Josh Pickard, the head coach of women’s volleyball at University of Albany, sits down with us in this episode of the 35,000 feet podcast explaining his start in coaching, some of his most memorable travel experiences as a coach, and shares advice to those who want to pursue the athletic route.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How this past season went for University of Albany Volleyball team (0:18)

• How Coach Pickard got into coaching (5:45)

• Josh’s favorite travel experience (10:55)

• One thing that no one knows about Josh (13:40)

• Josh’s advice to athletes wanting to play in college (14:55)

• Josh’s next adventure (21:56)

Peaks and Dives of the Past Season for University of Albany’s Volleyball Team

Morgan: Hi guys. Welcome back. It's Morgan. Today I'm sitting down with coach Josh. Thanks so much for joining us.

Coach Josh: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Morgan: Yes. And we're super excited to get to know you better and listening to some insights from you and your team. So one of the first questions I wanted to ask you was, if you could tell us about some of the highs and lows from your season?

Coach Josh: This season, we definitely had both. We started off the season a little slow. Were losing some matches and weren't playing to the potential that we thought we could. We had some really tough opponents, but even those opponents, we thought we could do a little bit better than we had been doing. We were getting nice compliments afterwards from some of the coaches and things, but we really wanted to see where our team could go, so we had a team meeting when we were at Rhode Island, after we had dropped the first match there and the season wasn't going to great. I think we were probably two and nine at the time. So not very excited about the path we were taking, but we knew that the potential was there. So we had a team meeting and got things together.

And that started, I believe it was a nine or 10 match winning streak at that point. So I know we didn't lose in the month of October, which really got us going in the right direction. It's ended with us winning the America East Championship, regular season. And then we went into the 14 final tournament for the American East, we were able to get by the first round and get a win there and then cruise through the first set of the championship. And I think the players and the thought that we were done there and might have taken their foot off the gas a little bit against a really good Hartford team. So we had to turn it back around ended up going to the fifth sets and ended up beating them. I think it was 15, 12 in the fifth.

So it was a very exciting game from the point when you looked at the beginning, I think we won the first set 25 to 10 and thought we were cruising at that point and they put their foot down and pushed back. It was a great match to be a part of, really exciting. That earned us the right to go to the NCAA tournament. So from that point, we had big plans as far as watch party and everything going on. Unfortunately, mother nature did not agree. The day of the selection show, so the Sunday before tournament started, we got 23 inches of snow here in New York. So the restaurant that we were going to go to closed. Just about every other restaurant we could find had closed. So we were struggling there. We were already on campus and we had practiced to get the team ready to travel that week.

And our managers did a great job at calling everybody down the line to find somebody that was open. And luckily one of the pizza joints in the area said that they would stay open, if we were on our way, they'd be there. So it was weird to be in a shopping center, parking lot and have three cars there because we were the only people there and the snow was just piling up. So we ended up getting our pizza, heading back to the facility and we watched it in our locker room. So that was great for the team to be able to be together and do that. We wanted to do a little bit bigger at the restaurant, but it was nice to have everybody in the same place. And we renovated a locker room this year.

We got some new stuff in there, so it was great sitting in there. And then we were the last bracket announced. So we're going down the list and you see somewhere, the team is getting excited and everybody's holding their breath and then, "Oh, it's somebody else." So, okay, well we're going to wait. And then we go through the next one and everybody gets really excited and then, "Oh, it's somebody else." So got down towards the end, we knew our name was going to come up at some point, I've been on the other end where you're an at-large team hoping for your name to come up. We knew ours was going to come up, so waiting for that. And then when Texas popped up, the team was ecstatic about getting to go there. I don't know how much they were static about getting to play Texas, but getting to leave 23 inches of snow and by Tuesday morning we were on a charter jet to Texas. And it was 75 and sunny when we got there.

So.

Morgan: Oh, wow.

Coach Josh: Yeah, the whole experience was a great experience. The fans at Texas do a fantastic job, the Longhorn Network, everything, it was nice to have friends from all over the country be able to watch our match and see really what our team had worked hard to do. They put in the work. They start off a little slow, turned it around and really put their foot on the gas. And it ended with us getting back to the NCAA tournament, which our program has done a lot of time. So lows, highs, everything in between, but we had a really nice season.

Morgan: Wow, no. I love like how much you told us, I love seeing how teams get to where they're at and I'm glad you were able to go to the tournament and just work hard and end up where you're at. So congrats.

Coach Josh: Thank you very much. It was very nice. I mean, we fly occasionally a couple times a year, but when we got told we were chartering, the team was extremely excited about that. A lot of teams, Power Five, things like that get to charter quite often. We don't, so it was an awesome experience for them to be able to stretch themselves and be able to wander around out on the tarmac as we're getting on and off the plane. So it was quite a neat experience for everybody.

Josh Pickard’s Start As A Coach

Morgan: I know. I was going to say, that's awesome. That's an awesome experience. So, that's so fun. Well, how did you get to be a coach, Josh? What's your story there?

Coach Josh: Coaching has always been something I've done. When I was in high school and was a varsity athlete, our high school program had some things with flag football on weekends. So for the little kids we did like fourth, fifth, sixth grade, those sorts of things. So the rest of the varsity team, we would go out and do that. And I really started enjoying it at that point. I tried to stay involved as much as possible. I did some refereeing for little kids, some things like that to be around and help them out because I know as a little kid, when I was that age, I was really looking for different opportunities. So the more I could help out, the more opportunities there were. And that was a great thing. When I got into college and started playing volleyball a little bit more competitive, I played it when I was younger, we had the CANUSA Games, which Flint, Michigan plays, Hamilton, Ontario, and a whole bunch of different mini Olympic type things.

Every type of sport you can think of, they have different age groups, all that. So I played volleyball and soccer there, but then volleyball ended for me because we didn't have boys volleyball in Michigan. So I was able to get back into it, intermurals, do things like that. And then when I got to Michigan State, they had a men's club team, which I was able to join. So we had multiple teams there. So the top team was always called the green team. We had the second team, which was a white and the third one, and I have no idea where this came from, they were called the posse. So that was something that I always wondered and never really got a great answer to, but being on the green team, I was able to do some coaching and things like that.

So I helped out with our second and third teams and did whatever I could because I knew those guys were just looking for opportunities to play and the more help they had, the easier that was. Had various friends that ran club teams in the area that I would help out with and do whatever it was. And I was actually working for a state representative at the time, I did legislation, so I joked that before I coach volleyball, that I quote unquote "had a real job" and I had to wear a shirt and tie and a suit every day and go into the office. And it was something that I enjoyed, but I knew that I wanted to get back to sports and I wanted that to be a bigger part of my life. So I spoke with some friends that ran a club down in Ohio, Premier Volleyball, and they had full-time staff opening.

So I was able to go down there and not just do it on the side like a lot of club coaches have to do, they have to maintain full-time jobs and then also try and find time for their volleyball fix. But I was able to do it 24/7. That was my job. So I got into that from there and worked there for a little over five years, moved on to Ohio University where I was the volunteer, worked for a great mentor, Ryan Sys, who has helped me out to this day. I talk to him, probably, once every couple of weeks, at least, to bounce some ideas off him. But did that, left from there, went out to Montana State and worked out West, was in the Big Sky Conference and then made the move to Albany, New York. So working at the University at Albany, I was associate head coach for four years and then was hired a little over a year ago from now to be the head coach. And that's what I'm doing right now. So been a lot of different places, not nearly as many as some of my cohorts in the game, but I've definitely worked different levels, different areas, and very excited about the opportunity that I have right now.

Morgan: Wow. And I love hearing your story because you've been a lot of different places and it sounds like you've had a lot of good opportunities of learning and growth. So I think that's awesome as a coach.

Coach Josh: Definitely, it was hard when I was younger. I said, "I'll move anywhere there's a job." And then when Montana opened up, I said, "Wow, I guess I got to put my money where my mouth is. I guess I've said it long enough that if there's a job, I'll go." So I packed up the U-Haul and drove. I don't know how it's safe, but it was the biggest U-Haul that they had with my car on a trailer behind. And I remember asking the guys, "So do I need a license or anything special?" He's like, "no, you'll be fine." So I packed it up and drove from Michigan all the way out to Montana and got there. I will say I didn't back it into too many places. I made sure I found restaurants where I could pull all the way through, did those things to not have to worry about backing it up, but got it there, my car made it, all my stuff made it. So it was a good experience.

Morgan: Wow. That is impressive. And that's a long drive too.

Coach Josh: It definitely is and especially when you're by yourself and we get spoiled with XM radio and things like that, and trust me, U-Haul trucks do not have that nor do they have a whole lot of cell service when you're getting through the middle of Dakotas or some of the areas in Montana. So I was definitely a struggling there for some entertainment for a little bit. 10 and two on the wheel and just keep going.

Coach Josh Pickard’s Top Travel Experiences

Morgan: Well, good. I'm glad you were safe and that went well. But yeah. Thank you for sharing your story with us. Tell us about some of your most memorable travel experiences.

Coach Josh: I would say top of the list is actually pretty pertinent for when we're taping this as yesterday was Easter, but I got to spend Easter Sunday in Rome. I went with a foreign tour with Bring It Promotions when I worked at Premier volleyball and we, like I said, we flew into Venice and out of Rome. So we got to do a whole lot of things. I rode the Gondola in Venice and checked out all the various vendors and the glass and different things. I didn't make it into the Burger King that was there. I'm kind of disappointed in that, just to see the differences to what a Burger King in Italy looks like on the inside versus one that's here. But, got to see a lot of great things and wandered around. And one of the more interesting, which you wouldn't think would be that was, we went to a grocery store and it was a giant grocery store for what they have in Italy.

And just to see the difference in the products of what they have there versus what we have here and the fresh foods and all those sorts of things. It was definitely interesting to do that. And then to wake up on Easter Sunday in Rome, we, unfortunately, didn't get to see mass, but it was to be there to see it all set up, go through the Vatican, to just be a part of that and to be around that type of atmosphere. And to know that it was because of volleyball, I wouldn't have had that chance if it weren't because of volleyball and getting to do that. We stayed in the Olympic training center outside Rome. So we're staying where their athletes were. We had breakfast in the cafeteria. And there were a few, I believe gymnast's, a couple of soccer players, not many because it was the off-season for most of their sports. But just to see some of their Olympic athletes there training, putting in the time and effort that it took to be world-class was awesome to see. And then to wander the streets and see everything, the history that Rome and the Vatican City had to offer was just a fantastic experience.

Morgan: No, that's incredible. And Vatican City is so cool. And I think it's awesome that sports are able to take teams so far to cool places. So, that's awesome.

Coach Josh: I've been to Hawaii for volleyball. I've been to Europe twice. I don't know how many states, somebody had on Instagram the other day, and it was check off all the States that volleyball has taken you to and I think there's only a couple that I haven't made it to yet, and I definitely would like to take them off the list because I think it's a fantastic opportunity to be able to use sports to do those things and spread the game is awesome.

A Lesser-Known Fact About Coach Josh Pickard

Morgan: I couldn't have said better myself. So true. Well, the next thing I want to ask you is what is one thing that no one knows about you that you can share with us?

Coach Josh: Well, one thing, I don't know if it's no one knows, but I would put it that my team, most of the people in Albany, don't know that I am the youngest of three siblings. I have a half-brother and a half-sister that are older than I am. And it's interesting the dynamic because they have kids that are in college or one's a senior in high school right now, so it gives me an interesting perspective when I'm talking to my team or talking to recruits when I think that wow they're the same age as my nephews. And it gives me a little bit of insight into what they're doing and thoughts and those of things. So it's been very helpful. My brother and sister have been great. And I would say that's probably... Of course my wife and some people around know, but most of the team and most of everybody else probably doesn't realize because we are so far away, it's not something that they can just run down the street to see one of our matches type things. So them being all in Michigan and me being in New York, it's a little bit of distance between them.

Coach Josh Pickard’s Advice to College Athletes

Morgan: My next question I have for you is about athletes. And so if you're an athlete wanting to play for a team or university, what would your advice be for them?

Coach Josh: I think, first off you got to do research. You got to look into things and see what really fits for you because you, as an athlete have a certain set of criteria that's extremely important to you and probably has to do with major, has to do with level of play, it has to do with area of the country, all those things. And I think doing some of that research really helps on the beginning end because we get... I explained to my wife, I'm getting 30 to 40 emails a day of prospective student-athletes in high school and club that are looking to play in college. And the ones that have done their research, I think are just a step ahead of everybody else when they contact us and they tell us you know what, I'm really interested in your biology program or your criminal justice program or something like that, some of the programs that are highly esteemed here at the university, that is a kid that stands out just a little bit more because I know they've looked at it.

I understand that everybody can look up scores and see how we did in our conference play or out of conference, whatever it may be but those that are looking at it a little bit deeper than just the athletic side of thing, I think makes it interesting to us as coaches, because we watch a lot of video, we hear from a lot of students, but to know that they're not just sending out a hundred emails a day to everybody that has a .edu email address, that they're actually looking into it, that's something that really stands out to us. So when I see that they're looking into our program, they're going a little bit deeper.

And I don't think everybody at 15, 16, 17 years old knows what they want to be when they grow up. But to have an idea, at least to look at those sorts of things or to know, I'd like to end up in the Northeast or some way that way. I think those things really help and an old boss of mine had the players put together an Excel spreadsheet and just lay it all out. And you're putting at the top categories, the things that are important to you, whether it be size of school, area, type of study, maybe those sorts of things, maybe division, maybe scholarship, no scholarship, those sort of things that you can put in there. That makes it really easy, I think, for the athletes to keep track of things and to rank schools and move them around.

And are you hearing back from those coaches? Are you not? Maybe they slide down a little bit. I mean, if you're sending something to a coach and it's been three months and you've never heard back from them, make sure that you have some other schools on your list there that you're taking a look at, but every time that a student can really put something behind that email, as far as I've looked into this, I know that that your school at least checks a few boxes right off the bat. I think that helps so much to really get out there and just be upfront and talk to coaches, get back to them. It's disappointing when you send something to somebody and then you don't hear back. So you guys send us stuff and we do our best to get back to you.

And then we would ask the same the other way around. Get on those emails, get on those texts, whatever it may be. Even if it's quick, "Hey, thanks coach. Appreciate it. Look forward to hearing from you." Or usually it's look forward to seeing you at a tournament, but right now due to the current situation, we're not able to get out and do that. But we really look forward to hearing back from those players and getting to know them a little bit better. Our transfer rate is so high right now that we'd like to level that off and not us specifically, just the NCAA in general.

So the more we can get to know these athletes, the more they can get to campus, whether it be camps and visits and things that we can really get to know if they're a good fit, because we may absolutely fall in love with a recruit, but we're not a good fit for them, and vice versa. It could be a thing that the recruit really loves us, but something about it just doesn't work out on the school's end. So the more that we can talk to those people and get to know them, whether it be parents or coaches or anybody, it really helps us make better decisions, it helps the players make better decisions, get better fits. And hopefully, we can see a higher percentage of our players get through all four years, graduate from that school and really have a great experience.

Morgan: Oh yeah. I think research is so important because you want to make sure you go into a good fitting school. It's a short four years, but it matters a lot because it sets the tone for the rest of your life.

Coach Josh: Exactly. And it's something that I know some of the big schools they have to recruit really early and it's a thing that we don't do here because I don't feel at 14 or 15 years old that you probably know as much as you're going to know at 16, 17, 18, those sorts of things. So I know if you talk to a lot of those players that committed really early, not saying they had a bad experience by any means, but they probably wanted something different when they were 17 or 18 than they did when they were 14 or 15. So we look at the players being a little bit older when they make that decision, just so they have a chance to compare because if we really get into recruiting with someone, I want to see them succeed.

It may be here as a great Dane. It may be somewhere else, but I look forward to hearing great things about them. Hopefully, I don't have to see them do great things to us, but hopefully, we can hear about them do really well, some other place. I want them to be happy and understand that you go somewhere, you spend four years, you get your education, you graduate from that place, because I mean, to be honest, we keep a ball off the floor, that's really volleyball what broken down to, and I tell all of our recruits, "You're going to be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a mother, a wife, whatever it is, for a lot longer than you're going to play college volleyball." So [inaudible 00:21:13] great thing. And I want you to enjoy it but it's also about getting a lot of the other lessons that you learned through college and we just get to use sports to do it.

So I think we're gifted in that way, that a little bit better than the average student that has to search out clubs and different things to be involved in. We have our club, we have our team and we've got the ability to learn a lot of great things. And it's more exciting to me to hear about players getting married and having kids and being successful in their job down the road then how many kills you got last night against whatever opponent it may be. I mean, those are great things, but we really want to see success down the line. So one of our players just graduated with her doctorate from Ohio State and had a great career, was America East player of the year one year. But to see her graduate with that degree and moving forward, that's really the great thing to see.

Coach Josh Pickard’s Next Adventure

Morgan: No, I love that. I love that. So rewarding seeing all of the efforts be rewarded. So I think that's awesome. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that with us. What's your next adventure?

Coach Josh: Hopefully, it's getting back on the court right now. I'd love to get back out and see some volleyball. It seems weird to have volleyball be such a big part of my life right now and not actually be able to go see or do any volleyball. So I'm hoping for everybody to be safe and healthy, that this pandemic moves the right direction and we see numbers improve and those sorts of things. But I think getting ourselves back to the America East Championship and competing to go to the NCAA tournament again, that's our goal every year. So we've got banners in the gym with years on and, to be selfish, I want more years up there. I want to see more championships and have... I joke with the players, I have more ugly crying when we win championships and do those sorts of things because they're excited about where we're going.

We're always looking for the next chance to do that and hopefully this year with everything that's going on, we get that chance and we can get back out there and have as normal of a season as we could hope as far as travel and fans and things like that. But it's always about taking that next step. And we joke that we got a ring this year and we got more fingers. So we need to find more rings so going out and working hard and doing better than we did last year.

Morgan: I'm excited to see what your team goes. And I can tell the passion and excitement you have for this sport. I know that translates to a team and I'm excited to follow your team and see where you go.

Coach Josh: Thank you very much.

Morgan: Yes. And thank you for joining us today. I had a blast talking to you and I'm excited for everyone to listen to this conversation we had. And again, it was just great talking to you. So thank you for joining us.

Coach Josh: You too, Morgan. Thank you so much for the opportunity. It's great to get to talk about volleyball and travel and all the different stuff that the sport has allowed me to do, and hopefully allows a lot of other people to do in the future. So I'm very excited about that and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today.

Follow University of Albany Volleyball:

• University of Albany Volleyball Team Twitter

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Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle