The head coach and the associate coach of the Univerisity of Missouri volleyball program in Columbia, Mo. are, respectively, wife and husband. But now, Wayne and Susan Kreklow have decided to switch their titles, making Wayne the head coach and Susan the associate head coach:
Susan Kreklow has been serving as the head coach of Missouri’s volleyball team since 2000, with Wayne working as the associate head coach, but that all changed Monday when the MU Athletic Department announced the two would be changing titles before the season.
“We’ve never cared who is the head coach and who is not,” Wayne Kreklow said. “There is no ego.”
The Kreklows have three children, Rick, 13, Ali, 10, and Ryan, 9, and the logistics of dealing with everyone’s schedules prompted the change, Wayne Kreklow said.
“It’s been something that we have kind of tossed around for a few years, but it doesn’t really change how we operate the program,” he said. “The bottom line for us is that we felt like it would be a little bit easier for our personal situation at home. Our kids are getting to the age where they’re doing a lot of things.
“It just makes our family life a little bit more predictable and a little easier for us.”
Most of the things that will change for the Kreklows are behind-the-scene matters, such as meetings and functions where the head coach’s presence is required.
Susan Kreklow steps aside with the best winning percentage for a Missouri volleyball coach, at .703. She went 109-46 as the Tigers’ head coach and is 618-156 in her 15-year career.
The Kreklows used to coach at Columbia College, a small school across town in Columbia, where they had much success. When the head volleyball coaching position at Mizzou opened up, I recallthe local media folks referred to “The Kreklows” or “Wayne and Susan Kreklow” as being good a fit for the program. There was little doubt that they were a coaching team and it will have very little if any impact on the program. But it’s a nice example of how family considerations drive professional careers.
