Volleyball's Jamie Morrison shares what attracted him to Texas A&M

In December, Jamie Morrison was hired as Texas A&M's seventh head volleyball coach. Bringing nearly two decades of experience at the collegiate, international and professional levels, Morrison joined TexAgs Radio to express his excitement to get started.

Key notes from Jamie Morrison interview

• I came to Texas A&M six days before Christmas. It has been a whirlwind. It was like trying to get out of 20 feet of water, but we’re out of that now and thriving as a staff.
   
• I was very picky. I had been thinking about coming back to collegiate volleyball for a while. This is a place where we can build something. I needed a place where I could win a national championship. I am a firm believer in the sport. I wanted a place where the administration and community would support the sport's growth. Where we could get 5,000 to 6,000 fans a night. For me, it was Texas A&M, and the administration was fully supportive. I said this to the girls, and there are pieces here that we can be successful with very quickly.
   
• The administration, the community and the former students all really care. There were some pieces we needed to fill, and we did that. We brought in a middle blocker in Morgan Perkins. We got a setter in Margot Manning. We have a young team that we can really build around. Our team came in spring and got better at a lot of little things. I can't wait to get to the fall and compete.
   
• We just got done with camp. I was very blessed to be a part of a national camp when I was 24. I was around the best coaches, psychologists, strength coaches and trainers in the world. I got to acquire a lot of knowledge. It is my job to give that back, and I feel like I can do that here.
   
• My main job is to give vision. This is the culture we want to set and the way we want to interact with boosters and alumni. I think I have one of the best staffs in the world. I am really happy with where we are at now. Give vision, and the ultimate thing is to surround yourself with great people.
   
• I got to know Stacy Sykora when I was with the men's national team. It was kind of a surface-level relationship. Then it became a coach-player relationship when I coached the women's national team, but I want my players to be a collaborator with me. We got close after those three years. I can't tell you the excitement from her when I said I was considering this job. The special part was just having her around the team. She had a tremendous career for 15 years and was the first libero in USA volleyball.
   
• I’m a teacher, first and foremost. We play around with ways to keep athletes engaged and having fun. I am intense about certain things, and I lay things out that are going to define us at the beginning of the year. I am very inclusive and want my athletes to collaborate with us. I want all my players to have a say.
   
• You put a lot of talent in a room, and certain people will rise. Logan Lednicky was the leader in kills last year as a freshman. Caroline Meuth was second in kills. These are people that are going to make a difference, as will Perkins, libero Lauren Hogan and libero Ava Underwood. Lauren is the team captain, and I don't think I have worked with a better one. We are on the same page about putting the team first.