USC Promotes Jason Kennedy, Hires Alexis Olgard

The USC Trojans have promoted Jason Kennedy to the position of “associate head coach” in his 7th season with the program, and have hired former All-American Alexis Olgard to act as the team’s Director of Operations for the 2017 season.

“This is a well-deserved promotion for Jason,” said USC head coach Mick Haley. “He has put in so much hard work to help develop our program and has shown that he is one of the best at what he does. He is absolutely deserving of the new title. We are so glad to have Alexis back in Galen Center. She had a wonderful collegiate and pro career and her knowledge of how our program runs will make her a major asset to our staff and our players as we head into the 2017 season.”

Prior to 3 seasons as an assistant coach, Haley spent 4 seasons (2011-2014) as the technical director for both the men’s and women’s volleyball programs at USC.

The Trojans finished 7th in the Pac-12 last season with a 10-10 record (18-14 overall), and advanced to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Hawaii 3-2 in the opening round. That made for their 26th-straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.

The team has a 67-33 record in his three years as an assistant coach, highlighted by a 2015 season where the team went 33-3 and advanced to the regional semi-finals (Elite 8) of the NCAA tournament. During his 4 seasons as the technical director, the Trojans went to the Elite 8 in 2012 and 2013 and the Final 4 in 2011.

He’s also served as a scout for the USA Beach Volleyball programs, responsible for video analysis and breakdown.

As for Olgard, she returns to USC and concludes a 2-year professional career that took her to Germany, the Philippines, and Germany. She competed at the 2014 NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifier for the U.S. National Team. Off the court, she spent about 8 months from 2016 through 2017 working as a sales development representative for software company Highspot Inc.

She has coaching experience working at the volleyball camps at Gonzaga, Washington, and at USC, where she now returns. She was a 4-year starter for USC during their big run from 2010-2013 at middle blocker and in 2013 was named a third-team AVCA All-American. She had a .401 career hitting percentage, 393 blocks, 770 kills, and 1,027 total points. She ranks 2nd in program history in career hitting percentage and 9th in total blocks.

Director of Operations is primarily a non-court-coaching position, and involves managing the day-to-day operations of a team, including coordinating travel and treatment plans for athletes.

See the Trojans’ 2017 schedule below: