New Coaching Staff for Men's Volleyball

PROVO, Utah – Despite being in its off-season, the BYU men’s volleyball team has still been busy with the appointment of a new head coach in Chris McGown and assistant coaches Rob Neilson, Mike Wilton and Carl McGown, with Giuseppe Vinci as technical assistant.

Head Coach Chris McGown

Chris McGown comes to BYU, as the Cougars’ fifth all-time head coach, from Gold Medal Squared volleyball camps, where he has been involved since its inception in 1998, working as both an administrator and a coach/clinician. During the course of his career with GMS, McGown has worked with hundreds of schools and clubs and thousands of volleyball players and coaches.

At GMS, he most recently served as a principal clinician at Coaching Education events where he worked closely with his father, former BYU coach Carl McGown. He also had a significant part in the administration of GMS, managing finances, the GMS website, clinic scheduling and staffing and marketing/advertising.
McGown also worked as a volunteer assistant coach for the BYU women's volleyball team from 2009-11.

Visit the online website Off The Block here for a Q&A with head coach Chris McGown.

Assistant Coach Rob Neilson

Neilson spent last year as the team’s interim head coach while leading the squad to a 20-8 record and second place finish in the MPSF. He will now be entering his sixth season as a coach at BYU. He began his coaching career in 2007 as an assistant to former BYU head coach Shawn Patchell. Neilson has been coaching volleyball at summer camps since 2000. He played for and coached under former BYU coaches Carl McGown and Tom Peterson.

Assistant Coach Mike Wilton

Mike Wilton joins the BYU men's volleyball program with over 30 years of experience at the collegiate volleyball level, including 12 years as the head womens coach at Cal Poly and 17 years as the head men's coach at the University of Hawaii.

With 354 career wins on the mens side - including a program-best 316 at UH - Wilton has established himself as a very successful men's volleyball coach. In 32 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level, he has amassed 637 victories, which includes 283 wins in 12 seasons with the Cal Poly women. Under Wilton, the Warrior volleyball program rose among the elite with five Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division titles, three NCAA semifinal appearances and five top 5 final national rankings. During his tenure, the Warriors posted four 20-win campaigns, won more than 67 percent of their matches and were nationally ranked in all 17 seasons.

Volunteer Assistant Coach Carl McGown

Carl McGown joins the BYU men's volleyball team as a volunteer assistant coach under his son and head coach Chris McGown. 

Carl coached the BYU men's volleyball team for 14 years between 1990 and 2002 where he led the team to two national championship (1999 and 2001), twice earned National Coach of the Year honors and compiled a renowned 225-137 record. McGown and BYU began NCAA competition in 1990 after winning three national club titles and finishing second in 1986 and 1989. He paced the Cougars to seven top-10 finishes in his 14 years and coached 18 different All-Americans. In addition to their competetive success, BYU led the NCAA in regular season attendance in 1990, 1993 and 1994. 

Carl also served as the head coach of the USA men's team from 1973 to 1976 and became a technical advisor to the National Team in 1980. Since then, McGown has coached in five different Olympic games, including the 1984 games in Los Angeles, the 1988 games in Soul, the 1992 games in Barcelona, the 1996 games in Atlanta and the 2000 games in Sydney. McGown has also coached the National Team in seven different World Championships, including 1970, '74, '82, '86, '90, '94 amd '98. McGown has also coached in the World University Games, as well as the Pan American Games. 

Technical Assistant Giuseppe Vinci

Vinci began working with the sport of volleyball in a small club called Pallavolo Casteggio as manager and then assistant coach as a 13-year-old. In this club he worked with various teams, one of which won a championship and advanced into the regional category. He has worked with both the mens and womens Division II Italian Professional teams and went to the 2008 Olympic Games with the Men's Italian Senior National Team.

Here in the United States, Vinci has worked with the BYU mens and womens volleyball teams, as well as USA Volleyball. He was an assistant coach with the Mens Junior National Team at the 2009 FIBA World Championships in India.