before returning back to Penn State to serve as a top assistant under Rose. The Nittany Lions reached the NCAA Tournament in all four seasons she served on staff.
Schumacher-Cawley didn’t come back to Happy Valley with a goal to rise up the ranks in mind, though. She said she felt it was “something special” to even be in consideration for the job.
“I'm overjoyed it was me, but I never came out here saying 'I'm going to be the next head coach. I'm gonna do this,'” Schumacher-Cawley said. “I wanted to give my best effort for these players and for Coach [Rose] to have the same experience that I had here as a student athlete.”
Now, it is her. It’s her job, and it’s her regime that’s going to usher in a new era of Penn State women’s volleyball.
Schumacher-Cawley has already started her trek to making this staff her own, announcing the hires of former Penn State men’s volleyball player Daniel Gwitt and previous director of operations Brian Toron on Tuesday.
Some things will inevitably change. Schumacher-Cawley said in her introduction that she and her staff will bring some new ideas to the gym and in the strength and conditioning department, but the legacy of Rose will live on through her tenure.
“We will always honor the things that Coach [Rose] has done. I think we're trying to change a couple things here and there, but as far as the work ethic of this team, that will never waver. I think that's something that the alumni in the past have provided for the future.”
She’ll have her work cut out for her in building a roster, too. Five major contributors from the 2021 team entered the transfer portal, and three of those athletes have already announced new destinations.
Schumacher-Cawley may have to use the portal for herself now — something she jokingly said “everyone likes to hear.”
Jokes aside, she knows it can be a tool for her 2022 squad and beyond.
“We're gonna have to recruit some players out of the transfer portal. It's something that myself and the coaches look at daily,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “We've had quite a few conversations with players, and we will continue to until we find the best fit for this group.”
As her first public appearance as the head coach at Penn State wrapped up, Schumacher-Cawley was greeted with a resounding standing ovation.
And now she’s ready to get working on one goal.
“The goal? It's always to win here. You can ask every single player that's here, their goal coming to Penn State is always to win,” Schumacher-Cawley said. “My goal is to have the best team that we can have and do our very best as coaches to put them in the right position to be successful.”
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