The leader of the Springfield Men's Volleyball Dynasty, Charlie Sullivan, joins the PrideCast to discuss his path to coaching a sport he's never played and the cultural pillars that have created a program that is unfamiliar to the loss column.
In his 23rd year at the helm, Sullivan has guided the Pride's men's volleyball program to 11 national championships. The first five championships were Molten sponsored National titles. Once the NCAA sponsored championships began in 2012, Sullivan and the Pride won another six national titles, including the first three NCAA DIII Championships from 2012-14.
Sullivan's success is driven by a philosophy centered around instilling belief in the hearts and minds of his players. The buy-in he has from his players have resulted in him being invited to co-author, Winning the Game of Belief: Cultivating the Cultural Grit that Defines America’s Greatest Coaches by Kevin Sheehan. The book is available on Amazon now:
The principled and analytical approach of Sullivan has extended well beyond Alden Street. Sullivan was a member of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Gold Medal Men's Volleyball Team as a Scout Coach, and a member of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Bronze Medal Team.
The Springfield Alumnus has been named the National Division III Coach of the year four times, USA Volleyball's All-Time Great Coach award in the Donald S. Shondell Contemporary Division for 2015, and honored with multiple Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association DIII Coach of the Year awards.
In addition to leading the winningest Division III Volleyball Program in the country, Sullivan has also presented at business and leadership conferences all over the world. Most notably at the Traveler’s Insurance leadership conference, Pan American Sports Performance Conference, YMCA Leadership Conference, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Conference.
If you'd like to connect with Coach Sullivan, you can email him at csulliva@springfieldcollege.edu
Episode Breakdown:
2:10: The Coin Flip in Rome: How Sullivan started coaching volleyball
6:10: 11 national championships has nothing to do with volleyball: 4 relationship factors
9:15: Why we need core Values
15:05: Feeling vs. Thinking
19:00: Competitive coordination
23:15: Bridging the achievement gap in teams
24:20: Sullivan's favorite Springfield Wrestling Memory
25:45: 1 minute overtime
