Former assistant returning to William & Mary to lead volleyball team

After a month-long search, the William & Mary volleyball program has found its new head coach.

Athletic Director Brian Mann announced Monday that Ryan Adams will now be at the helm of the program.

Adams will replace Tim Doyle, who resigned in late December after a 35-75 record across five years as head coach.

“It quickly became obvious that Ryan Adams is the absolutely best person for our program,” Mann said in a release. “Beyond being a superb coach, whose teams mirror his competitive fire, he is a kind and thoughtful person who will develop our student-athletes athletically and academically.”

The new head coach could be a breath of fresh air for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2009.

Adams comes back to Williamsburg after a four-year head coaching stint at Lafayette College. A few stops before his gig with the Leopards, Adams was an assistant coach at William & Mary from the 2016-17.

“I loved my time in Williamsburg, and I am beyond excited to return,” Adams said in a release. “The foundation for William & Mary volleyball is great and the women on the team are amazing. I’m looking forward to helping make volleyball the best part of their day as we work to get 1% better every day. I’m also very grateful to the leadership at William & Mary for this outstanding opportunity.”

He spent the 2017 season in Virginia Beach, where he was an assistant coach at Princess Anne High.

In 2021, Adams was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after he led Lafayette to a 15-10 overall record and 12-4 conference mark.

His coaching career started at Idaho in 2012, and Adams has also had assistant coach tenures at Northwestern Nazarene and Bucknell.

Adams played college volleyball at Cal State Northridge and also has experience coaching at the club level.

“Ryan understands and appreciates the demands of coaching, as well as being a student-athlete, at a top academic institution. He was an Academic All American during his college days,” Mann said. “Coupled with his desire to win the right way and his ability to teach and motivate his team, W&M volleyball is going to be in great hands.”