This post was updated May 29 at 11:45 a.m.
For over a decade, three legendary volleyball coaches have graced Westwood.
Michael Sealy, John Speraw and Stein Metzger tout a combined total of 18 national titles as both players and coaches. But the path to becoming some of the most renowned collegiate volleyball coaches in the world hasn’t been the same for all three.
On May 8, 1993, the trio all collected their first ring together in their first – and last – season playing as teammates.
After going titleless from 1990-1992, Sealy helped secure UCLA men’s volleyball’s 14th program title, boasting MVP and All-Tournament Team accolades in his senior season.
While Speraw and Metzger stayed on after that first title, Sealy took to playing professionally.
Michael Sealy: Former UCLA women’s volleyball head coach
Upon graduation, Sealy immediately embarked upon the professional circuit. The standout setter went on to play in Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and Puerto Rico, in addition to two brief stints with the United States National Team in 1994 and 1997.
Returning to the U.S. at the turn of the century, Sealy became a volunteer assistant coach for the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team in 2000 before transitioning to the same role at UCLA in 2001.
Sealy ascended to assistant coach of the UCLA men’s volleyball team from 2003-2006, when he picked up his second national title overall and sole championship as an assistant coach. In those four years, UCLA went 91-38 overall. Through the 2005 season, Sealy dipped his toes into coaching the Bruin women’s volleyball team for the first time, helping guide the squad to a 20-11 record and regional semifinals finish.
Hawaiʻi proved Sealy’s first home as an associate head coach. There, he helped lead the Rainbow Warriors to a national semifinals berth in 2009 and back-to-back 30-plus win seasons. Throughout his four years with the program, Hawaiʻi claimed four consecutive regular season and postseason conference titles.
Upon the retirement of former standout UCLA women’s volleyball coach Andy Banachowski, Sealy took on the head coaching job at his alma mater Feb. 10, 2010.
It took only two seasons for him to secure his third – and final – national championship.
After a 22-9 season in 2010 when the Bruins only reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, the 2011 AVCA Coach of the Year led UCLA to a 30-6 record and the fourth NCAA crown in program history.
Two years later, the Bruins missed the tournament for the second time since its inception. And despite leading UCLA to respectable regular seasons, Sealy remained unable to match his early postseason success, reaching the regional finals in 2016 for his highest postseason finish from the last decade.
The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year had failed to secure a bid to the national stage three times in 13 years by the end of his campaign with UCLA, posting an overall record of 273-128 throughout his time with the team. Most recently in 2022, Sealy posted a 16-13 record to miss the NCAA tournament by one win.
On Dec. 10, Sealy announced his formal resignation from the program. The first of the coaching trio to leave UCLA as a player, he also proved the first to leave the school as a coach.
John Speraw: UCLA men’s volleyball head coach
A quiet 1994 season followed Speraw and Metzger’s first championship. But on May 9, 1995, the duo collected its second title. In his senior season, Speraw secured an All-Tournament Team mention.
Right after his graduation, Speraw took on a volunteer assistant coaching position with the UCLA men’s volleyball team while also taking on a position at the UCLA hospital. He secured his first full-time coaching gig as an assistant to Al Scates after three years as a volunteer, and he never looked back.
From 2003-2005, he and Sealy crossed paths once again, this time both as assistant coaches.
Speraw earned a head coaching position after combined 12 years as a player and coach at UCLA, moving down the 405 Freeway to take the helm of UC Irvine’s men’s volleyball program. He brought the team several firsts, including its first regular-season MPSF title, first campaign with 29 victories and first national championship.
Named the AVCA National Coach of the Year for the first time in 2006, Speraw secured titles for Irvine in 2007, 2009 and 2012. The first proved doubly fruitful for the budding coach as he joined the U.S. National Team staff after serving as an assistant coach to other levels of U.S. volleyball since 1997.
With the U.S. National Team, Speraw helped lead the squad to an Olympic gold medal in 2008.
UCLA welcomed Speraw back in 2012 as he assumed head coaching duties of a team six years removed from the national stage. It wasn’t until 2016 that the team returned to the NCAA tournament. A MPSF championship match, NCAA semifinals berth and 25 victories in 2016 proved the best season for UCLA men’s volleyball in a decade.
Alongside his collegiate responsibilities, Speraw took the helm of the U.S. National Team in 2013. Under him, the U.S. qualified for the 2016 Olympics and went on to capture bronze. Right after guiding UCLA to a NCAA championship game in 2018, Speraw directed the U.S. National Team to its first FIVB World Championship medal in 24 years, picking up bronze.
He signed on to continue with the men’s team through the 2024 Olympics in December 2021.
But before he leads the U.S. into the next Olympics, he most recently saw UCLA to its best season since the turn of the millennium, compiling a record 31 wins alongside 21 sweeps. The awards came piling in, as Speraw secured MPSF Coach of the Year honors and a program-best seven All-Americans. UCLA led the nation in blocks, set assists and hitting percentage.
Thirty years after figuring out how to do it as a player, Speraw brought home a national title as a UCLA coach. UCLA men’s volleyball picked up its 20th program championship May 6. The run shattered a 17-year drought and gave Speraw a ninth trophy for his cabinet.
The reigning AVCA National Coach of the Year remains with the program today.
Stein Metzger: Former UCLA beach volleyball head coach
Metzger’s senior campaign mimicked Speraw’s and Sealy’s, with the Bruins earning a national title and Metzger picking up an All-Tournament team mention. He also earned AVCA National co-Player of the Year honors in 1996 to cap off four years filled with accolades.
Upon graduation, Metzger turned professional on the AVP world tour for beach volleyball. He took home fifth place at the Olympics in 2004 and was twice a part of the AVP Team of the Year before his retirement into coaching.
A quiet several years – culminating in an induction into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 – followed, with Metzger returning to UCLA in 2012 to assume assistant coaching responsibilities for the women’s volleyball team.
UCLA beach volleyball was announced as a sport the following year. Metzger took the helm that year, guiding a team of mostly indoor players while continuing his assistant coaching responsibilities under Sealy. He notched his fourth national title that season coaching the women’s volleyball team alongside his old teammate.
Beach volleyball took off in the ensuing years. The Pac-12 began to sponsor the sport in 2015, and the NCAA held its first national championships in beach volleyball in 2016.
On the UCLA end, Metzger quit his position with the women’s volleyball team in 2015 to focus solely on beach volleyball. That season was the first in which every player on the team was an official beach volleyball player and not a mix of beach and indoor talent.
The 2018 season brought Metzger his first national title as a head coach. He followed that up with his sixth title overall in 2019, becoming a back-to-back national champion.
In his 11 years with the team, Metzger brought a budding sport into UCLA relevancy, posting a 266-61 overall record. He coached his first Olympian – and an NCAA-record 20th for the program – in Sarah Sponcil, who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. Most recently, Metzger led UCLA beach volleyball to its second-ever 40-plus win season – an NCAA record.
Metzger announced his departure from the program at the close of the 2023 season, as he is set to assume the role of head coach for Texas’ beach volleyball program.
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