W
isconsin volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield will never forget
the exchange.
Hit rewind to 1997.
"What are you doing with
your life?'' he was asked point-blank.
Nothing like cutting to the chase, he thought.
It was something parents would ask.
"I think I'm living a pretty good life,'' he replied
innocently.
Sheffield, then 27, was coaching juniors and
club teams and running volleyball camps.
He was doing a little bit of this, and a little bit
of that, and staying active at the youth level.
"I'd be in the gym hours after hours after hours
taking notes from other coaches,'' he said.
At the time, in fact, he was working a camp for
Denise Van De Walle.
Besides being a Bowling Green legend ― the
winningest coach in Mid-American Conference
history ― Van De Walle was a trusted friend and
looking out for Sheffield.
"What would you think about becoming a college coach?'' she asked.
Now that was totally out of the blue.
"I had no thought of going into the college
game,'' he said.
Especially after spending the last seven years
coaching high school-age kids.
But the more he thought about it, the more he
liked the idea.
"I think it would be about the coolest thing in
the world,'' he told Van De Walle.
That was directly from the heart.
"If I get you a job, are you in?'' she asked.
Kelly Sheffield was all in.
Van De Walle opened the door for him by placing a call to the University of Houston.
There was no underestimating her clout, either.
"She made the Houston coach hire me,'' Sheffield said. "He didn't want to hire me.''
There was no misunderstanding where Cougars coach Bill Walton stood.
"I got a phone call the day before preseason
practice,'' Sheffield remembered, 'and he said,
36 » VARSITY
JANUA RY 10, 2013
