Recovering from the Steve Smith hangover

Few students on campus remember Fort Hays State University volleyball’s glory days.

To the surprise of most, FHSU used to be a volleyball powerhouse in the not-so-distant past.

Klint Spiller

Under former coach Jesse Mahoney, the Tigers posted a 31-5 record in 2004 — the best record since 1971, and in 2003, Mahoney guided the Tigers to a 25-7 season, which was the best since 1985.

Not only that, but in his six-year stint, Mahoney coached FHSU’s only three NCAA Division II All-Americans.

Now, FHSU is 5-14, and over the past three seasons, the Tigers have compiled a 28-67 record and have received no All-American honors.

What happened? How did we go from such a high point to such a low point?

There appear to be two simple answers.

First off, FHSU transitioned from the Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference to the much more difficult Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Going from a conference with two nationally ranked teams to a conference with six nationally ranked teams is a difficult adjustment.

This transition was noticed in every sport.

Men’s basketball went from a 27-4 RMAC championship season in 2005-2006 to a 13-15 season in the MIAA. Football won one game in its first year in the MIAA, and track and field went from being a seven-time RMAC champion to not even finishing in the top three of the MIAA.

Suffice it to say, the MIAA is a meat grinder.

However, all of these programs have shown signs of adapting to the MIAA competition while volleyball seems to be remaining stagnant, if not getting worse, which leads to my second and primary reason for the volleyball program’s setback.

The train wreck formerly known as Steve Smith happened.

When Mahoney left to become an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Colorado State University, Smith inherited a team in 2005 that was coming off its best record since Disney World opened.

And with Mahoney’s recruiting classes and a developed team, Smith dragged the team to a barely winning 16-15 record in the RMAC.

It only went downhill from there as the team transitioned to the MIAA.

“Steve had his own program,” former setter Whitney Hoffman said last year following Smith’s resignation. “I’m sure it works for others girls and the other teams he’s ever coached, but it didn’t work for us.”

Hoffman said Smith’s coaching style was simply not conducive to the team, and it was difficult for the players to adapt to it.

“(Smith) came from Oregon,” Hoffman said. “It could be a west coast type of teaching, but we’ve been taught totally different techniques growing up. It didn’t suit us as a team. There needed to be something else that did suit us in order for us to be successful.”

Now, the Tigers no longer retain the championship-caliber image of Mahoney’s 2004 squad. Instead, they resemble Smith’s team — a team that is used to losing.

For first-year head coach Kurt Kohler, he faces the difficult duty of getting his team over this Steve Smith hangover and reverse the bad habits developed under Smith.

Somehow he has to change this losing mindset into a winning one. Thankfully, Kohler is optimistic.

“When you are 4-14, a lot of kids aren’t real anxious to be here,” Kohler said. “They have got to understand that they are going to be a part of something special because this program is going to go uphill.”

It is not likely to happen this year, but given time, Kohler has expressed that he will recruit talent that can turn this program around.

On Saturday, Kohler saw a glimpse of that possibility when his team faced No. 9 University of Central Missouri. Four of the Jennies’ top players were from Kansas.

“Recruiting is going to be a challenge, but I hate seeing a team that has four starters from Kansas,” Kohler said. “There is just no excuse for it. It should have never been allowed to happen in the past.”

However, the past is the past. Smith’s resignation allowed Kohler to take over as the ship’s captain.

Kohler is now at the helm, but it sure would be nice if the ship wasn’t lost in the middle of the Pacific.