Chuck Crawford, who has extensive experience in premiere collegiate volleyball, has been named the 11th head coach in program history, Director of Athletics Chris Massaro announced Tuesday.
“Chuck Crawford comes to Middle Tennessee with a great deal of experience in developing players, and he has a successful track record of aiding student-athletes getting the most of their experience academically and athletically,” Massaro said. “After an extensive national search, we are delighted with Coach Crawford being the person to lead our volleyball program.”
Crawford comes to Murfreesboro from Auburn where he served as an assistant for the past three seasons.
While on the Plains, Crawford’s responsibilities included defensive game planning along with scouting and assisting with recruiting and development. With the Tigers, Crawford helped compile a 46-46 record over the last three years.
Crawford coached an All-SEC selection and a pair of AVCA All-South Region honorable mentions at Auburn in 2015. Off the court, Crawford also mentored an SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, a CoSIDA Academic All-District in 2014 and 2015 and eight members of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
“Obviously I’m incredibly excited. I’d like to thank President McPhee, Chris Massaro, Diane Turnham and Whit Turnbow for the confidence they have, and trusting me to lead the program in the future,” Crawford said. “Middle Tennessee is a place that I have followed for years. They have a history of winning on the national level. More importantly, I think they are known for the family atmosphere. Those are the things that attracted me the most – the people.”
Prior to Auburn, Crawford spent a season at Georgia Tech coaching the middle blockers while also serving as recruiting coordinator and director of camps. While with the Yellow Jackets, Crawford coached middle blocker Chanell Clark-Bibbs, who earned a spot on the 2013 USA Junior National Team, and was named a two-time Academic All-ACC selection.
Crawford went to Georgia Tech from his alma mater Miami (Ohio) as an assistant for two years. With the RedHawks, he helped train three first-team All-MAC honorees and a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Crawford worked primarily with the hitters and oversaw the program’s recruiting, including a ‘High Honorable Mention’ by Prep Volleyball from his 2013 recruiting class.
Before joining the RedHawks, Crawford spent a year and a half as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Jacksonville University. At JU, Crawford coordinated all recruiting along with team training, scouting, fundraising and practice planning. He helped middle blocker Alyssa Robertson earn Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team honors, outside hitter Aidan Yager earn a spot on the All-Atlantic Sun first team and recruited the 2012 Atlantic Sun Freshman Player of the Year in Sammie Strausbaugh.
He also spent a year as a volunteer assistant at Georgia Tech in 2009, helping the Yellow Jackets to an NCAA Tournament bid after a five-year postseason drought.
He is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, having served on their national Assistant Coaches Committee, as well as United States Volleyball and the Southern Region Volleyball Association.
A native of Middletown, Ohio, he taught health, physical education and special education in Fulton and Forsyth counties (Ga.) for nearly 10 years and coached at Centennial High School (2001-04) and North Forsyth High School (2006-09) during that time.
Crawford earned his Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education from Miami University in 2001. He was a four-year member of the RedHawks’ club volleyball team.
Crawford and his wife, Lori, have four children: Carson, Drew, Ty and Ava. An avid rock and mountain climber, Crawford was featured in the Weather Channel TV series Epic Conditions climbing the nose of El Cap (3,300 feet) in Yosemite. He has also summited 14,400-foot Mount Rainer in Washington state and spent three years riding bulls in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA).
