6/15/04

Texas hires Brian Hosfeld as assistant coach

	Brian Hosfeld

AUSTIN, Texas – University of Texas volleyball head coach Jerritt Elliott has announced on Tuesday that former Baylor head coach and USA national program coach Brian Hosfeld will join his staff as an assistant coach.

"We are extremely excited to have Brian aboard as one of our assistant coaches," Elliott said of the hiring. "He brings a lot of experience to the position. Brian is considered one of the top trainers in the country, knows the Big 12 well and has great recruiting ties in Texas. He also has done extensive work with the USA Volleyball National Team programs.

"Brian will be a great asset to our staff and will help our team develop, as well as our individual student-athletes," Elliott continued.

Hosfeld spent eight years (1996-2003) in Waco as head coach of the Lady Bears and elevated the program to new heights in his tenure. He led the 1999 squad to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, and followed that up with another showing in 2001. Hosfeld guided Baylor to three-straight winning seasons (1999-2001) for the first time in school history. Additionally, his 1999 recruiting class was rated fourth in the nation by Volleyball Magazine.

Hosfeld's Bears burst onto the national scene in 1999 as Baylor enjoyed its finest season ever, churning out a school-record tying 26 wins against only nine defeats for the best single-season winning percentage (.743) in school history. The Lady Bears finished the season ranked No. 20 in the final polls. Baylor also notched 13 Big 12 victories, six more conference wins than any BU team in the 23-year history of the program.

"I'm looking forward to getting started at Texas," Hosfeld said. "Jerritt has done a great job with the program after coming in three years ago and I am anxious to be part of bigger things to come from the Horns. We have an excellent team in place and I am eager to start contributing as soon as possible."

Prior to arriving at Baylor, Hosfeld was an assistant coach at Long Beach State for three years (1993-95) and was a member of the coaching staff when the 49ers won the 1993 national championship. He helped guide the team to two volleyball Final Fours (1993, 1994) and three-straight NCAA appearances. LBSU had an overall winning percentage of 81.8 percent (81-18) while Hosfeld worked with the team.

In addition to he collegiate coaching duties, Hosfeld also was selected to lead USA Volleyball's silver-medal winning entry at the 1997 World University Games in Sicily, Italy. Prior to his work with that team, Hosfeld served as the director for the USA, World University and National Team try-outs at the Olympic Training Center.

A native of Long Beach, Calif., Hosfeld was active in junior volleyball before his ascension to head coaching duties at Baylor. In 1986, he founded the Magnum Volleyball Club and served as head coach until 1995. Today, the Magnum Volleyball Club still stands as one of the most successful junior development programs in the U.S.

Hosfeld and his wife, Jamie (Lee), are expecting their first child later this year. Jamie was the 1996 and 1997 Big East Most Valuable Player while she played volleyball at Notre Dame. She then went on to a professional career in Switzerland, completed a two-year tour with the U.S. National Team (1997-98) and now played professionally on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour and was named the tour's rookie of the year in 2003.