[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for listening. Today our guest is Dave Rubio. Dave coached Arizona volleyball for 31 seasons before he retired after the 2022 season. He is one of Wichita State coaches, coach Chris Lamb's best friends. Dave took the Wildcats to 20 NCAA tournaments, a final four, eight trips to the Sweet 16.
In 1997, he hired Chris Lamb as an assistant coach, and Chris worked there until Wichita State hired him in 1999. Maybe the most interesting thing about the Chris Lamb and Dave Rubio relationship is the constant communication. There are four coaches that I'm aware of, Bear Grassl and John Price, and they're part of this kind of inner circle volleyball think tank that just thrives on texting, calling, and it's really. It's really been a fun thing to watch from afar during my time knowing Chris.
So, Dave, thanks for your time. We appreciate it. Take us through the history of your relationship with Chris. How did you meet?
[00:01:22] Speaker B: Well, you know, what's interesting is when I first knew of Chris, he was coaching at El Molino and had just started Empire volleyball club. And I was just recently hired at Cal State Bakersfield. This is in 1987, and there was a tournament at UCLA, and I didn't know who Chris was. I didn't know who Empire was. All I knew that they had a setter on his team, Michaela Ebenkhorn, who I thought was terrific. And so, as I started going into the recruiting cycles that year, I reached out to Chris about Michaela. And subsequently, Michaela ended up a few years later, ended up committing to us, largely in part because of my relationship with Chris. But that's kind of where it all started, is, you know, Chris was at that particular time, you know, building the Empire volleyball club and coaching at El Molino and doing a great job.
But he was a bit rough around the edges. I mean, people would say that about him now, but back then, it was.
I mean, the way he dressed, the way he behaved, everything about him at that particular time was he needed someone to kind of help him along, to just kind of smooth out the edges a little bit for him.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: So this started the club volleyball scene, recruiting scene in California.
What jumped out at you about Chris? How did this friendship start?
[00:02:55] Speaker B: Well, I really like Chris's passion, you know, and he's a few years younger than I am, so when I got hired at Bakersfield, I was 27, so Chris was 22. So, you know, he was a really young guy, and he didn't have any real formal training, and no really mentorship. Like, he wasn't an intercollegiate player who had great coaching as he was, went through and became a good volleyball player. Player. He played volleyball, I believe, at Sonoma State or wherever it was in the northern California. His close friend and a very influential friend at the time was Carl Ferreira. And those guys really connected, and Carl was helping him. And then there was Mike Jordan, and there's bear grass. So there's a bunch of people that are still within Chris's life that I think play a part in, in what he's doing at Wichita State. But at the time, I just connected with Chris because I was a really young coach, and I knew he was a really young coach, and so I was just. I would spend some time up in Forestville, in Sebastopol, and just to see him coach, and, you know, he had an incredible amount of energy about him. But there were some things, too, that needed a little. He needed a little help, too, and just his level of communication, countess's behavior and things like that. So I helped him out a little bit with those things as we went through. Not that my behavior was that much different, but anyway, that's kind of how it all started. And when I got hired at Arizona five years later, and before I got hired, I recruited several of Chris's players. And so out of that club, I figured that that would be a good place for people who, at the time would consider Bakersfield. Southern California kids would never consider Bakersfield, Cal State Bakersfield, or going to Bakersfield. Northern California kids probably didn't. Weren't as biased toward maybe the reputation that Bakersfield had at the time. So, and having Chris really be an ally for me and to talk positively about the program was something that I felt like would help me in the recruiting process. So that's what really kind of initially started my relationship with Chris. And then as I moved into Arizona, my relationship with Chris, his club continued to get better. The players that he was developing continued to get better. And I recruited several players out of the Chris Lamb kind of lab there that he had going on, and Michaela being one of them, and then another girl named Sarah Johnson, who was a good friend of Michaela, and then Leslie Dubois, and then there was always three or four kids out of that club that I was recruiting.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: But now that you describe his early days like that, it makes me ask if coming up, I guess, in kind of an unstructured way, has that helped him? Did that force him to experiment and do some of the things that he's become well known for?
[00:05:52] Speaker B: You know, I think that Chris and, you know, and I didn't know Chris, obviously, as well as I know him now. But, you know, his traditional method of training or coaching was still developing. It was an evolution to where Chris was. I mean, the great thing about Chris, he had no formal training, and so he didn't know what was right or wrong or what the industry standard would be for teaching, passing or attacking.
He was developing all those things on his own, and sometimes they were good. Sometimes it was kind of hit and miss. And I think with a person that says unique in his way, that his outlook on volleyball, which I think makes him exceptional, is and certainly stands out and unique, that those things started to really develop, I think, later on in his coaching career. I mean, I think the initial part of his development and evolution as a coach was started when he started the club and coaching high school. But when he got to Arizona, one of the things about when he started coaching for me, you know, I was kind of a hotshot coach, had a lot of success when I first got to Arizona. And Chris comes along and he has all these in my mind, these bird brain ideas, you know, I mean, just things that are so non traditional. And I'm a kind of play it by the book kind of guy. And, you know, Chris is not like that by any means. You know, Chris is so creative, you know, and so I really didn't appreciate the things that Chris could bring to, even to my training and to my coaching philosophy until well after he left the Arizona program. And if anything, I felt like I probably stifled Chris more than I helped him in regards to his own coaching development.
And so oftentimes you get a coach that was an assistant coach to someone like Bill Belichick. And now all they're trying to do is do exactly what Bill Belichick had done. Well, Chris is not like that by any means. So even though he can find reasons to do it a certain way, he's going to do it the way he thinks is best, and he's going to be very creative in the way he's going to look at it, all different angles. I tend to look at it in a very linear fashion. Chris, as you know, is anything but linear. And so I think that's really what sets him apart. And, you know, as my good friend John Price would say, one of the guys on our thread, he says, you could do it your way, Chris could do it your his way, and you both are going to meet at the same point, but completely different methods. And I completely. I agree with that I think the.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Club background is really important to Chris. He seems to love the training aspect of the job, loves having a big roster, loves developing athletes. Why is he that kind of coach?
[00:08:43] Speaker B: I think that the thing that you get with coaches and someone like Chris and myself, we started in the club level, you know, started coaching middle school and then on the high school and then on the club. And yeah, I think you get a real appreciation of how to, how to develop and how to teach at that really basic, fundamental, rudimentary level. And I think that's. And I still, you know, as I've retired and I continue to coach and Chris will be the exact same way. And I tell Chris this, I said, you and I are club coaches long before we were college coaches. And I said, that is part of our DNA. And I think that that'll always be part of our coaching and kind of what we do. And that's why I have no problem coaching the 6th, 7th and 8th graders now. You know, it's like, for me, that's, that's never. I, in fact, I enjoy that. And I know Chris is the same way. I mean, coach Chris Coaches club. I never coached club during my career, you know, during, at Arizona. I just didn't want to spend the time doing it. Chris has to coach club. I mean, that's like part of what he needs to be, would need to do in order for him to be happy.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: So Chris is an assistant at Bakersfield, and then you hire him at Arizona in 1997. When did you see him as a coach with the potential to take over an NCAA Division one program?
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Well, I think that, you know, when he initially came to Arizona, there was just a lot of things that, you know, that he needed to learn. I mean, going from where he was in Al Molino, in Empire, and running a club and then becoming part of a division one program. Just the things that had nothing to do with coaching. You know, it's administrative part of the job that I think that someone like Chris has to learn. And I think that's where really what I was, his greatest experience for me. And the thing that he learned was not so much the coaching, it was more along the administrative. What you have to do every single day, the recruiting cycle you got to go through. And so, but like I said, with Chris, it was like sink or swim with Chris. Like when we finally pushed him out of the nest and he became the head coach at Wichita State, I mean, we were all going, God, is it gonna, is it pass or fail or. We didn't really know how Chris was gonna handle that responsibilities of really turning that program around. And we were all a little bit nervous. I mean, to be honest with you. We just weren't sure if Chris had all the right. Could wear all the right hats in order to be successful in that league.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Was he eager to get out on his own and get his own program?
[00:11:26] Speaker B: I think he was. I mean. I mean, remember, this is a guy that grew up in the northern California, and was. He didn't leave the bay area and then leave that little Sonoma county for probably his whole life. I mean, he went to Tahoe, and, you know, I don't know if he'd ever been out of the state of California. And so I think there was certainly a lot of trepidation on Chris's part. I mean, I'm sure he was super nervous.
I mean, we talk on the phone every day, and I'm like, here, Chris, you'll be fine. You know, just make sure you do these particular things.
And he got. He was able, you know, he's such a great guy. He was able to recruit a couple great kids out of Bakersfield that really turned that program around, Wichita state, the first couple years.
But his coaching, ultimately, was the reason why Wichita state continued to get better, especially during the first initial years he was there. He was just able to out coach people. And then the recruiting became, you know, and club coach has really trusted Chris. You know, he's a genuine guy. That's the thing about Chris, is that he's got a real natural gift that disarms people. Players love playing for Chris, and, you know, they'll play hard for Chris, and so he's really has, I think, a gift in that particular area where he can push kids in a way that they don't get offended.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: So his roots were totally in northern California and California, and then a brief time in Arizona. Wichita state was not a school with a volleyball tradition of success. Why Wichita state? Why was that the place for him?
[00:12:59] Speaker B: You know, I think initially he was gonna. He was being courted to go to UTEP, Texas, El Paso, and I'm not quite sure how the. I mean, you have to ask Chris about how the Wichita state position opened up and how that came about.
But, you know, it was a program that needed some help, you know, and, you know, without a football team and, you know, nobody knew who Wichita state was except for maybe the people in Wichita. And so it was really, I think, a great opportunity for somebody like Chris. You know, there was. There's an opportunity to make significant impact in a short period of time if you're a good coach. And obviously, Chris was a good coach. So I think his ability to kind of turn around, I mean, if you looked at the budget, I remember Chris saying, I have a restricted earnings coach. I got a full time assistant that makes, like, 24,000, and then I think his salary was, like, less than 50. So, I mean, I'm not even sure they were fully funded at the time, you know? So, you know, to his credit, he's completely made Wichita State in the fall a volleyball program.
[00:14:11] Speaker A: So he was a setter when he played. How has that shaped his coaching?
[00:14:15] Speaker B: You know, I would say that very loosely, you know, and so anytime I had him set for us, I'm like, all right, Chris, how about you and I spend a little time on the training floor as I teach you how to set?
Yeah, I mean, I never saw Chris really sad. I never saw him play. I know that he has a great arm, you know, in terms of initiating balls and serving balls, and, you know, he's kind of an endless amount of energy being able to do that kind of stuff. And I'm sure as a setter, he was terrific. So you'd have to ask Carl Ferreira. Karl played with Chris.
I never really got a chance to.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Play with Chris, so one of the things. I think it has been really important to the growth of that program. One of the things he's really good at is selling the game, talking with boosters, volleyball 101, just really helping explain volleyball. That's played a big role in this program success.
How did he come by that, that part of his personality?
[00:15:16] Speaker B: Well, I think Chris is a super bright guy. I mean, he's a almost savant, like with math. I mean, have you ever talked to him about breaking down the numbers? I mean, there's a lot of standards that we use that he gave to me, and that in our close circle of friends that I've taken from him and moved it into our program in terms of his standards, and everything's based on math, and I'm not very good at math, but Chris is, like I said, almost savant like, but he's also extremely articulate as well. And so his ability kind of dumb down the games, the general Neil fight can understand. It is also a real gift. And he's really good in front of people. He just kind of talks to you like you were one on one when there's a crowd of 500 people in front of him. And I think those are the people that you like listening to, is those people just like you feel like you're having a conversation with him and he's just sitting across the table from you. And I think that through the club arena, when you're having to deal with parents and you have to talk to parents and you got to stand in front of a group of parents and a group of players, you just kind of naturally fall into this ability to speak in front of large groups of people and become and be as articulate as you can be.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: In 2012, the shockers were in Austin playing in the Sweet 16. You were there, and you compared Chris's penchant for innovation to Tom Landry, former coach, Cowboys, and what he did, taking the shotgun snap into kind of a gimmick and making it just a staple. Why did you make that comparison?
[00:16:58] Speaker B: Well, I think you're right. I mean, they think it's the industry standard, right? I mean, the shotgun is, what if you take a look at the NFL now, what's the percentage of snaps that are being taken out of the shotgun? If you talk about that 20 years ago or maybe 25 years ago, you know, it probably would reverse. Right. Of that quarterback starting under center. And so, you know, Chris has a lot of things that he does that, and I call it intellectual property, you know, that he does not want out in the general public. And there's a lot of things that he shared with me that we use and integrated into our offense that know, people kind of scratch their head when they played us, you know, like, what are you doing, you know, over this? And so, you know, Chris's innovation is really. And he continues to innovate, you know, and it's not. It's just. It's really based on what his personnel can do. And so, like, last year, he was telling me that when he ran the middle, it was a slower middle because I think it's Sarah Foster. I forget what her name is.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Natalie Foster.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Yes, Natalie Foster is. Isdev would have trouble hitting a quicker tempo set in the middle, so they looped it up for her. This year, they're going much faster, more like a zero tempo. So it just kind of depends on the strengths and weaknesses of the personality has, and he'll develop and create and innovate a system that's going to best take advantage of those particular attributes that those players have. And, you know, so maybe one year he's in a five, six, two, and other, you know, in another year and maybe just in a five, one. I mean, so he's not married to any one particular system. And, you know, where I'm probably more of a five one guy, and really unusual for me to go to a six two. I think Chris is. He puts all the. All the math, and he does it by rotation, and then he says, okay, here's what makes most sense based on what the numbers are telling me.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: What do you disagree about? Are there. Are there debates within this. This text?
[00:19:04] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Volleyball.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: That, you know, the thing that I think that for me and John Price and Bear and Chris that we have, and maybe not so much a lot of other coaches have, is that we have no problem. Nobody takes anything personally. And when we disagree, it's, you know, we follow up on the reasons why we disagree. And, you know, if there's a different drill that. That we are using, and then we're sharing it with the three other coaches, and if there's problems that exist, then we're sharing those problems and talking it out. And so it's really been, in my career at Arizona, having Chris out there and having John out there and having bear out there has really assisted me.
You never want to feel like you're an island and you're making decisions in a vacuum, you know? And so, in this particular situation, it was really nice to have a cadre of other coaches who you could really depend on, but we certainly would disagree, whether it's setting or whether it's a different type of system or blocking or, you know, maybe some technical things, Chris tends. I tend to be more technical fundamentally than Chris. When I went to practice a few years ago, I'm like, if we spend a little bit more time on just getting the platform straight, on passing, you know, and so he'd be laughing at me, and so, you know, and that's the thing, is that he wants feedback because it's going to, and we all do because it makes us think. And that's the part about our group that I think has been fantastic.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I should have been more prepared, but from what I can tell by a quick look at the media guide, Wichita State in Arizona played once right during Chris's tenure there.
Was that intentional? Did you talk about playing more, or did you not want to play?
[00:20:57] Speaker B: I personally didn't want to play, Chris. I don't. Because one of us is going to lose. One of us is going to win. And I hate the feeling of losing, and I would hate the feeling of winning against a close friend and a best friend like Chris. And we played in Hawaii in the hawaiian tournament, and their team, Wichita State, played really poorly. And it really was. At that particular time, it was a very competitive match. The next match afterward, he played Hawaii, and they ended up going five, and he had very good chance to be in Hawaii. And hold on 1 second.
So anyway, I think that for me, and I told Chris, I said, chris, I'm not going to enjoy playing you, and I don't really ever want to play you again. And we played a couple times in spring.
I had one of my best teams ever. This was when Kim Glass was on that team and Jennifer Abernathy and Brie Ladd, it was like the number one recruiting class in the country. Back in 2002, Chris came out and brought his team and he beat us twice. I mean, we couldn't beat his team. I mean, he had Sarah, I forget what Sarah's last name from Bakersfield. And she just was amazing.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: Sarah Yunus.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: Sarah Yunus. We couldn't handle her. I mean, she was great. And they end up beating us twice, and they were really, really good. So we only played. I really purposely, and I don't think, I think there were times when Chris and I talked about him coming here and us going to Wichita State, but I really didn't ever really want to play those guys.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: So Chris has been asked many times why he stayed at Wichita State. His answer is, I think, number one, he just loves it.
It really takes great pride in. He's built something here. And I think the phrase he will use is he never felt like jumping at the, at the next shiny thing that came along. That wasn't what he wanted. What's your reason? What's your insight into why Chris has been here for as long as he has?
[00:23:03] Speaker B: I think that for Chris, stability is a big thing, you know, and there's been plenty of examples in the past, regardless of sport, of coaches jumping to the next level. And, you know, the perceived better situation when four years later they end up getting let go. I think that's always plays in the back of your mind when you're thinking about those kind of things. And I think being at a place like Chris with 25 years and with the record he has, I told Chris now, I was out there and I talked to him like, Chris, this is all about your legacy now. I said, this is, I mean, who at Wichita State has done what you've done? Maybe the baseball coach, you know, and certainly, you know, what's his face at the basketball coach and getting let go. But, you know. Yeah. How long was he there? He wasn't there for very long.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: 13 years.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: So 13 years is a long time for basketball, time for a coach, yes, for a long. Yeah, but I told Chris, I said, chris, you're going to be a legend, if not already a legend within the Wichita community and Wichita State athletic department simply because the longevity and success you've had. And I said, you should be having your walls now, all based on your legacy, you know, past teams, past tournament teams, past all Americans, all conference players, conference championships, so forth and so on. I said, you know, they should be erecting a statue of you once you retire. And, you know, so I think all those things played a part of it. But, you know, they made it financially difficult for Chris to leave also. I mean, to their credit, the athletic director's credit, they knew that Chris was kind of one in a million, and so they made it really difficult for someone else to come in and just sweep him up. So, thankfully, he stayed. And I think it's been great for him and his family and certainly for Wichita state.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: You both share a love of cars. What are your favorites?
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Well, we do, and, you know, what's funny is when Chris was here, I was not a car guy. And then, like, a few years later, I started really getting into cars. And I'm a VW van guy. I mean, I have a 71 VW van that I've had since 1974, and I have a truck that's a 55 Chevy 3100.
But I love cars, and I'm more of a muscle car guy.
And Chris is, too.
The thing that I'm sure, you know. But, you know, Chris is super talented in areas outside of volleyball. You know, the guy can build a house. He can wire a house. He can do the plumbing. You know, he can break down an engine. He can do the bodywork. I mean, the guy is multiple talented, and, you know, I'm pretty single dimensional guy, you know, and Chris can do a bunch of stuff. And so, you know, he's, he and I certainly share that passion for cars.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: There is a golf extravaganza annually in Tucson where the coaches get together. Who's the best golfer in the group?
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Well, I'd say that I'm probably at this out of the four coaches, I'm probably. And that doesn't say much because I'm a mid nineties, you know, golfer that just show those guys just don't play enough. You know, Chris, you know, when you're. And I was the same way when I was coaching, you know, it's like you just, you know, a month before the tournament, you're, you're trying to get to the range and play a few rounds of golf. But I think once, you know, Chris retires. And those guys retired like John Price is golfing every day. You know, it's like, you know, three times a week he's out there working on his game, so he will improve quickly.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Dave Rubio, former coach at the University of Arizona, an important figure in Chris Lamb's life as a, as a volleyball coach. Dave, thank you very much for your time.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: I appreciate it. It's been an honor.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Great insight, as always. Thanks for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can always find more roundhouse
[email protected].
[00:27:40] Speaker C: Down to a three two pitch with two men on, two outs in the 9th, the stretch by Tyler Green. Here it comes. Suck him out. A no hitter for Tyler Green.
A swank three call on the outside corner. And Tyler Green has pitched the fourth no hitter in Wichita state history, the second in as many years as he joins fellow classmate Charlie Jindrome as the author of a Wichita State no hitter and in the process struck out a career high 13, including all three outs in the 9th inning. Tyler Green completes a no hitter, and Wichita State defeats New Mexico twelve to nothing.
