34-year Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy announced his retirement today, putting the stamp on his career that includes four National Championships (1978, 1985, 1992 and 2005). He also posted a 612-227 record and was the 2005 American Volleyball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.
“It’s just time, and there’s not a lot more to it than that. I’m very grateful to Pepperdine for all that it’s given me,” Dunphy said in the Pepperdine release. “The hardest thing is leaving the players. I want to thank our current and former players for giving me the privilege of being their coach, and for all that they brought to this program.”
In addition to his success at Pepperdine, he was part of seven Olympic appearances – including the 1988 U.S. men’s team that won gold with Dunphy as head coach. He took over the U.S. Men’s National Team after his NCAA title run in 1985 and during that stretch from 1985-1988, the U.S. stuck at the number one world ranking as they won every major international tournament in that span. He was either an assistant or consultant coach for the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 men in addition to helping the 2012 and 2016 women.
Since he had spurts where he was away from Pepperdine, he ended up with four different stints with the school: 1977-1978, 1982-1985, 1989-1999 and 2001-2017. The most recent 17-year span included 16 top-10 finishes with 11 in the top five. In total, there have only been 13 years in Pepperdine men’s volleyball history without the guidance of Dunphy.
Besides his own career success, Dunphy helped his athletes strive. Since the invention of the AVCA National Player of the Year in 1991, Dunphy’s players have garnered the award six times – more than any other program. Additionally, he’s helped placed 22 on the All-American first team a total of 38 times. 45 of his players made any of the All-American lists, doing it a total of 75 times. He’s also produced 11 Olympians from pepperdine, with at least one Waves alum in the last nine Olympics.
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