Ryan McGuyre

Through six seasons at the helm of Baylor volleyball, head coach Ryan McGuyre has put the program amongst the sport's biggest names and into the national spotlight. After narrowly missing the postseason in his first year, McGuyre and the Bears marched their way to the program's first Big 12 title and the NCAA National Semifinals in 2019 while earning the school's first No. 1 AVCA national ranking and No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

McGuyre followed up the historic 2019 campaign by leading the Bears to their second consecutive NCAA Regional Semifinal berth in 2020, marking just the third time in program history that the program has reached the Sweet 16 (2009, 2019, 2020).

Now entering his seventh season at BU, McGuyre has compiled six consecutive winning seasons, five-straight 20-win seasons and a program-best five consecutive NCAA appearances since his arrival in 2015.

Named the 2019 AVCA and VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, 2019 AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year, 2017 and 2019 Big 12 Coach of the Year, McGuyre has coached 11 AVCA All-America selections, 15 All-Region honorees, 22 All-Big 12 awardees and 48 Academic All-Big 12 selections throughout his time at Baylor.

McGuyre's teams continue to lock down home court advantage behind record-breaking crowds at the Ferrell Center. Baylor topped its own attendance record in three straight seasons from 2017-2019. BU's 2019 win against No. 1 Texas on Nov. 20 drew 7,357 fans, almost double the old attendance record set earlier that season against Tennessee in September.

Baylor has gone an impressive 28-2 over the last two seasons at home, collecting nine ranked wins. In 2019, Waco hosted through the NCAA Regional final as the Bears booked their spot in Pittsburgh, Pa., for the NCAA Final Four.

Along with matching the most home wins in program history with 13 in 2017, BU's season opener against LSU in 2018 drew a record crowd of 3,858. The team has had 10 top-10 crowds at the Ferrell Center under McGuyre.

Reshaping a Program

After taking the program to new heights in 2019, McGuyre guided his team through a challenging 2020-21 season that carried into the spring calendar for the first time. While navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bears won 20 games for the fifth-consecutive season behind a senior-laden squad which included defending AVCA National Player of the Year Yossiana Pressley.

Pressley led the nation with 488 total kills and ranked eighth with 4.69 kills per set, while Lauren Harrison debuted 305 kills on a .260 efficiency in her first season as a Bear, earning the duo AVCA All-America honors.

Shanel Bramschreiber also received historic praise, becoming the first player in program history to be named the Big 12 Libero of the Year. The junior defensive specialist tallied 377 digs (3.63 per set) and recorded double-digit digs in 22 of BU's 27 matches, with 13 outings of at least 15 digs and four performances above 20.

For the first time in program history, BU made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Regional Semifinals after coming from behind to defeat No. 20 Pepperdine in the NCAA Second Round. The Bears tallied five ranked wins in the combined 2020-21 season, with 12 of their 20 victories coming in sweeping fashion.
McGuyre took the program to new heights last season, led by the program's winningest senior class that booked the program's fourth-straight NCAA Tournament bid after a stellar season that included eight wins over ranked foes and a Big 12 title. After falling in the NCAA Second Round in three straight seasons, the Bears advanced to the Regional round for the second time in program history and then upended No. 14 Purdue to earn a spot in the Regional final against No. 8 Washington.

Baylor was one of the last four teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament with its 3-1 win against the Huskies, eventually falling to No. 4 Wisconsin in the NCAA National Semifinals in Pittsburgh, Pa. Multiple Bears garnered national attention, including AVCA and ESPNW National Player of the Year Yossiana Pressley. She and teammates Shelly Stafford and Hannah Lockin became the program's first AVCA First Team All-Americans. Lockin was also the program's first Big 12 Setter of the Year while Pressley earned Big 12 and AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year. Stafford became the first Bear to be named to the All-Big 12 team in four seasons.

McGuyre's squad rose to the No. 1 national ranking after opening the season with a 16-0 record and winning 31 consecutive sets in that span. BU became just the third team in the decade to win a Big 12 championship and shared the regular season title with Texas after compiling a near-perfect 15-1 record.

McGuyre also became the fastest Baylor volleyball coach to 100 wins at the helm after BU took down West Virginia on Oct. 26, 2019. He needed only 142 matches to reach this milestone (100-42).

In 2018, McGuyre and the Bears continued to move the mark in school history, securing the team's third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and second-straight Big 12 runner-up finish in conference play. With a 20-9 record, the Bears were on the brink of advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16, narrowly falling in five sets to No. 15 Oregon in second round action in Eugene, Ore.

McGuyre saw Shelly Fanning break the school record for hitting percentage for the second-straight year and secured the program's second AVCA Second Team All-America honor. Yossiana Pressley also became the second Bear to record multiple All-America honors with Fanning. The duo also earned All-Region and All-Big 12 honors.

In 2017, McGuyre led BU to its most successful season under his watch, matching the most wins in program history with a 24-7 record. The 2017 squad earned the team's first-ever back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids and used a program-high No. 12 RPI to host the opening rounds as the No. 12 overall seed for the first time in school history.

The tournament bid was made possible with a strong performance in Big 12 play. McGuyre's Bears earned their highest finish in conference action with a 13-3 record for a runner-up finish, highlighted with road wins over No. 18 Iowa State and No. 11 Kansas and going toe-to-toe with No. 2 Texas in the regular season finale.

McGuyre saw three Bears earn AVCA Honorable Mention All-America recognition in Shelly Fanning, Hannah Lockin and Yossiana Pressley. In addition to Pressley's Southwest Region Freshman of the Year honor, she was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after she led the league in points and kills per set. McGuyre's team earned a program-best 15 Big 12 Player of the Week nods, led by Pressley with nine weekly honors.

In 2016, McGuyre guided the team to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 and first postseason win since 2009, upsetting No. 14 San Diego in the NCAA First Round in Los Angeles.

He trained and sculpted the program's third All-American and first to land on one of the three 14-member teams, Katie Staiger. He watched Staiger break Baylor's single-season kills record and record the second-most kills in Big 12 history.

Despite two starters missing all season due to injury and losing a starter during the team's conference opener, McGuyre led his team to a 20-win season and the program's second-straight winning season for the first time since 2011-12.

Under McGuyre, Baylor rattled off 10 wins in a row from Sept. 9-28, one short of the all-time program record. McGuyre also impressed crowds at home for the second-straight season, breaking the home match winning streak record and extending it to nine games.

McGuyre also used two key transfers in his regular rotation who contributed both offensively and defensively. Camryn Freiberg, the conference's leader in total blocks, earned All-Big 12 honors in her first season in Waco. McGuyre also saw big improvements during conference play, guiding his team to a 9-7 record, Baylor's first winning record in Big 12 action since 2009.

In 2015, McGuyre saw immediate improvements in his first season at the helm of the program, finishing 17-13 overall to give Baylor its first winning season in three years. An initial focus on protecting the home court at the Ferrell Center paid off, with the Bears notching 10 wins at home, the most in the previous nine years.

Narrowly missing a postseason berth, the Bears peaked at a program-record No. 30 ranking in the NCAA RPI, finishing the season as one of the first four left out of the bracket.

Senior outside hitter Andie Malloy capped off a successful career at Baylor, earning All-Big 12 First Team honors for the second straight season. A hopeful sign of things to come in the McGuyre era, freshman Shelly Fanning iced a remarkable first season for the Bears, earning All-Big 12 Second Team and a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Prior to Baylor

McGuyre has coached at the collegiate level for both men and women since 1999 including head-coaching stints at California Baptist (CBU) and Biola University, both of which are faith-based institutions.

As associate head coach for two seasons, McGuyre and the Florida State Seminoles finished a 2014 NCAA Tournament run reaching the Sweet 16 before a loss to national runner-up, BYU. The Seminoles finished 30-3 in 2014, and in his first season at Florida State in 2013, the Seminoles posted a 26-8 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.

Prior to his arrival at Florida State, McGuyre was an assistant at Maryland for one season following a 10-year head coaching stint at CBU from 2002-2011. There, he was the head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs, and he crafted a men’s program that won six NAIA national championships (2004, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’10, ’11) and three women’s national titles (2004, ’05, ’11).

Among many accolades at CBU, McGuyre was named the 2005 NAIA Men’s National Coach of the Year and in 2011 the NCCAA Division I National Coach of the Year. In 2010, he made history by being named both the AVCA Men’s and Women’s NAIA National Coach of the Year in the same calendar year.

During his coaching, McGuyre’s teams have knocked off several elite NCAA Division I programs including; USC, UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, Penn State, UC Irvine and Hawaii. On two occasions, McGuyre’s team defeated the No. 1 ranked NCAA Division I program.

He also served as a volunteer assistant for the 2006 USA men’s volleyball team where he helped run practice drills as well as charting, video analysis and game planning for opposing countries. While at CBU, he served as the awards committee chairman, a regional rater, and was the Vice President of the NAIA Coaches Association from 2009-10.

Before his successful stop at CBU, McGuyre spent three years as head coach at Biola University from 1999-2001 in Los Angeles where he tallied 60 wins in three seasons for the women’s program. Prior to his head coaching debut at Biola, he was a graduate assistant at North Carolina State (1998-99).

All in all, between men’s and women’s programs, McGuyre has had tremendous success as a head coach, leading 18 NAIA All-Americans, three AVCA National Player of the Year recipients, and seven different National Tournament MVP award winners.

Personal

A 1998 graduate of Biola University, McGuyre earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in social science with an emphasis in secondary education and a minor in Biblical studies.

As an athlete, McGuyre lead Biola University to three NIRSA Collegiate Club National Championship appearances having won it in 1998. He was a two-time national tournament MVP award recipient.

McGuyre is married to former University of Hawaii volleyball standout and USA National Team member Jennifer (Roberts) McGuyre. Jennifer served as McGuyre’s assistant coach at both CBU and Biola. The couple has three children: sons, Tryston and Ryder, and a daughter, Kitana.