Grove ‘loves’ eight years of volleyball coaching

You can see him on the sidelines of every volleyball match, where he calmly watches his athletes executing his game plan, always thinking of the next move, detailing the opponent with statistical precision that exploits even the smallest weakness.

Associate head coach Jeff Grove is now in his eighth year with the K-State volleyball team, and he said his time as a coach has been great.

"I love coaching," Grove said. "I like being around young people. I love seeing the light come on in their eyes when they pick up something. And I like watching them grow. I like watching them mature."

Grove first put on the coaching hat in 1989 — before most of his team was born — while still an undergraduate at Azusa Pacific University in southern California. After graduation, he spent one year in Utah at Weber State, which also sports a wildcat as its mascot, and then moved on to the University of Wyoming for four years, where he saw the Cowgirls appear in the NCAA Tournament. After a coaching change, Grove came to Manhattan.

His time at K-State is divided into two sections, split by a brief job in California. When Grove first came to Manhattan in 1997, he worked alongside Fritz as the coach for the outside hitters, which included an All-American and an alternate to Team USA. During his three years under head coach Jim McLaughlin, Grove helped lead K-State to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a 60-34 record.

Then he and his wife decided to have children, so Grove did some thinking.

"Since all I'd ever done was coach, I wasn't sure if that was what I really wanted to do with my life," he said.

So he left and returned to his home state of California, working for Arc Enterprises in San Diego.

"I took that opportunity, and I moved out there for a year, and we had our daughter, Kaitlyn," Grove said.

Among other computer-related jobs at Arc Enterprises, Grove worked to design a program that integrates sports statistics and video, so coaches can jump to a certain play or group of plays in the stats book without having to spend time filtering through the clips.

"After a year out there, we decided we wanted to have another child, but it was going to be too expensive," Grove said.

He added that having two children in day care in San Diego would cost more than what his wife was earning at her job. Arc Enterprises had a branch in Lawrence, so Grove requested a transfer and returned to Kansas. He now was more immersed in sales to schools around the nation for different sports. When the company began to downsize, Grove was forced to look elsewhere.

Fortunately for K-State, it was just in time. Fritz, now the head coach, called Grove and offered him a job as an assistant coach, which he accepted. In 2005, Grove was named an associate head coach. He said the Little Apple is a city he does not want to leave for a while.

"I love Manhattan," Grove said. "It's a great place to raise a family."