From Courtside to Legend

Jack Coberly’s legacy to La Verne volleyball extends beyond the court.

by Lexi Giacobbe
photography by Lexi Giacobbe and Aaliyah Alamillo

Long-time volleyball coach Jack Coberly gives his coaching stare while proudly wearing his La Verne attire before practice. / photo by Lexi Giacobbe

The setting was intimidating. It was the 2023 regional finals in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. As the team was about to step onto the giant stadium court, players’ nerves were buzzing. Then Jack Coberly, in his late 70s, started jumping around and dancing. The women joined in, shaking off the tension and laughing together with Jack in the middle of the biggest stage that the women had ever played on. In that surreal moment, the University Of La Verne volleyball players realized they belonged there.

Jack Coberly is many things: father, son, Buddhist practitioner and volleyball coach, but for those who know him best, he is the steady presence who turns pressure into possibility.

That is Jack Coberly. The long-time coach, an octogenarian now, is known for building champion collegiate and club teams, either solo or in tandem with his former players who think they are in the lead role. These coaches seek him out. He is the mental side, the steady force who knows how to unlock what is going on in players’ minds before they can even put it into words. While most coaches drill technique and strategy, Jack focuses on presence, balance and belief. He understands that games are not just won on the court; they are won in the moments when nerves threaten to take over and doubt creeps in. “Jack was always intentional about the mental side of the game, so at a young age I really learned that side of it,” Vanessa Marquez, ULV senior setter says. Jack was Marquez’s club coach from age 10. “He always told me to be a gentle grasshopper.”

Before big matches, Jack will guide players through meditation or have them breathe together until the chaos quiets down. In huddles, his words cut through the noise, reminding them to trust themselves and each other. He carries what the players fondly call a “surfboard”—a giant folder holding game statistics on each game point. He uses that on-the-spot analysis to make huddle corrections. And when pressure feels unbearable, he has this rare ability to make it simple again, to play free, to play together, and to play with joy.

Even during a 2018 high stake thriller rivalry match between the University of La Verne and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, two teams that Jack care for deeply, the energy of the game followed him along the sidelines. During his career, Jack served as an assistant coach alongside his son Morgan who was a CMS assistant coach for more than 18 years. Though at the time even though Jack was on the CMS coaching staff, when ULV was down on the scoreboard, he would walk over to their side of the court and encourage the team just enough to bring the score up in their favor. This back-and-forth pattern between Jack and the rivalry teams made for a close five set game, with CMS victorious at the end.

Jack Coberly, University of La Verne assistant women’s volleyball coach, oversees warmups before a game against Pomona Pitzer in the Athletic Pavilion Tents, Sept. 27, 2025. Coberly mentors every position player with his rich coaching experience. / photo by Aaliyah Alamillo

What sets Jack apart from average coaches is that he is not just shaping players into better athletes, but into stronger people, giving them the tools they will carry long after the final whistle. Even during one-on-one coaching moments with Jack, he holds a positive and encouraging attitude that only uplifts players and inspires them to be better athletes. “At a young age, he taught me the mental side of the sport. When you’re young, you don’t really take that in — it’s all about having fun and going through the motions. But I carried those lessons with me, and now, playing in college, I still use what Jack taught me,” Marquez says. “Be the hero that you wanted when you were growing up.” Those were Jack’s wise words to her as she navigated a high-pressure moment in her college career.

Jack’s story goes far beyond the sidelines. Long before he became the steady force behind ULV’s championship teams starting in 1999, his path wound through unexpected places, from serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War to traveling the world as a massage therapist for elite athletes, including the U.S. Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team. Volleyball found him in 1964, when he joined a military team that included Olympians.

When Jack took over the University of La Verne Men’s Volleyball program, the team was struggling. Before his arrival, the Leopards had finished with just three wins in 1997. Within two seasons under Jack’s coaching leadership, the ULV men became national runners-up and then Division III national champions. This achievement is remembered as one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college volleyball. Yet, true to his character, Jack never took credit.

The year the men’s team won the National Championship, they entered the tournament with a 12–12 record. “This was an accomplishment that already felt like a title in itself,” Jack remembers. It was also the season the ULV men’s team defeated the preseason No. 1 favorite Long Beach State. At that time, the Division III La Verne men’s team was competing at an exceptionally high level. Because DIII held so few men’s programs, La Verne routinely faced top-tier opponents such as Stanford, BYU, San Diego State, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Harvard, Princeton, UCLA, USC, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara. Many of these teams traveled to La Verne to train or compete against the Leopards on their home court in the Athletic Pavilion. “You got to love it.” Jack says.

But what defines Jack most is not the banners or medals. It is his belief that sport is a path to self-awareness. He brings this mindful focus from his Buddhist practice to the court, where he blends the spiritual with the physical. “If you think you are in control, you’re not. Be uncomfortable and don’t wait for your opponent to make a mistake. Your greatest moment of weakness is waiting for your opponent, so fight, fight, fight and strike the first blow every set. Always work harder to realize the fruits of your labor,” Jack says.

Jack Coberly mentors Abby Montana, La Verne women’s volleyball junior middle blocker. His players say his coaching style connects with them because it is encouraging and supportive, which sets him apart as a one-of-a-kind coach. / photo by Lexi Giacobbe

Whether guiding players through breathing exercises before a match or helping them reset after a mistake, he teaches that balance is the foundation of greatness. “Jack is an outside presence looking in. He is a wealth of knowledge with a lot of experience,” says Jeff Hendershot, former head coach of the University of La Verne Women’s Volleyball Team. Jeff was first coached by Jack during his junior and senior years of high school. The two formed a connection that continues to shape his own coaching style today.

Jeff recalls a turning point three years ago—a season he now describes as his “overcoaching era.” He was running players into the ground, inserting himself into every drill, every decision, every ounce of the team’s energy. Burnout was spreading fast. That is when Jack called him into the office. “What are you doing?” Jack asked, cutting through the chaos Jeff had normalized. Jeff admitted he felt he had to carry everything—every play, every emotion, every outcome. Jack did not let him off easy. “You can’t play for them. You can’t be their energy. You can’t do it all, or you won’t survive the season,” Jack warned. Repeatedly, he hammered the same point: “It’s not your game to win or lose. It is your game to coach. It’s on them to execute, apply, grow, succeed.” “That was a really influential moment for me,” Jeff says. “It completely shifted my perspective, and honestly it saved the team.”

In the present day, Jack says he wants to be able to be a mentor toward Jeff. While Jeff may not know it now, that has been one of Jack’s main goals for a long time. “He is really good at connecting life’s big picture to the little volleyball picture.” Jeff says.

Former ULV Men’s Volleyball player Chris Peterson was a college freshman in 1997 when he first met Jack. When Chris, as a student athlete representative, was selected to interview Jack during the search for the head coaching position at La Verne, Chris never imagined how quickly their lives would intertwine. Just a month later, he was living with Jack, an early sign of the trust and mentorship that would define their relationship.

Over the years, Jack’s coaching continued to evolve, shaped by his deep awareness of daily habits and personal growth. He coached beyond the court, seeing players as people first. “He is really good at tapping into your humanness,” Chris says. “He really sees you.”

La Verne volleyball coach Jack Coberly is steady and composed as players run through drills. Jack studies every detail from his courtside vantage point while the team warms up. / photo by Lexi Giacobbe

Asked about his memories with Jack, Chris was visibly emotional. He jumped up to share a photo of Jack instructing him and another senior to step forward and accept the championship trophy at the 1999 Men’s National Finals. It was a moment frozen in time, but its meaning has only grown.

Chris says that if he could thank Jack for one thing, it would be for teaching him that he has the ability to quiet an unquiet mind. Through patience and presence, Jack helped him find stillness amid chaos. True to his character, Jack would never take credit for that lesson. “He would want you to discover the strength within yourself and understand that the growth was yours all along. He doesn’t know it, but he taught me how to be a man in the world,” Chris says.

When you think about a legend, you have to ask: What does it really mean to become one? Is it measured by trophies and accolades, or by something less tangible? “He is a legend because everyone has a story to share about him,” Chris says. That is proof that true legacy lives not in hardware, but in the lasting impact left on people.

In the end, Jack Coberly’s legacy is not measured in wins or trophies or even the remarkable turnarounds he engineered. It lives in the athletes he helped to become resilient, mindful and courageous; in the coaches he guided toward balance; and in the programs he steadied when doubt crept in. Jack has always believed that volleyball mirrors life in a way that is unpredictable, fast and humbling, and that the real victory is learning how to stay present through all of it. His players carry that with them, on and off the court.

“Being coached by him is such an honor. He has so many years of wisdom, and at 81 he still shows up for our team during those early mornings and tough practices. It’s incredible to learn from someone who has achieved so much,” Marquez says.

And long after the lights fade, and the whistle blows for the final time, Jack’s influence will endure, not as a coach who taught volleyball, but as a mentor who taught people how to rise.

Jack Coberly, assistant volleyball coach, intensely watches the game with assistant coach Randi Taylor-Toomay, graduate assistant Ayana Mier and student manager Kaitlyn Patterson in the ULV Athletic Pavilion Tents on Sept. 27 during a four-set La Verne win against Pomona-Pitzer. / photo by Aaliayh Alamillo

A Legacy No Budget Could Cut

Before they were champions, they were just a team.

When Jack Coberly stepped into the University of La Verne Men’s Volleyball program, the Leopards were far from contenders. In 1997, they recorded only three wins. Two years later, they were national runners-up. The following season in 1999, they became Division III national champions.

This is one of the most remarkable turnarounds college volleyball has ever seen. And still, Coach Coberly refused to take credit. “Coaches don’t win matches, players do,” he often reminded anyone who tried to praise him.

The championship year remains the program’s most storied. Entering the national tournament with a modest 12–12 record, La Verne already felt like it earned a victory. They had beaten preseason No. 1 Long Beach State, a feat few Division III programs would ever dream of doing. But the Leopards were no ordinary DIII team. With so few men’s programs at their DIII level during the time, La Verne regularly faced giants: Harvard, Princeton, UCLA, USC, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara. Many of these powerhouses even traveled to La Verne to train inside the Athletic Pavilion Tents.

Men’s volleyball player Chris Peterson celebrates the team’s national championship with head coach Jack Coberly in 1999. The program would be cut by the University just five years later. / photo courtesy of Chris Peterson

The La Verne men did not just win under Jack. They transformed. And in doing so, they proved that belief, trust and alignment can elevate a team beyond its division, its expectations and even its perceived limits. The shift did not happen overnight, but it was unmistakable. What Jack inherited was a program short on confidence and long on uncertainty. What he built was an environment where preparation mattered as much as talent. Practices became intentional. Details were emphasized. Players were asked not just to show up, but to commit to the work, to the standard and to each other.

Jack came into the men’s program holding a huge amount of experience. He had worked alongside some of the best volleyball minds ever in the Olympics. “Jack knew what to do when he walked in,” former ULV player Chris Peterson says. “Jack creates real connections.” Those connections were intentional. Jack took the time to know his players beyond volleyball, who they were, where they came from, and what they were carrying with them into the gym. He understood that before he could demand excellence from them as athletes, he had to earn their trust as people.

Jack stepped into the ULV Men’s Volleyball program knowing change was not optional. From the start, he laid out a clear vision, one built on discipline, accountability and a standard that would not bend. He was upfront with his players and unafraid of losing those unwilling to meet it. If the work was not done, adjustments followed. “I was in chaos when I met Jack,” one former player says. “He taught me how to be a man.” More than wins or trophies, Jack’s impact was measured in growth. He shaped young athletes into men, finding his greatest fulfillment not in banners hanging from rafters, but in watching his players discover who they were meant to become.

Suddenly, after one of the most dramatic volleyball turnarounds the University of La Verne Men’s Volleyball had ever experienced, the program was abruptly cut in the summer of 2004. Not only was it just a team that disappeared — it was a community shaped by a coach who cared less about headlines and more about people. What made that loss so profound was not the end of a season, but the end of what Jack Coberly had dedicated nearly a lifetime to build.

Jack did not walk into La Verne thinking small. Long before the decision to eliminate the program, he led his players with quiet conviction — he believed deeply in discipline, hard work and in the kind of culture that transformed boys into men. That was his real trophy: the growth of young men under his guidance.

The blow came through a phone call in June 2004. Jack knew from the tone of the request that something was wrong. When Athletic Director Chris Ragsdale told him the program was on the chopping block due to required budget cuts, Jack did not mince words. He fought — not just for the wins on the court, but for his players, alumni and the countless students whose lives had been impacted by the team’s existence.

In a matter of hours, Jack and his assistant coach ignited a phone tree that spread the news throughout the volleyball community. Former players, coaches, family and friends rallied behind them, turning disappointment into a powerful outpouring of support. At the “Save ULV Men’s Volleyball” forum, players spoke with raw emotion about what the team had meant to them, and Jack watched as the community stood up to defend something far bigger than a season. They were defending a family—their family.

Despite the heart and history behind the program, including national rankings and a legacy of fierce competition, the University of La Verne Athletic director and president pressed on with their decision. Jack received the official notice after most others already knew, and it was a moment that underscored just how much of himself he had poured into the program.

What was most striking about Jack was not how loudly he fought, but how thoughtfully he framed the loss. Even after the team was gone, he reminded everyone that the true value of volleyball was not in trophies or headlines — it was in the bonds formed, the confidence built, and the growth of the men through shared struggle and triumph. Jack’s legacy endures because of that perspective. He did not coach for applause or accolades. He coached because he knew that teaching a group of young men discipline, integrity and self-belief is life changing.

As Jack created history with the men’s team, he continued to make history with the 2025 University of La Verne women’s volleyball team. The ULV women recently won the regional championship in Baltimore, Maryland, competed in the National Championship Elite Eight tournament and finished the 2025 season as the NCAA Division III national runner-up. They concluded a historic 30-3 season, reached the championship match, battled and ultimately fell short to Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The nets were lowered in 2004, and the University of La Verne Men’s Volleyball program was gone, but its legacy lives on. The banners from that championship year still hang in the ULV Athletic Pavilion Tents. They represent silent reminders of what belief, trust and hard work can achieve. More than wins, Jack Coberly’s true transformation was the men he shaped—athletes who became leaders, teammates who became brothers, and a program whose impact no budget cut could ever erase.

Lexi Giacobbe

Lexi Giacobbe is a senior communications major with an concentration in public relations. She is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine, a staff writer for the magazine, and previously served as a staff writer for the Campus Times. She is also a member of the University of La Verne volleyball team.