Coaching wasn't always a career path for State University of New York at New Paltz men's volleyball alum Bryan Weber '13. He never really considered a transition from the court to the bench until his senior season as a Hawk when he realized his role on the team was more of a mentor to his younger teammates. In turn, he decided to stay an extra year with SUNY New Paltz as a volunteer assistant coach where he helped the program to its best season, which established the foundation of all the success the team has endured since then.
 
Following a prolific 2014 season on the bench for the Hawks, Weber decided to continue his career path as a coach and made the jump to Division I and joined St. John's University's women's volleyball program as an assistant coach. This past season Weber was a part of another historic run, aiding in the Red Storm's first BIG East Championship since 2007.
 
"At the time, I was still unsure about coaching as a career, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life," Weber said. "Since joining the staff at St. John's I've really developed a passion for coaching and impacting the lives of young people through the sport that we love. Finding success at this level is no easy task, so I was beyond happy for our student-athletes when we captured the program's fifth BIG East Championship. 
 
As an outside hitter for SUNY New Paltz, Weber played in 200 sets, totaling 251 kills throughout his career. In his final season, he made eight starts and recorded a career-high 110 kills to go along with 67 digs and four blocks with a receiving percentage of .967. The latter of which Hawks coach Radu Petrus said was Weber's strongest attribute as a player.
 
"Bryan Weber was an outside hitter for our team with very good volleyball kills and one of the best serve receiver's at that time," Petrus said. "In his senior year we had a great group of players, including John Lutjen, one of Bryan's best friends. They added power to practice and made games more competitive."
 
As a senior in 2013, Weber helped SUNY New Paltz to a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Tournament semifinal run where they took No. 6 nationally ranked Stevens into five sets. The Hawks fell short of the championship round and saw their season come to an end, but that set the stage for what was at the time the best season in program history with Weber providing guidance from the sideline. 
 
"Every guy that goes through that program leaves with great respect and admiration for Radu and [assistant coach] Tony [Bonilla], and for good reason," Weber said. "Of course, they helped me develop my own coaching style and other technical things, but the greatest thing I learned was how to build a strong player-coach relationship. The stronger that bond is the easier it is to go to battle for each other."
 
The following season the Hawks went 28-4 overall and earned redemption over the Ducks, knocking them off in the semifinal round before sweeping NYU to claim their first conference title. SUNY New Paltz again defeated Stevens, which was ranked No. 5 in the nation at the time, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to end their season, advancing to the second round of the tournament.
 
"The following season in 2014 Bryan was the assistant coach and he had great contributions to the team that won a UVC [championship] and first attempt to the NCAA Tournament," Petrus said.
 
The Hawks' 2014 team helped build the foundation of the perennial contender the program is today, as SUNY New Paltz went on to claim a NCAA National Championship two years later in 2016 and again in 2019, with a majority of players Weber coached still in the program in their first run.
 
"Being a part of the first program to win a UVC title and make an NCAA appearance is something that I really cherish," he said. "Watching the guys that I played with and coached win a National Championship was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Since I graduated, I've continued to follow the team and I'm always impressed with them on and off the court. The guys there now have continued to build a championship culture and they're a ton of fun to watch."
 
With the success of the program, Petrus started getting more calls about potential coaching opportunities for his staff at different programs. St. John's reached out and Petrus thought it was a great fit for Weber. He gave his former player a call and asked him if he wanted to continue pursuing a career in coaching. Weber jumped at the opportunity to work on staff with St. John's women's volleyball coach Joanne Persico.
 
Weber joined the Red Storm as an assistant coach in 2014 and since then aided in the team's second BIG East Championship and also coached one AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, three AVCA All-East Coast Region honorees, four AVCA All-East Coast Honorable Mentions and 12 All-BIG East selections.
 
"I draw from my experience at New Paltz all the time both athletically and academically," Weber said. "Having played for a high-level program it's a lot easier to relate to my student-athletes at St. John's and the things that they go through as Division I volleyball players."
 
Because of his success since joining the St. John's staff, on May 4 the Stony Brook, NY native was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) 30 coaches under 30 list. The AVCA established the accolade in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels in the sport that are younger than 30 years old in 2019.
 
"I found out that I was going to be recognized maybe a week before the AVCA put out the release. It was definitely an immediate feeling of pride in myself and for everyone that helped me along the way," Weber said. "Winning this award was really only possible because of the hard work that our student-athletes and staff put in behind the scenes every day."
 
Even before Weber received the high honor, Petrus was complimented with rave reviews of the young coach. He credited Weber's great work ethic and passion about volleyball to his success.
 
"He has great work ethics, [and is] passionate about volleyball — one of the key ingredients to be successful in this field," Petrus said. "When you are a volleyball player in a competitive program you would accumulate new knowledge about volleyball training methods, game strategy etc. He seems that he learned all this and able to apply in his coaching job."
 
Along with Petrus who gave him the opportunity to get his coaching career started, Weber sited his current boss, coach Persico at St. John's who has been the biggest influence during his six-year career as a coach.
 
"Our head coach Joanne Persico has been my mentor and a great friend at St. John's for six years now," Weber said. "She welcomed me into her program with open arms and since then has influenced me in many ways. Coaching at the Division I level involves a lot more than what you see at a match and Coach Jojo has been there every step of the way as I navigate the process."
 
Weber hopes when given the opportunity to one day run his own team, he can establish a program that not only produces successful athletes, but people as well, which comes with building relationships and trust with student-athletes.
 
"I love building relationships with my players and other coaches and just being in a competitive environment day-to-day," he said. "When the opportunity arises I hope to build a program that values loyalty, selflessness, and hard work above all else. Of course, everyone wants to win championships, but you also want to win the right way. I want each student-athlete to look back and be proud of their time spent here, the same way I look at my time at New Paltz."

To read the AVCA 30 under 30 press release, click here.

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