Kim Mulkey (Baylor and LSU), Pete Carroll (USC and Seattle Seahawks), Nick Saban (LSU and Alabama), and Larry Brown (Kansas and Detroit Pistons) are excellent coaches who have won championships at two different programs. Pull out the red carpet, Coach Tom Peterson has won the National Championships at three different colleges as an NCAA men’s volleyball head coach. Yes, you heard that right, Coach Peterson has won at Penn State, BYU, and Southern Virginia. Impressive!
Coach Peterson grew up in Utah. At a young age, he was passionate about basketball and tennis. His sister, Brenda Peterson, was a talented volleyball player who introduced him to the sport. When Coach Peterson attended BYU, he signed up for a volleyball class taught by the legendary Coach Carl McGown. After serving his mission, he returned to BYU and played outside hitter for the Cougars in the late 1970s.
When Peterson’s playing career ended, he got into coaching, and it has been 45 years of fulfillment. The coach has won a slew of matches, and Peterson reached the pinnacle of coaching, but it is not all about winning for him. When asked what is the most fulfilling part of coaching, he quickly responded, “It is fun to see the development of the athlete and the person itself.”
Coach Peterson was coaching a club at UBA after his successful NCAA coaching career. When Southern Virginia came calling, his wife Sheryl Peterson (Southern Virginia assistant coach) and he jumped at the opportunity. They arrived in the fall of 2016, and in late April of this year, the Knights won their first men’s volleyball championship. While discussing why the team was so successful, Coach Peterson stated, “We had good players. The culture our team developed was something special. The athletes were brothers who looked out for each other.”
Throughout Coach Peterson’s journey, he has coached some gifted student-athletes. Ramon Hernadez Cruz (Penn State 1994 NCAA DI Championship and National Player Of The Year), Carlos Mareno (BYU 2004 NCAA D I Championship, National Player Of The Year and current USD women’s volleyball Associate Head Coach) and Christian Sheaffer (Southern Virginia, 2025 NCAA D III Champ and National Player Of The Year). “Coach Peterson has amazing insights, stories, and seems to say the right things during stressful moments. He is extremely kind, humble, loving, and grateful for the people around him. Coach instilled those traits in me, and I am lucky to have played for him,” said Sheaffer.
The Southern Virginia athletes, community, and athletic director realize how lucky they are to have Coach Peterson.
“At Southern Virginia University, we’ve always known the impact Coach Peterson has, not just on the court, but in the lives of his players and the spirit of our athletic community. His leadership, passion, and commitment to our values makes his accomplishments incredibly well-deserved,” said Josh Monsen, Southern Virginia Athletic Director.
It is remarkable that Coach Peterson has won three titles at three different universities. A feat that has not been accomplished in our sport. After my call with the champ, I called my inner volleyball circle, and I thought I would tell them how cool it was that I talked to a three-time champion. Don’t get me wrong, it was a treat to talk to a winner, but I was far more impressed with the type of person Coach Peterson was. He graciously talked to me for 30 minutes. After I was done with my questions, he flipped the script and asked me about my career. What a gentleman and class act. It is people like Coach Peterson who bring fulfillment for me while writing about our lovely sport.
About The Author
Kevin Pratte has enthusiastically been involved in volleyball for over 23 years. Pratte started playing in middle school and was fortunate enough to play NCAA Division 1 volleyball at The University of the Pacific. After his playing career, Pratte got involved in coaching volleyball. In 2009, Pratte was the graduate assistant coach for the University of Nebraska women’s volleyball program. Later in his career, Pratte made coaching stops at University of the Pacific, multiple community colleges, and coached at WAVE Volleyball Club for seven years. Currently Pratte is a physical education teacher in the San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary member, a college volleyball recruiting coordinator, hosts a volleyball podcast show, the owner of the Middle Hitter website and runs a non-profit organization to help raise funds to give boys’ high school volleyball students scholarships to play club volleyball.
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