Prigge off to blazing start in 1st season as Cowgirls' head coach

Sep. 7—Kaylee Prigge has raced out to a 6-0 start through her first two weekends as head coach of the University of Wyoming women's volleyball team.

Prigge is the 14th head coach in program history, but spent the previous four seasons as an assistant with the Cowgirls. She was an associate head coach for the past two seasons, and a recruiting coordinator in each of the past three.

Playing at the University of Tampa, Prigge was a part of three Sunshine State Conference and South Region championship teams. Comparing the sport from when she played from 2010-12 to now, the game has evolved exponentially.

"That's attributed to volleyball's popularity. We're the most popular youth sport in the country for women and young ladies," Prigge told WyoSports on Tuesday. "When that happens, we're getting better athletes that play volleyball. It's becoming more physical. All of that attributes to it, and the more people playing it, the better the sport is going to be.

"... We saw volleyball day at Nebraska, where they packed their football stadium with over 92,000 fans. You can tell the direction our sport is going in. We're launching a pro league in the United States. That's huge for athletes in our sport. Right now, if you want to be a good pro player, you've got to go overseas, away from your family and friends, and live a different lifestyle. Sometimes, you're the only English speaker on your team, including the coach, so we've grown in a positive way for sure."

Prigge is the oldest of four kids and was raised in a coaching family, as longtime football coach Dirk Koetter is her father. Koetter had stops in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, as well as at the Division I level with Boise State University, Arizona State and others.

Prigge got her official coaching start at the University of Tampa from 2013-14 and 2015-17. She helped the Spartans to three Sunshine State Conference titles during her years there, and worked with the development of a Division II player of the year, seven All-Americans, eight all-region players and nine all-conference players.

From Tampa, she transitioned to the Midwest, where she worked with Southern Illinois University. At SIU, she helped with recruitment, as well as organizing summer camps and office preparations.

From SIU, she made the move to the University of Illinois Chicago. Prigge spent two seasons with the Flames, helping guide them to two consecutive 17-win seasons.

UIC was her last top before landing in Laramie. She joined UW's staff under coach Chad Callihan in 2019. During her first year with UW, the Cowgirls won 22 matches, a mark that is the sixth-most in school history.

"I felt like I was coaching well before I was actually coaching," Prigge said. "When I first got into it, I was just trying to get my feet wet and soak up everything like a sponge. Then you start to develop your own style, and just within my time here at Wyoming, I got to be an assistant to Chad and the other assistant, Dan Georgalas, and they were together for a long time. I spent a lot of time figuring out where to add value.

"As an assistant, you want to be positive — the 'good cop' type of thing. And now, I'm trying to get my feet under me as head coach. That's figuring out the right thing to do and what our team needs all the time. I think I'll continue to feel that way for a while. Looking back at some of my mentors, the best coaches are always learning."

Having spent a lot of time around successful coaches, Prigge has picked up many nuggets of advice over the years. The one that sticks out most to her came from her father.

"Ever since I was as young as I can remember, my dad always said, 'Do your job to the best of your ability, and the rest takes care of itself.'"

Her experience in recruiting at different places is a huge plus for the Cowgirls. At UW's media day last month, graduate transfer Holly Estridge referred to the vibe of playing for Prigge as "amazing."

"Recruiting changes from position to position, depending on what you're looking for and what your roster currently has," Prigge said. "The way volleyball recruiting works, we do a lot in the spring during club seasons. They play in big cities and convention centers. You walk in and there's over 100 courts, and everything is organized through an app.

"There is some recruiting of new players there, and maybe some players that have reached out or players you may know of through connections. You want to get live evaluations of those kids, and reach out to them afterward to see what the process of getting them to visit campus looks like."

Prigge is big on intangibles. She looks for players who align with Wyoming as a state.

"To me, that is blue collar, and (someone who) has a little bit of grit and maybe is a little rough around the edges," Prigge said. "We love a kid that maybe hasn't been as highly recruited, but we can develop. They will be competitive and love volleyball.

"We look for good students with a strong work ethic and a little bit of personality. We talk about owning it, and we want people that are fun to be around."

UW women's basketball coach Heather Ezell and UW women's soccer coach Colleen Corbin also landed their first head coaching gigs with the Cowgirls. Prigge often talks with those two and receives advice on the different firsts one experiences as a new coach.

Ezell also started as an assistant with the Cowgirls, winning a Mountain West title in 2020-21.

"I want to win a championship," Prigge said. "... I look up to both of them and being able to lean on them as I go through some rookie mistakes."

Prigge originally found out about her promotion to head coach from UW athletics director Tom Burman shortly before the kickoff of a Boise State at UW football game last November. The game took place a week before Thanksgiving, and her family was in town because Koetter was volunteering as Boise State's offensive coordinator.

"I got the call to come in and meet with Tom, and I was thinking it was probably going to be a yes or no," Prigge said. "I interviewed the week before, and knew a decision was looming. I ran home and told them I got it, and that moment was really special."

Prigge has been able to bond with her team together through hiking. On report day — which is the day before the season where the team can't practice, but can do team activities — the Cowgirls went to Curt Gowdy State Park and hiked the Hidden Falls trail.

The team also turned an exhibition match in Cody into a team bonding trip that included a five-mile walk around Yellowstone National Park.

"(The trips are) really to get some of our new kids out to see the awesome outdoor surroundings we have," Prigge said. "It was my first time to Yellowstone, and some of our girls' first times, as well, so we really enjoyed that.

"When we go to Portland this weekend, we are going to take one morning and see a waterfall and go on a short hike."

Austin Edmonds covers Laramie High, University of Wyoming and community athletics for WyoSports. He can be reached at aedmonds@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @_austinedmonds.