Kevin Moore is the Assistant Women’s Volleyball coach with Northwestern University. Northwestern University is a NCAA DI Institution located in Evanston, IL which is about 30 minutes north of Chicago, IL. Northwestern is a member of the Big 10 Conference with other schools such as University of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin, Penn State University and the University of Illinois. 

 Coach Moore has seen success at both the NCAA DI and DIII levels as a coach and at the DIII level as a National Championship player with Juniata. While with his Alma Mater, Moore was able to find success with his players and leading them to NCAA tournament appearances as well as All-American honors.  In addition he was his conferences Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2014. His dedication to the sport led him to Northwestern where he continues to share his passion for the game.

 During our conversation, Kevin talks about his college coaching journey as well as his coaching style. That leads him to share more about what his biggest challenges are with coaching and how rewarding the career has been for him. We briefly discuss the difficulties of everyone being at home but he finds the silver lining of being at home and shares some tips for athletes to stay both physically and mentally active during this time. Those tips lead to his thoughts on what makes a team successful, mental toughness or talent. You don’t want to miss his answers to these questions and more. Check it out!

Coach:

Kevin Moore: Assistant Women’s Volleyball coach at Northwestern University

Topic 1: Kevin’s Coaching Background:

As with many coaches, Kevin started out as a teacher at a high school and then got into coaching boys HS volleyball which led him to coaching club. From there he continued to learn and understand the game from great coaches and was able to move to USA volleyball and coaching college. He went from George Mason to Juniata to Loyola Chicago to Northwestern and what a journey it’s been!

Topic 2: Coach Moore’s Coaching Style:

Kevin ‘The Great Borrower’ Moore talks to me about how his coaching style has evolved from learning from and “borrowing” from other coaches. If you remember Bobby Knight, you’ll know how Kevin started off and how his style grew throughout the years as well as some of his mentors. 

Topic 3: What are Some Challenging Aspects of Coaching?

Kevin finds that work/life balance and can be a big challenge mainly because coaches are so involved in their team and their careers that they can’t just “turn it off” when they go home. Sometimes this is actually quite fun as you get close to co-workers and they understand the challenges but it can also make life interesting.

Topic 4: What are some Rewarding Aspects of Coaching? 

Kevin dives into what makes coaching so rewarding. Being able to be a part of the growth and mentorship of these athletes is the best reward of his career. It’s been so great to be there with them on their journey from the recruiting process in high school all the way through graduation. 

Topic 5: Kevin Shares some Tips on How to Stay Mentally and Physically Active:

Coach Moore talks about keeping up a routine with some structure so that you can be prepared both physically and mentally. Just like everything else we need to schedule what we are going to do on the day, especially when we don’t have classes or work to keep us on a schedule. Try some different workouts and take advantage of the free ones! Kevin suggests some professional athletes such as Dustin Watten on the Men’s National Team and Mark Burik with the AVP tour. 

Topic 6: What are some of Kevin’s Recruiting Tips?

Coach Moore shares some solid recruiting tips on how to stay engaged with college coaches during this time. Just because coaches can’t travel to see you doesn’t mean you can’t keep them engaged and let them know that you are interested in their programs. Use some of his tips to get that process rolling OR to keep that process fresh. 

Topic 7: What Makes a Team Successful? Mental Toughness or Talent:

During this clip, Kevin talks about why he thinks that mental toughness and talent will make you more successful. Accountability and pushing yourself internally are two key factors in becoming mentally tough.

Topic 8: Kevin Shares a Successful Team Story: 

Kevin talks about his former team at Juniata and how they could have so much fun off the court but when it was time to practice and play, it was GAME ON! They would get so intense and push each other to do their best and they would have intense focus. It was a great story of how to leave it all on the court and do their best physically and mentally.

Topic 9: Full Interview:

Thank you so much to coach Kevin Moore for these helpful tips, especially while we're social distancing. Tune in next time for more collegiate coach insight!

Jess Gregory  

Thanks for joining us today. I have Kevin Moore with us from Northwestern University. How are we doing today, Kevin?

Kevin Moore  

Doing well, thank you.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Thanks for joining us. Um, well, I want to get started and kind of figure out how you got into coaching college. So if you can give us a little bit about how you got started, whether it was with club or youth and then how you ended up where you are?

Kevin Moore  

Absolutely. So after I finished my playing days, I moved back home, and I studied to be a teacher. So I got a few opportunities to be a substitute teacher and I volunteered at my former high school. So I got to work with my old high school coach and spend a season with him. And then in New York, boys, high school volleyball is in the fall. So that's what I did during the fall. And then in the winter and spring, I coach at the club where I played. And that was really the first experience I had of coaching. And I was very fortunate that the coaches who I played for and really helped me learn and understand the game gave me opportunities. To learn underneath them and learn from them. So I did that for one year. And then I was fortunate enough to get my first head coaching job, I was able to get a position as a boys varsity high school coach in the area, as well as getting my first teaching job. And then for five years, I was a high school coach, and then I was a teacher as well in New York. during the summers, I started working with USA volatile and that's why I developed some relationships with current college coaches, and the opportunity presented itself to transition from coaching High School and club to coach in college. So I started off at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, spent two years there working with Fred Chow. And after two years, my alma mater juniata College had an opening and first head coaching opportunity was a lot of learning on the fly. I went there, had four great years leading a wonderful program there and After that, I really started to evaluate where I wanted to go with my career and moving forward. And at the same time, some opportunities are presenting themselves on the women's side. And so after about four years an opportunity at Loyola University in Chicago, I moved, moved out west for a little bit, spent a few years at Loyola, Chicago. And then when the head men's coach at Loyola was offered the position at Northwestern, I took the opportunity to go be part of his staff, and I've been at Northwestern now for four years. Awesome.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. Yeah. I actually just had a chat with Pat Barry over at Knox. Ah, yeah. So he said that you guys coached together at Loyola and Northwestern for a little bit. So small world for sure. Yep.

Kevin Moore  

Actually scouted and coached against him as a player. Yeah. So, yeah, that's the volleyball world's very small. So you're, I'm not finding myself on the line. On the other side where I'm now running into more players I coached, then coaches coached against me.

Jess Gregory  

Oh, that's funny. Well, it sounds like you've had a lot of cool experiences. You've been on both men's and women's side. Can you tell us a little bit about any coaches that maybe you kind of emulated their style or kind of took tips from them that you then turned into your coaching style?

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, I'd say that I'm a great borrower is a phrase that I was, I think I picked up I even borrowed that from from another coach. His his coaches were constantly learning and we're learning from each other. And so I'll admit that when I first started coaching, I was more bobby knight. That might be an old reference for for some of the youth of today, but I had all this energy and passion, and I didn't know how to really get it out in a productive way. So I felt like I was a player on the sideline and I was restrained because there was nothing physically I could do. So I was constantly talking before, during and after plays, much like I was as a set away when I was on the court playing. I was fortunate enough that the coaches that I worked with, really they saw the passion and they helped me help director guide it in more productive means, and specifically Ken Shibuya at Stanford when I started working with USA volleyball. He was he was a great mentor. He's someone that we often refer to him as Yoda. He just has these great one liners, and he's a coach. What's really great about him is he talks less and listens more. And he asks a lot of questions. And at first, I felt I wasn't sure when he was asking me these questions. I was like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But he wasn't asking me questions to see what I knew and what I didn't. He asks questions because that's how he learns. And that's how as coaches, we learn So, the more time I spent in the USA volleyball gym, I was really able to, to pick up on what he had taught me. And realizing that if you're filling your players minds with thoughts constantly in verbiage, it's very easy for them to get overwhelmed. And I think that's one difference. When you look at, say the national team, you watch our men's or women's team play, and then you maybe watch a high school or club game, you're going to see a lot more feedback, positive and negative. From the coaches, the high school in the club level, as at the national team. There's there's much less, you know, that, I think, during timeouts, is when they're, they're giving feedback and it's mostly tactical that again, you want your players to be in a clear headspace, and that's really something I learned in that. You give them the instructions like being a teacher in class you teach them when they take the assessment, you know that your matches your assessment. So you want to you want to be clear mind and clear headed when you're taking an assessment. And all the work you've done up to that point is a preparation and a match is very similar.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. Yeah, you can definitely tell that if you're watching high level games that the coaches are not, they're not always standing next to the core. They're not always talking to the players. And I've definitely had kids asked me that before, like, Why are the coaches? Are they not involved? Are they not excited about the game? Just a different, different level of play, the kids should know what they're doing when they get out there. And so that's interesting feedback from you. Moving on a little bit, I kind of want to know since you have coached for so long, is there a specific thing that you find the most challenging about being a college coach?

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, work life balance. When your passion is your profession and your friends or your co workers. It's really tough. That, you know, Coach it, it's it can consume you You know that when I go home, I have a hard time taking off the coaching hat and putting on the husband hat or putting on the father hat. Because you're always trying to find that one adjustment, that one tweak, or that one drill that that can that can make just a slightest difference that can help you be more successful when your next match comes. After losses, it's the worst feeling in the world you want you you hope that after a loss the next day you're playing, right the worst thing to do is to have a loss on a Saturday and not play again till Friday, because it just eats at you. However, a great feeling is you went on Saturday, you feel really good for the next the next few days. Then as you start to prep for the next week, and I think when I talked to my friends that aren't involved in college athletics, they really most people maybe played high school sports where their coaches showed up. Right before practice and left right one practice ended. But at the collegiate level, we're more than just that training block coach. We put in hours reviewing practice, film and studying. And it's again, it's very similar to teaching that we put hours into developing each lesson plan or each practice plan for the next day, and then all the work that goes into scouting for an opponent match preparation. You can go on you can find yourself in a rabbit hole very quick. So, and then you get very close with your coworkers. You know, you have something that's very similar. I think oftentimes in life, your friends are people that share similar interests and passions. And when you're coaching, that's, that's who you're surrounded with. So I've had a couple stops along the way and the coaches that I've been with at the different places have been my tightest circle. They understand best what you're going through. And so that's that's definitely one of the greatest challenges.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah, Well, it sounds like there's gonna be a lot of positive on the flip side then. So can you tell us a little bit about your, you know, the most rewarding part of what you do?

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, you the growth and mentorship that you get to be a part of with these kids is incredible. You know, with the recruiting years, you're starting to get to know these young men and women at 16 years old. And they have no idea what they want to be and that's okay. And that's, that's cool and exciting. And by the time that they graduate and finish playing, they're 21 or 22. And they're ready to take on the world. And you've been there with them through some of the most challenging times they're away from home. You know, they've, they've maybe never been on their own before. And so you're maybe the closest person to them the closest adult when they when they need when they're at a time of need. You're also there to experience some great successes with them some great moves And they you get to see all the hard work that they put in both in athletics and in their studies and off the court. And I think they his players get to see you as not only a coach that puts in those hours, but they also get to see you as a human. You know that our player current players joke with dad jokes, so they'll be like, oh, Kevin, you're so you're being such a dad now. And in one end, that's mad, I'm really getting old. Okay, I've been doing this a long time. But on the other end, that's, that's good that they, you know, that means you're providing something of value. And then those relationships will continue on. And you mentioned Pat Barry and again, Pat, someone that I coached against as a player and got to, you know, get to know him when he was first starting his coaching journey. And now he's the head coach. Now, and, you know, to see the players that I've had an opportunity and fortunate enough to work with, whether they're still playing professionally or They're coaching or they're in the workforce and doing incredible things. It's great to have been part of their journey and just catch up with them from time to time and hear how athletics helped shape them into the people they are today.

Jess Gregory  

Nice. Well, definitely sounds like the rewarding part of it kind of outweighs that challenge that you have, but also ties a little bit into it if you're spending most of your time focused on those kids. So,

Kevin Moore  

yeah, the the, the work life stuff again, when your passion is what is your profession? You don't notice it? Mm hmm. You know, you, you don't you go into work with joy. Yeah. The hardest part about the time we're in right now is not getting to see and interact with our players on a daily basis. Yeah. Because they become part of your extended family.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Well, that'll actually lead me right into my next question then. Everybody is stuck at At home right now, which is a very unprecedent in time. Usually kids will be in club if they're at the high school level and they're preparing for that next step. Can you give these kids at home some tips about how they can stay active physically, and then we can kind of mold over and give them some tips on how to stay mentally active as well.

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, I'll give you the warning up front that I'm a different bird. I wake up at five in the morning. Okay, I work out at 5am. What I found during this time is maintaining as much of a routine and structure as possible, is what works for me. And I think for and I think that can can help almost anyone, especially athletes, you're used to structured routine, whether your routine is wake up school, practice homework, or wake up Practice School, you have a certain structure and a certain routine that you're used to. And right now that's been altered, and that's tough. And as much as I remember being A teenager or in college and love sleeping until noon, loves sleeping into 10. That lack of structure or routine really can make it challenging because at some point, you're going to return to that. And if you've been going on weeks or months without structure and routine, it can be a tougher transition when it comes back to that structured routine. And especially right now with students that are doing online learning or distance learning. It can be easy to let things slide off until they're due and then try to do a bunch of work. But when we're training when we're practicing as athletes, we don't skip four days of practice and try to cram everything into one day before a match or a tournament. That that wouldn't do that wouldn't be that wouldn't be good for us physically or mentally. So I think, come up with a structure come up with a routine. It doesn't have to be the same for everyone yet. find something that works for you. schedule in there. Again, if you're a teenager or couch scheduling nap time, because I know when you're in house like that, that's important. Not scheduling mental breaks, time just to, to get on your phone check in with friends, or to take a break because those are just as important as making sure that you're getting your schoolwork done. And then from a physical activity standpoint, well, I've been really blown away by how much is out there on social media right now how many gyms and fitness centers are offering free online webinars or classes. And I think in in the athletes mind or in many people's minds, one day off or two days off, you're gonna start to wither and that's not the reality. You can find alternative ways to stay active and there'll be different. But it's really important that you do that. So that you know and this is the time to try something different. Try doing yoga, try doing polities Try doing something because right now you have the freedom to do it in your basement, in your garage, you don't have an audience, you don't have your friends there to feel embarrassed if you can't do it. But you can do it in the safety and comfort of your home and training your body in a different way. You will be helpful, it'll be beneficial when you get back into your structure, your routine. Nice.

Jess Gregory  

And that definitely does add into the mental side as well keeping that routine. I do think it's easy. And I know the first week that we were kind of all working from home, I was like, Oh, I don't have to get up at six and get started on my day because the gyms closed. But you do kind of still have to do that. And it makes the day go by with less stress. I think if you can keep that routine.

Kevin Moore  

Yeah. And I'd also say it's another opportunity to learn differently, too. You know, there's, I'll throw a few names out there. Mark Burik and Dustin Watten. Mark Burik is a plays on the AVP. He does a bunch of work on Instagram. Promoting one on one person drills or tips of what you can do at home. Follow him. If you if you need a volley fix that guy has more passion than than most people. And the other one is Dustin Watten, who's playing professionally over in Poland right now and he's with our men's national team. He's been offering some daily, just little webinars where he's studying some of the best players in the world, on the men's game. If you it's a different voice, and you're going to hear again, one's an outdoor player, one's an indoor player, you can hear from two players that two athletes that are pretty good at their craft, and what's unique about both of them is they've grinded to get to where they are. So I think there's a lot that you can learn and take away by just sitting down watching them and they're super engaging as well. These are two guys that if you have a question you shoot him a I guess it's a DM these days. I'm still learning The technology Oh, it was AOL Instant Messenger back when I was I was growing up, but they are very engaged with their followers. So if you have questions and you want to learn from them reach out to him.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Okay, great. I'll have to get those names from you again so we can put them, put them in the captions for those players check that out. But yeah, those are some great tips. I would like to hear your thoughts as you are a division one coach on kind of calming some kids down as far as recruiting goes since they're at home and not getting, you know, coaches aren't able to come watch them play on the court. Give me generic tips for them on what they can do to stay engaged with college coaches so they can keep that conversation going.

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, you know what my first thought was, this is this reminds me almost back to when I played back in the late 90s. Coaches weren't traveling around to recruit as much recruiting was much more regional. And I remember having to do a high school highlight tape and, and things of that nature if I want to get in touch or have a coach see me outside of my region and I think players that maybe are haven't had to in the past might have to do some things like that. Because coaches we can't get out. But all coaches right now can still receive correspondence from players, they can receive videos that to watch and that might this this is an opportunity or a time to maybe put one of those packages together. Again, it's what I was used to. So when the thought of like, Oh, just this this is something that worked in the past, obviously technology and the expansion of recruiting. I think we've gotten away from videos a little bit but that's certainly something that can be done now and as coaches yet we're not getting out so it's not like coaches and programs are operating at one speed and athletes are stuck behind. We're in this together. And we'll work through it. And yeah, this is it's it's a nerve wracking time if you're a high school athlete and you're feeling that you need to make a decision. But this is an a different time. It's uncharted territory and water that we're in, and we're going to work through it, and no one should be rushing to judgment or feeling extra pressure at this time.

Jess Gregory  

Yeah. Well, that's great. I think the best part of that was we are in this together. college coaches and prospective athletes should just continue that conversation and see where it takes them. And try not to stress too much, even though I know that's tough. Right. But all right, Kevin, well, I don't want to keep you too long. I do have one final question for you. And I think this will just kind of speak to some success that you've had in the past. And I was just curious, your thoughts on whether the skill and talent of an athlete made a little bit more of that success or if it was the mental toughness of your players.

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, this is gonna sound like a cop out. But it's it's the combination of the two. And here's why. The question to ask yourself is do you have the mental toughness to develop your skills and talent to its potential. And mental toughness comes from physical strength. The physically the stronger you are, the more mentally tough you are, you will break down it will take longer for you to break down mentally if you're physically strong. If you have that mental toughness and that, that ability to hold yourself accountable and to push yourself daily and that's an internal pressure and pushing that you're putting on yourself, when you start to feel an external pressure, be it from an opponent or from a coach. You've been doing that to yourself, you've been pushing it in and driving yourself to be great. So now when someone else is is trying to pull that out of you, no one can push you as hard as you can try to push yourself and this is a great time to push yourself. In a challenge yourself. So if you're doing that daily, then when it comes crunch time, hopefully, you can put yourself in a mindset that says, okay, I've been here before when I was in my garage and no one was watching. And rather than stopping attend, I pushed for five more. I need to push right now this serves coming at me there, and I'm ready for this challenge because I've challenged myself. And I think when you can do that, they go hand in hand. Mm hmm.

Jess Gregory  

That's awesome. Um, can you think of any, like specific examples of teams that you thought of that had that that drive that push them to the next level and gave you some success?

Kevin Moore  

Yeah, there was a there was a group that when I was with the at juniata, I remember as a player, this is many years ago. And I remember when I was an underclass was my first year And what I remember early on in practice, I spent time with the guys off the court and they all loved each other. And they were so much fun. And I remember one of our first practices, I thought there was going to be a brawl. And they got after themselves and each other in a way that I had never seen. Oh, well, yeah, it was. And I remember walking out of that practice and being like, oh, man, we weren't in the locker room. What's and they had this mindset that what happens in the gym stays in the gym. Just like when you walk in the gym, whatever, whatever outside distractions you have, you check them at the door. Yeah. And when you walk into practice, if you and I are going against each other, we're competing. I'm going to push myself and I'm going to push you and you're going to push yourself and you're going to push me when we walk out this door. We're still teammates and we leave whatever whatever you know transpired on the on the court on the court. And that was really something that stuck with me and helped us to be successful. I remember one point we were for 13 Oh, wow. Yeah, for four and 13. And things weren't going well. And we ended up winning the national championship that year. Oh, wow. Yeah, it was. We played a tough schedule we played. I mean, we went up against the best and we battled with that mentality every day in practice. By the end of the season, we got on a hot stretch, stretch. And I think we ended like, I don't know, 13 and 15, or something like that. If that daily battle and pushing each other, even when things weren't going our Well, our way, is something the upperclassmen taught me and I've tried to carry with me and in every place I've been,

Jess Gregory  

that's awesome. Well, man, those are some great tips for our kids that are staying at home, especially on the mental side that they could really still push themselves to be prepared for the next level. So really I appreciate you sitting down and chatting with us today, Kevin. And hopefully we can catch up next time and kind of give these guys some more tips. 

Kevin Moore  

Sounds great. 

Jess Gregory  

Perfect. Thanks so much

Transcribed by https://otter.ai