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An assistant coach who has helped lead teams to five NCAA championships in the last five years will now be joining the Ohio State coaching staff.
Ohio State coach Pete Hanson announced last week that he hired Kevin Burch to be an assistant coach for the upcoming season.
Burch served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Buckeyes in 2011 when they became the third non-West Coast school in NCAA history to win the national championship. He most recently also was the director of volleyball operations for the Penn State women’s volleyball team that won the NCAA championship in December.
Along with his coaching stops at Big Ten schools, Burch was an assistant coach for both UC Irvine and Springfield.
While at UC Irvine, he helped the Anteaters earn the lone at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and become the first team in almost 20 years to repeat as national champions. In addition, Burch won NCAA Division III championships with Springfield in 2012 and 2014 and was named the 2012 AVCA Division III National Assistant Coach of the Year.
“Kevin’s resume speaks for itself in terms of developing his knowledge from two of the best coaches in the game,” Hanson said in a statement. “Having spent time at Springfield College with Charlie Sullivan and winning two D-III national championships, along with this past year being a part of Russ Rose’s staff at Penn State and winning a D-I national championship I believe has prepared Kevin well for the tasks that will be in front of him.”
Burch will replace longtime assistant coach Sean Byron on Hanson’s staff. Byron recently left Ohio State to become an assistant coach with the West Virginia women’s volleyball team.
“I’m very excited to come back to Ohio State and couldn’t be more thankful of Pete Hanson, Gene Smith and Janine Oman for giving me the opportunity,” Burch said in a statement. “Ohio State University, its athletics department and the men’s volleyball program have provided me the opportunities I never thought possible.”
Ohio State returns a majority of starters after reaching the 2015 MIVA Tournament semifinals and finishing in the top 10 of the national coaches poll.