Episode #134: Karrah Davis

🎙️ Building Culture, Joy, and Sustained Success in NCAA Division III Volleyball 🏐

In this episode of the Significant Coaching Podcast, Matt Rogers sits down with Karrah Davis, Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Dubuque and one of the great young coaches in NCAA Division III.

After watching her coach live this past season, Matt was struck by the identity of her program — disciplined yet joyful, gritty yet strategic, competitive yet deeply connected. That identity has translated into results:
🔥 50–15 record in her first two seasons
🏆 Back-to-back NCAA Division III National Tournament appearances
🎯 Two trips to the Round of 32

But this conversation goes beyond wins and losses.

Karrah shares what it’s like to lead a program she once played for, how she builds trust with her staff and athletes, and why culture, consistency, and care are the foundation of sustained success. From her love for her staff to the joy of leading dynamic young women, Karrah offers thoughtful insight into what it really takes to build a program that lasts.

If you’re a coach, administrator, or aspiring leader in college athletics, this episode is packed with lessons on leadership, culture, and significance.

🔗 Learn more about Coach Karrah Davis:
 👉 https://udspartans.com/staff-directory/karrah-davis/104

🎧 Listen to this episode and explore more coaching conversations:
 👉 https://coachmattrogers.com/podcast/

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Transcript

0:09

Welcome back to The Significant Coaching Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Rogers. Today's guest is someone I had the pleasure of watching Coach Live this past season. Her team was disciplined but played with joy. They were gritty, but stayed true to their strategy. And they played hard, but always for each other. Kara Davis is the head volleyball coach at the University of Dubuque, and in a short amount of time, she has firmly established herself as one of the great young coaches in all of NCAA division three volleyball in her first two seasons as head coach. Kara has led her program to a 50 and 15 record back to back NCAA Division three national tournament appearances, and two trips to the round of 32. But what makes her story so compelling isn't just the results, it's how she's achieved them. Karen knows this program from the inside out. She was an honorable mention All American as a player at UD before serving as a graduate assistant, then an assistant coach, then an associate head coach. And now for the past two seasons, she leads the Spartans as their head coach. Without a doubt, she bleeds Spartan Blue. In this conversation, we talk about building trust, sustaining success, the love she has for her staff, and the joy of leading dynamic young women. And we also dig deep into what it really takes to build a program that lasts. Whether you're a coach, an administrator, or someone aspiring to lead at the next level. There is a lot to learn from Coach Davis. She is impressive, to say the least. Let's get into it. Here's my conversation with Coach Kara Davis. Coach Davis, can we just start with 50 and 15, 5, 0 and 15 two national tournament bursts in your first two years? What the heck? How do you do that in your first two years? I think was set up with great success for my predecessor, but it also really helped to have those. Really trusting relationships with the returners. And I didn't change a ton of things systematically or even like with our culture. So I think it was a really smooth transition. And I just have some really great athletes and humans on the team that know how to work hard and like just, yeah the amount of work that they put in and the off season is just incredible. And I think that's really the reason why we had such success the last two years. I appreciate your humility and it's always nice when a coach leaves and leaves you a nice hand, right? But I got to watch you play early this fall. And I was so impressed with the women on your team and how they cared about each other and the grit and the toughness that they played. And you got a great environment there. Yeah. It was so great to see. The students come out and support you, and you had a great crowd. You had a great facility. What's that been like starting this journey at a place like University of Dubuque and just the community around you? Yeah. I have been involved at the University of Dubuque for the last 10 years, so it's been. The community aspect is the reason that I've stayed for so long, and just the people here are incredible and I think we have a lot of resources that allow us to be successful and continue to push forward. So yeah, that's really a huge reason why I stay here. And it's just so exciting to be in a place where. The athletic department, just like the students here and the coaches, they just get it and really wanna support each other. So that's been really fun to see that shift and grow over the last 10 years, that support and the atmosphere we get in the gym just. Is a lot of the other student athletes and some great community members as well, but a lot of the student athletes just show up and they know what each other are going through in the day-to-day process and what it takes to be a D three athlete. So I think, yeah, it's a really special environment and something we're really grateful to have. I got into the sergeant, and I hate getting into arguments ever, but I got in this argument with a high school coach and I didn't really intend to. I talked about how valuable it is to have played. At a certain level where you got coached really well. I think it's, I really think it's really hard to be a really good high school, let alone a good college coach if you weren't a player that got to be coached hard and be taught. How to play the game. Were, yeah. Sit with that. Because I know you were a grad at Dubuque. You were a heck of a player at Dubuque. You got that full journey of an education these last 10, 12 years. How important was that to you becoming the person you are today as a head coach? Yeah, I think it's has so much to do with who I am today. Just the lessons I learned as a player and as a young coach and still I'm learning something new every single day and I hope I continue to do that and means I'm still growing and learning and stuff like that. But yeah, I think it's really vital to have. F great mentors to look up to and have someone to bounce ideas off of. And yeah, also just to know what it takes to have that success and to like you just, yeah, you need somebody to push you. So I think that I'm been blessed to have somebody like that and then to also now know how to do that to my players as well. Absolutely. Do you think what you learned as a player, and I'm talking about drills and how you start a practice, how you finish practice, how you transition from drill to drill. Yeah. How did that, that you got at 18, are you still using some of that today as a head coach? Yeah, I think it's really interesting how your perspective changes as there's things as a player, maybe you're like, why were we doing X, Y, or Z? But then a year or two later you're like, oh, this is what really y and I understand. So I think some of it is like remembering the drills that were really fun and the drills that were really hard, but also now with a little bit more of a coaching iq, understanding which ones are more beneficial for us and how to lay out the practice as far as that goes. But I think. Just one of the strengths of being a young coach, I think is having that shorter me, shorter term memory of your playing days and being able to reflect on those and it things change really quickly. But I think it, it is a strength to be able to remember what things worked for you and how you can, how you see that in some of your players. And if you can. Give them your experience, and try to advise them in that way. I think that's something that I try to do. Yeah. Yeah. I remember my first year as a, first year as a head coach and I coached against a hall of famer at Hanover College. I think I was a basketball coach and they beat us by 50. Okay. It was just a trouncing and I went back and I watched the film a couple times that summer and I was like. They're not doing anything special. They don't have more talent than we have. They don't have, extra things that we don't have. They just do the little things so well. Yep. So consistent. You are already doing a lot of those things. You have a discipline and a. And a work ethic and a consistency. Where does that come from? In, and I'm gonna throw your humility out the window. This is your team, this is your program. Where does that come from? I think a lot of it came from how I was as a player. Like I'm, I've morphed into. I'm, yeah, I'm, I'd say I'm still the same person, but just in a different role. Like I've always been somebody who understands how to work really hard and just have always loved the game so much. Like even in our season when I'm done watching our film, I'm going in, I'm watching D one matches for fun, like I play all summer long. I play in the winter like whenever I can. So I think. Just that, the love of the game and just constantly expanding my knowledge and stuff as far as that goes. And then I know that's very similar for many other coaches and doesn't make me super unique. But the other piece of it is just willing, being really willing to create relationships with my players and know that I have let them know that I have their back more than just what they can do for me on the court. Like I wanna help you get through. College, first of all you're here to get a great degree. I want you to have a great experience along the way, but I also like wanna be understanding of your brain health and physical, like all those kinds of things. So I think just, yeah, the, I, the whole holistic view I think is what makes me. Be a good coach and have that success early. And I also have a really great coaching staff that I'd be, yeah, I have to say something about them and how David's been with me for four years now, going on five years. And he's also a huge piece of that consistency from the transition from my being associate head coach to head coach and he was graduate assistant to assistant. So I think, yeah, I'd be. Not in this position if I didn't have an incredible staff underneath me. So that's so fun when you have people that you love and you're doing it. Yeah. Work together every day. Yeah. It's great. There's nothing better. There's nothing. Yeah. We play volleyball in the summer together, like we're teammates. We work out together sometimes. So yeah, that's stuff's awesome and really grateful to have him as well as my graduate assistant, Kevin, let's go back two years ago. You got the job, you've been around the program. You've been the associate coach, you were a grad assistant, but now the job's yours. Talk to me about that first month, what were some of the things that you were like, these are my priorities? Like a a president has their first a hundred days. Yeah. Did you have that focus? This is how I'm gonna put my imprint on this program? I think it happened like after our spring season was over. So I was, it was in an interesting period, I guess our students were getting ready to leave campus. We're going into summertime where I'm not gonna see them as much, but I made it a really big priority to stay connected with them over the summer. Just communicating about how things are going, how's your summer, how's your family? That kind of stuff. And then just really. I already kinda had a plan, of this is my philosophy and like how yeah, how I wanna run the program from top to bottom. Like all the little details, the organizational flow chart of what I'm in charge of, what my assistant, graduate assistant volunteers, what everybody's in charge of, as far as that goes. And just yeah, wanted to break it down from a bird's eye view, so I like to plan and I like to be as organized as possible, so I. I just wanted to see it all in front of me and make sure that I was continuing on the core values that our program has always had, and while continuing to strengthen, and build on them. It's funny you say that. I had the the president of Giata on the podcast a few months ago. Yeah. And he talked about when he hires a coach, he brings him into their, his office. There's a whiteboard. Yeah. I wanna know what your culture is. I wanna know what that, what are you gonna be known for? Yeah. Was that a part of your thought process when you took over what definitely you wanted to be known for and as a coach and as a program? Yeah, I think there's definitely a few things that we wanna be known for. One is just being a great program, obviously. And then two, just really discipline that you mentioned. And I, yeah, discipline and just the care for each other. The love for each other of love of the game. We actually, we have an acronym that we use and it is care, actually. It stands for compassion, accountability, respect, and Excellence. And we just try to frame everything in our culture. Around that. Like we need to care for ourself, our teammates, our coaches, the program, the university in general. So how can we do those things? And we, when we have team meetings, we'll like one of them will be about the compassion piece of it. One will be about account and there's obviously a lot of overlap, but that's our foundation. What was the EI missed The e. Excellence. Excellence. I. People, anybody that knows me has worked for me for a long time will laugh at this.'cause I was one of those people, I'd be sitting in a university room and we'd be talking, we'd be in a committee meeting talking about something and talking about who we wanted to be. And excellence would pop up and I was always the first one to say, please define excellence for me.'cause I don't know what that looks like. Yeah, because it looks like different things depending on where you're at. I watched you play and I see excellence, but that's my idea of what excellence looks like. How do you define that to your team when you're talking about excellence? Yeah. I guess on the court excellence looks like the discipline, the doing the little things, the just. Executing at a really high level, executing our scout, like executing the physical skills and siding out efficient, like all those type of things, like just playing good volleyball is excellent, but we also talk about being excellent in the classroom, being excellent on campus. Showing up for other teams, showing up for other clubs and other organizations. So those are, yeah, that's how we talk about it. And yeah, definitely everybody can define excellence in a different way. But again, that's why we have those team meetings so that we can be like, how do we wanna define excellence? What does that mean to us? Program? What's really cool, if you heard yourself there was another E you used about seven times in there, and that's execution. Yeah. Yeah. Execution, how we study. What our executive function skills look like. When do we study, how do we study the routine of it? So I love that. So for me, when you say E excellence and I hear execution that gets me excited about that word. I love that. Awesome. Yeah, that's really cool. And that's probably the best definition I've ever heard of, excellence. Yep. Because,'cause if I'm 19 years old, that helps me understand what coach's expectations are of excellence how we execute what you're teaching us. What does execution for you mean? What? What does? Is that a good teaching tool for you? Do you talk about execution a lot? Yeah, just when it comes to we always have a really specific scouting report and a game plan going into a match. So just talking about being in the right positioning mostly, and then obviously executing a skill at a high level is important to win a match. So those are the main things I would say mostly. Yeah. Positioning is just so huge when you go watch high school games or you're watching film, a high school games are there. Are there pet peeves? Are there things that drive you crazy that you don't see that execution? Definitely like just, I would say an easy example, front row setter, and you have the outside blocking on the other side and she's blocking, no, like she doesn't move to be in front of the setter and there's no hitter behind. So what are you doing? Just hanging out back? It's just like the little details of that stuff, right? I'm just like. Yeah, that I'm just like, we could be fixing that really easily, or not transitioning or just like little effort things mostly that doesn't take a lot of coaching IQ to fix. Yeah. Those things I think there's, yeah, there's some things where you just have coaches who are out there doing their best and just they're at where they're at, but yeah those things of like just the effort things I guess are frustrating. But a lot of that is just being purposeful. Being in the moment and understanding your, what you're doing and what's going on in the game. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I know we're gonna talk about recruiting in the next segment, but does that does that affect when you know it's a coaching issue, you can see that it's not being taught? Yeah. Does that affect how you go about recruiting that kid that maybe you like her ability, like her? Skillset. But you're worried about what you're gonna, what you're gonna have to teach her and what that development timeline's gonna look like. I would say I'm usually more concerned about their, the physical aspects and the type of person they are. And then the IQ is something that even the best players that we get, we have to work with them quite a bit on that stuff. Coach talk, talk a little bit more about that IQ and even the EQ that you see on the floor and how that affects your vision. Yeah. I think mostly the piece I'm looking for in the recruiting is obviously we want good people, so really making sure they're good humans, but also the just the physical aspects of, are they. Gonna be able to jump high enough at some point. Can we physically get them stronger? Are they long enough? Those kind of things are more important than the IQ piece, just because even with the best players that we get, we have to work on their IQ quite a bit. So that part I'm not as worried about as more we can teach that and do a good job of teaching that. So I think, yeah, more of the physical pieces and who they are as a person. Even though you've only been the head coach for two years, you've been the associate coach, you've been the grad, you've been playing there. Have you found that there are certain things that you like teaching that you're comfortable saying, okay, this kid is got A, B, and CI like teaching d and e. Or if you could get the whole package, you'd rather have that. I'd say it's rare at this level to get the whole package. Yeah. Just, you're gonna get either some really great athletes or some kids who need more po skill polishing. I don't, it's rare, like that's what we're always after is the whole package. But I think, I don't know. I just, I love many pieces of volleyball, so I think, and so does my staff, so I think we, we love teaching. Many aspects of the game, like the small details to the systematic things of this is what we wanna do with our offense, this is our defensive ski. I don't know if I could pick a favorite. I've leaned towards attacking and blocking just'cause i's just natural for me. But yeah, I'd say I, I like teaching the attacking development, but I really like it all so hard tech. I, this was always a challenge for me, especially early on in my career. You like a kid, you like their character, and then you get'em on your campus. And now for the first time in their life, they're away from home. And you start seeing cracks in that character that you thought was pretty rock solid. Yep. Have you figured some of that out or what are you digging a little deeper? Are you talking to more people? Are you Yep. Spending more time with parents? Trying to figure out the depth of what that character is. What does that look like? Yeah. I'd say conversations with club coaches, high school coaches, and then just as much as I can get to know them and just not prodding questions, but questions that can tell you a little bit more than just like surface level info. Yeah, I'd say that's definitely something I've tried to do more of the longer I've been coaching just'cause yeah, you try to get to know'em as much as possible, but things change. People change and yeah. So we do our best to just keep pushing people in the right direction and giving them resources when needed. But yeah. When I speak at high schools or in front of parents, I'll always get the question, why do college coaches call coaches, high school coaches and teachers? Why do they do that? Yeah. And I go, I'll give you an example. I go, I, if I call the high school coach, I'd ask about the kid. I, do all the due diligence about their character and their work ethic. And then my last question was always. Tell me about Sarah's parents. I didn't even need the coach to say anything.'cause if there was silence for more than about three seconds I would just say coach. You've said enough. Yeah. We're not gonna be recruiting Sarah, but I appreciate it. If you ever have another kid that's interested in our program, please let me know. Yeah. If a coach couldn't come out of their shoes to talk about mom and dad and how great they are and how wonderful they are. That always worried me. Yeah. Does that affect you? A little bit, but it, I more so take into account like what they're, like, what the kids like at practice and what are their, what's their experience with them because there's obviously, you get a lot from mom and dad, but I think it's not always totally fair to judge them completely off of their parents. I think it, it can tell you a lot, but I just, yeah, I try to get as much info as possible and then yeah, try to use some discernment with. Who's giving me that info and what experiences led to that, yeah. But yeah, that it can be, I don't know. I think and especially in college too, you don't have to deal with the parents quite as much. It tells you more, it tells you about their kid. But yeah, if I'm not talking to their parents, unless there's their cons, they have like health concern or something like that where they're like, I'm really worried about my daughter. But if it's about playing time or like school, obviously there's rules against that, but. They can come into my office and ask, Hey, what do I need to do to get on the court? Why X? And I'm gonna tell you X, Y, and Z and this is what you need to do to get better at X, Y, and Z. You are gonna have to do that with your boss in a couple years. So learning how to do that with me, who I don't think I'm very scary is important. And part of just the growth human development, do you find yourself helping your athletes kinda how to talk to mom and dad at home about their experience and about their role? Is it important that we do some coaching with those kids on how to coach mom and dad? Do you find yourself thinking about that at all? That is really an interesting question. I haven't really had many conversations regarding that. No that's really thought provoking. But I haven't really communicated as far as that goes. I have in the beginning of the year, sent a parent email saying, you guys are a part of our culture and I need you to back me up and I need you to, if they're un calling you because they're unhappy, then I need you to encourage them to come into my office and that kind of stuff. Yeah. But I haven't really thought about the flip side, so that's, thank you for bringing that up. It's, I've been doing this for 30 years, so for me, it's something I talk about and I write about it a lot too. Because I, in 15 years, as, almost 15 years as a head coach, I may have had issues with two or three parents in that during that time. Yeah. Even I can remember that were even even those were probably minimal. Yep. But for me it was always like, especially when I'm talking to high school coaches, it's. You have to almost teach your kids how to talk to mom and dad. Yeah. Because if I'm not sharing your role with you, like you said, you do a great job of this, come in, you're not sure what your role is, then we gotta fix that. But for me, it's getting the youngsters, the 17, 18, 19-year-old to understand, hey, you got juniors and seniors in front of you that have gone to two national tournaments. All conference, all region. Yep. You might have to wait your turn. You're gonna be able to compete with'em every day, and you're gonna have a chance to take some of those sets from them. But you might have to come in and learn a little bit. Yep. And you, if you'll do that, we're gonna put you in a position to be just like them. So I love having that conversation because when you've been doing it as long as I have I'm always worried about what's next that I haven't thought about. You know what I mean? How can I eliminate some of these problems before they become problems? Yeah. Yeah. And you're doing such a good job on the front end that you're doing it. That's why I tell high school coaches, you have to eliminate some of this on the front end. If you don't eliminate it on the front end, you're just asking for that to be a problem later. Let's talk about your staff. Yeah. At D three staff responsibilities often expand far beyond the court. You're oftentimes working five or six hats. What's something about your staff dynamic or the division of responsibilities that makes your program run so well? I think just the willingness for all of us to step in and do whatever is needed whenever things come up. Because yeah, there's always unforeseen situations. Always feels like you need more help. But yeah, I think it just super important and super valuable that I have people who are like. Willing to put, we always ask our athletes to put the team first, and these people really put the team first, like 24 7 and 365. So yeah, I think that's really the strength of my staff. You were a ga, you were associate coach? Have you gotten better at delegating yet? Yes, I think so. I think it's been. Already better in year two. But also just having that trust that I have with David and with Kevin and Emma as well. Like just, yeah, the relationship that we have, it makes it a lot easier to give things off to people when you know that they're completely bought in and they're gonna put 110% into every little task. So yeah, I think I've gotten better at that. It's also hard because I just really i'm really nosy and wanna know what's going on at all times. So just some of that piece I think I can continue to improve on. But I've definitely noticed it's been easier in year two to do that. Yeah. But you're still building it too. You've gotta have your fingers in everything,'cause you have a direction you want to take this and for sure. You don't wanna veer too much. You guys are doing everything right and you, it's, you're growing and developing every day. I wanna, I want to get into the Gen Z athlete a little bit. I am one of those believers. I've, I think I've come around on this. I don't think kids are changing as much as maybe the parents have changed, maybe the culture around them has changed. There's so many opportunities with social media and things like that. Are there some misconceptions that you're seeing of our athletes today and what your young women are having to deal with? Yeah, I think, I feel like there's mis, like the focus piece of that. They have short attention spans, maybe that could be true, but they also, when they're really intrigued with things, they're gonna focus and they're gonna work hard. When you're telling them the why of what we're doing. So I think that's something that I've heard other people say gen Z can't focus, they can only watch a TikTok video for five seconds and then they have to scroll. So I think that's a misconception is that they can't focus, they can't focus when you tell'em what's going on and you tell'em the why and when they're motivated and they understand that whole piece that, yeah I'd say that's the biggest piece, like that part. What's the why look like for you in terms of when they don't understand why we're about to do this or why we're training this way, or why we're preparing this way? Are you, do you get frustrated with the why or do you like answering that? No, I like, I love when they ask questions and I love. Trying to tell them beforehand, before I try to get in front of the questions and be like, Hey, we're gonna train this move because this situation's happening a lot and this is when we should use it, and this is XY. Like I think just trying to tell them the Y as we're explaining drills is eliminated a lot of those questions. Or I guess I'm open to having conversations about, Hey, I think we could do X, Y, and Z in practice because. We're looking for I think just, yeah, telling them I wanna hear their feedback and obviously there's a little bit of the coaches are gonna have the final say, but we wanna hear what you guys want, because at the end of the day, the program is for you and it should be catering to you guys. So I want to hear your perspectives as much as possible with with also using our expertise, to guide them at the same time. What do you want that relationship with your, with the women in your program to look like? Or do you want it to look the way they want it to be with you? I think, I want it to be where they feel comfortable coming into my office and talking about things other than volleyball. I want them, yeah, to really trust me and understand that I. We'll fight for them for whatever it is that they need and that, yeah, that I care about them as people and not just about that. They're great volleyball players. I care about one through 32 in the program. Like the equally amount, everybody's just as important and just, yeah, I wanna have that relationship where they invite me to their weddings in 10 years and get to, yeah. I just want them to know that I'm in their corner and that Yeah I'll go to bat for them for anything. That, that shows so much. It really looks collaborative. It looks like when they, even when they come off the floor in timeouts there's that give and take with you. Like they know they can talk to you about what they're seeing. Yeah. And so I, that's one of the things that really impressed me about you coach and it inspired, thank you. Motivated me.'cause they did that with each other and they did that with other staff. There was no fear. I think. Yeah. It can be like. Intimidating as a younger coach to be like, oh, I'm going to not be my way or the highway, I guess to assert dominance in a way or whatever, or gain respect or whatever. But I think. They've, I've earned their respect because they know that I value their opinion and that I'm not the one out on the court anymore. So I wanna know what you guys are seeing. We all my coaching staff see something, but we wanna hear what's really going on out there.'cause yeah, the perception is different when you're in it versus when you're on the outside of it. Yeah. Yeah. How have you learned to prepare for nationals? Because that was one of the thing, I don't think I hear a lot of coaches, and I always like this too. We're gonna practice the same way you've practiced all season. We're gonna do the things the way we've done it. But then you get to the national tournament and the gym's a little bit fuller. It's a little bit louder. The stakes are higher. Is how have you looked at. The national tournament differently these last two years. Have you changed how you've prepared during the season for that? Have you changed how you prepare to go into that national term at all? I think through the season we're always trying to keep the standard and like the intensity level pretty high or as high as we can for what our bodies are going through and just how many matches you play. You play in a match and then you got one day of practice and you got two matches and then two days so just trying to manage that stuff, but. Yeah, while trying to keep ramping up the intensity and keep trying to see more and more challenging drills because the competition's just gonna get harder. The adrenaline's all gonna be there, like all that stuff. Preparing for nationals this year, think practice-wise, pretty similar. Trying to just tweak things. Obviously shortened. We're trying to keep our bodies healthy and we're, man, we were dealing with some just yeah. Nagging injuries through the season, so that was. A little bit different this year than LA than last year. Just a few more people trying to monitor Hey, we just need your body ready to go. Trying to figure out how I can get them some reps, but more so mental reps and some physical reps. But I think that's been the, that was the biggest piece this year is trying to manage that, making sure our bodies are ready to go. For the tournament and our strength coach and athletic trainer do an incredible job helping with that, with recovery and just like extra recovery on some of the days and Right. That stuff. But yeah, volleyball wise, like the physical practice part was, we approached that the same way. Yeah. Yeah. I it's amazing once you get to go the tournament and you're, you've gone twice and you've won a game each year. And then'cause your league is your league. You often, even if you win that first one, you're gonna be playing a number one, number two seed. You're gonna be playing a powerhouse. In the next round. Yeah. Has it changed you learning some of that?'Cause you've beaten some great teams during the season. You're scheduling well. Yeah. Are you learning anything as you go through that? And I know this is really close, so I hate to even open up some of these. It's okay. No, you're fine. But do you, I, I find this, I feel like I could write a book on this'cause I I wanna learn more about this. Are you finding that your. Seeing things as you go from conference to nationals to second round, you're seeing some of these teams, what they're doing, how they're attacking. Are you making mental changes as you're doing that? Are you taking notes? Definitely. Yeah. I think it's really important to learn from how other great programs are doing things. You don't maybe have to adopt everything, but I think it's great to challenge your ideas as far as systems go, as far as. Offense goes, defensive positioning, all kinds of stuff. So I think it's been really interesting to see some commonalities of what some top teams do, like s system-wise, and then there's some teams who run some unique things that it just works for them. Yeah. So I think, yeah, just continuing to reflect on. Why people do things and why I choose to do the things that I do in my program and not being married to a certain thing and being adaptable based on our personnel. I'm not gonna always run a six two, I'm not always gonna run a five one. Yeah, I'm not always gonna play perimeter defense we're gonna do things and try to, yeah. I think, yeah, I think the learning piece is huge and learning from other great programs is really valuable. As well. And like you said, scheduling tough through the year. I think this past season we it really helped us grow and we're ready to face that level of competition at the end of the year. And I'm looking to try to do the same next year. Yeah. But yeah, just continuing to see that competition every single day and trying to rise above it and become one of those consistent teams that are in the tournament, like we wanna be known for that. I think what it did for me, and I'm hearing that from you too. You're be, again, you're very humble and I appreciate that and I respect that, but I also heard it's also teaching me we're doing the right things. We don't have to change a whole lot. Maybe we need another. Another six, one outside, maybe we need Sure. This or that. To compete. But what we're doing is right. I think. Yeah. That's what I got out of my first couple of national tournaments is for sure. It was almost a confirmation. To believe in myself as a coach. Have you felt that? Oh, definitely. Yeah. I think it's just so humbling to know that once you make it to that stage, there's 300 other teams that aren't there. So just like being in that percentage is really awesome. And still like it's hard to not. It's hard to not be disappointed with how we finished, but it's also hard to not be so proud of that finish of top 32. Like it's hard to hang your heads, but it also was like we did have a goal of reaching the Sweet 16, so it was. A little bit of a sour taste, but that's just'cause of our high standards. So yeah, I think it was validating and great, but also just makes you even more hungry when you're that close, but that far at the same time. So yeah, just a bunch of great things from that. That's pretty cool. That's really cool. Coach, this has been awesome. I'm excited to talk a little more recruiting with you. I wanna do a little rapid fire with you. Let our audience get to know you a little bit better. Okay. Is there a favorite drill that players pretend to hate but you love running that you get stuff about, I would say the pit drill just coach on a box versus two kids and just all out defense touching 10 balls and, yeah. Yeah, that's there. There's always some. Friendly competition and just pushing'em to their limits. That's always fun. And when you got the whole team around each other, like cheering, every time somebody gets a great touch or Yep. Or whatnot, that's always super fun. Yeah. We had a drill like that. We call it warrior drill. Yeah. I love those drills. Yeah. Yeah. If you weren't coaching volleyball, what sport would you coach? I was the interim head tennis coach a couple years ago, so I guess I could say tennis. There you go. I really like basketball. I don't have a ton of basketball knowledge, but I love the sport and love watching it. So I'd say probably an indoor sport I'm built for Inside you and me, both. You and me both. Best volleyball gym you've ever played or coached in? Probably Hope last year. That facility was incredible. Yeah. Be Becky's got a heck of a facility up there, doesn't she? Yeah, it's great. It's a great place to, to watch any sport. Yeah. Is there a coaching phrase your players hear from you way too often? I'm sure there's a couple. I'm trying to think of, what do I say with, I just, it's hard to think of'em'cause you just say it without, you don't think, you don't, you may hear it all the time, but you don't. Yeah. Make a move. Job's not done. I don't know. It's silly stuff. Just couple silly like that. Yeah. Job not done. That's a great one. Yeah. All here's some fun ones. Dogs or cats. Cats. I love dogs though. But I have two cats at home. You're a cat. Your a cat for Yeah. I go back and forth. I don't have any pets, but I've had both over the years. Go to Hype song for a big match. Is there a song you love? Ooh the team loves some Gorilla this year. Anything by Gorilla or yeah. Any good upbeat rap music we're into. All right. If your team were a movie, what genre would they be? Comedy for sure. That's great. If you could bring back one old school volleyball rule, what would it be? Maybe the side out scoring. Yeah. I risk and reward the match. I'm sure we wouldn't be playing five set matches if we were doing that, but Yeah. Yeah, it could be interesting. Just go ACE or air every time. What's your coaching superpower? Superpower hitting good down balls. I don't know. That's a good one. Is there a part of who you are as a coach that makes you love being a coach? Is there a piece of it that just that's my joy, that's where I get my joy from this. Oh yeah. Just when you see a kid work so hard trying to execute a skill or. Really anything and then they finally get it and they're so excited about it. Like those are the moments that are so fun as a coach. And yeah, just seeing the team have success after they work so hard and you see'em doing X, Y, and Z all year, and then they get to have a little bit of that, that, yeah, that success and excitement is, makes everything worth it when that light bulb goes off. Yep. Definitely clicks. Yeah. Coach, you're awesome. I'm so glad we got to meet. I'm so impressed with you and excited to talk a little recruiting with you, but thanks for doing this. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. It's been fun. That was my conversation with Coach Kara Davis, head volleyball coach at the University of Dubuque. If you're listening as a coach, you probably heard it right away. The intentionality, the humility, and the deep respect she has for her players, her staff, and the process. And if you're listening as an administrator or an aspiring head coach, you heard something even more powerful. A leader who understands that culture isn't something you talk about. It's something you live every single day. Cara success speaks for itself. But what really stands out most to me is how grounded she is in the why she coaches and who she's leading. This is what significance looks like in coaching discipline, paired with joy, toughness, paired with connection and standards that never waver. And this conversation isn't done. Coming up Monday on the Significant recruiting podcast, coach Davis joins me again to break down the recruiting side of the journey, what Division three coaches are actually looking for, how families should evaluate fit, and how recruits can position themselves honestly and effectively in today's recruiting landscape. If you're a parent, a recruit. Or a club or high school coach, you won't want to miss that episode. As always, you can find all episodes, resources, and tools for your coaching and recruiting journey@coachmattrogers.com. Until next time, stay focused on what you can control. Stay humble and keep chasing significance.