Ryan Wills - Volleyball Coach

Ryan Wills

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
volleyball@utulsa.edu
Phone:
918.631.2128

	The Willis File

	PERSONAL INFORMATION
	Hometown: Tulsa, Okla.
	Education: Wright Christian Academy, Tulsa Okla.; The University of Tulsa, 2008 (bachelor's in business administration)
	Family: wife, Evyn; son, Ryder

	COACHING EXPERIENCE
	2014-present: Tulsa, head coach
	2011-13: Alabama, assistant coach
	2008-12 Tulsa, assistant coach

	TULSA HIGHLIGHTS
	- Finished 22-9 in first season - Finished the 2016 season with a 19-13 record - Advanced to the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament - Has led Tulsa to three NIVC Tournaments, including the semifinals in 2019.

	ALABAMA HIGHLIGHTS
	- Made one NCAA Tournament appearance - Recorded most wins in school history in 2013

Ryan Wills is in his ninth season as head volleyball coach at The University of Tulsa in 2022. He has posted a 124-108 mark in his first eight seasons leading the volleyball program at his alma mater. Wills was appointed the Golden Hurricane head coach on Feb. 7, 2014.

In his 15 seasons coaching on the collegiate level, Wills has been involved in 11 winning seasons, seven 20+ win seasons and eight postseason appearances, including five NCAA Tournament appearances. He has led Tulsa to two postseason appearances as head coach.

In 2021, Tulsa returned to the postseason play, earning a bid in the National Invitational Volleyball (NIVC) Championship. Tulsa finished the season 14-16 overall and 9-11 in American athletic Conference play. The Hurricane registered a 7-5 road mark, including a 3-2 win at second-place Houston and a 3-0 sweep of fourth-place SMU in Dallas. Junior Kayley Cassaday was named to the all-conference first team after having the third-most kills in the league with 455.

In the Covid-19 affected season in 2020, the shortened season was moved to the spring of 2021. Tulsa played only league games and posted a 2-8 record.

In 2019, the Hurricane finished 18-16 and sixth place in The American. For the second straight season, Tulsa earned a postseason bid to the NIVC, the first back-to-back postseason appearances since 2011-12. Tulsa UC-Davis and Santa Clara, both 3-1 wins in Long Beach, Calif. The Hurricane advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 home victory over Weber State in the NIVC quarterfinals. Tulsa’s postseason run ended in the semis by a 3-1 score to South Dakota.

A year earlier in 2018, Wills guided the Hurricane to a 19-12 overall record and fourth place in the American Athletic Conference, while earning an NIVC invitation for Tulsa’s first postseason showing since 2012. Tulsa was dominant at home throughout the campaign, boasting an 11-2 mark at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tulsa ended the 2017 campaign with 15 wins, finishing sixth in the conference after being projected to place ninth in the preseason coaches’ poll. Wills’ squad led the AAC with 2,229 digs, slotting them at eighth-best in the nation. Sophomore Taylor Horsfall set a school record with a single-season conference and program record 755 digs, which was also the second-most in the NCAA that season.

The Hurricane opened the 2016 campaign with an 11-1 start, rattling off nine straight wins heading into conference play. Tulsa strung together five straight wins in league play and finished the season with a 19-13 record, ranking among the top-five nationally in digs per set and team digs. Brooke Berryhill led the conference in digs and ranked 10th in the nation. Erica Bohannon earned her third all-conference first-team nod after posting a team-best 466 kills for an average of 3.73 per set.

Tulsa finished the 2015 season in fourth place in American play with a 10-12 record as junior Erica Bohannon and senior Ashley Hooper were named first-team all-conference.

In Wills’ first year at the helm of the Tulsa program, the Hurricane posted 22 victories for the program’s 10th straight 20-win season. Tulsa finished with a 22-9 overall record and a 14-6 league mark in Tulsa’s first season as an American Athletic Conference member. Bohannon was a first-team all-conference selection, while senior Valerie El Houssine was a third-team Academic All-American.

Before returning to his alma mater as head coach, Wills spent three years as an assistant coach at Alabama.

Wills helped the Crimson Tide post an overall 53-44 record. In 2013, Alabama compiled the most wins in school history with a 24-10 mark and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Before joining Allen at Alabama, the Tide had won just 19 matches in the previous two seasons, and in their first two years the Tide posted 29 wins, including an 18-14 mark in the 2012 campaign.

“I’m excited to return to my alma mater and lead the volleyball program into a new era as we enter the American Athletic Conference. The University of Tulsa is a first- class university that attracts the right kind of student-athletes,” said Wills, when he was announced as Tulsa’s head coach. “We have a lot of work ahead of us to keep positioning Tulsa volleyball as a top contender in the American Athletic Conference.”

Before joining Alabama, Wills was an assistant coach for the Hurricane in 2010 under Head Coach Ed Allen. Tulsa posted a school-record 31 wins, including 30 straight victories, and winning the program’s first NCAA Tournament match with a victory over 15th-ranked LSU. Tulsa finished the 2010 season with a 31-3 overall record, a perfect 20-0 mark in Conference USA play, a conference regular season crown and the nation’s No. 20-ranked team in the AVCA Coaches poll.

“Ryan was an excellent hire for The University of Tulsa,” said Allen. “You’ve got a guy who’s very sold on being at Tulsa. It’s a great opportunity for him to be able to be a head coach for the first time at a place that we both think is pretty special.”

Wills was a student assistant coach at Tulsa for the 2006-07 seasons and helped the Hurricane win its first Conference USA regular-season title in 2006, followed by the program’s first C-USA Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007. Tulsa compiled an overall 54-15 record during those two seasons.

Upon his graduation from Tulsa in 2008, Wills was a volunteer coach at UCLA for two seasons (2008-09) under National Volleyball Hall of Famer Andy Banachowski, the all-time winningest NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coach and winner of six national championships.

UCLA reached the NCAA regional semifinals in 2008 and the NCAA second round in 2009. Wills helped train three AVCA All-Americans, two Pac-10 Conference Freshmen of the Year performers and one AVCA National Freshman of the Year. The Bruins posted a 46-20 record in his two years and was ranked as high as sixth nationally.

“I was really pleased when I heard that Ryan received the opportunity to be the head coach at Tulsa,” said Banachowski. “What was most impressive about Ryan while he was with us at UCLA was his ability to work with everybody as he got along well with the players and the staff. He was always looking for things to do, as well. So, I know Ryan is a hard worker and he’s going to be successful because of that and his ability to relate to everybody.”

Wills was also the Beach Program Director at the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club, where he developed and directed the sand volleyball program for the club. In 2009, the program won the inaugural National Club Championship for beach volleyball.

He trained nine girls who received Division I scholarships while coaching for the Mizuno Long Beach program and had five players earn Junior Olympic All-America honors, including future Tulsa athlete and all-region performer Kellie Culbertson, who was the Junior Olympic 17 Open Division Most Valuable Player.

Wills also assisted with Club ONE Volleyball in Tulsa from 2006-08, where the program won three Oklahoma Regional Volleyball Association Championships and received three bids to the Junior Olympic National Championships.

A native Tulsan, Wills graduated from Wright Christian Academy before attending The University of Tulsa. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from TU in 2008.

Wills’ wife, Evyn, was a four-year letterwinner for the Golden Hurricane volleyball team and completed her career ranked first on the school’s all-time digs list as a libero.

He and Evyn have one son, Ryder.

WILLS’ FILE
Born: Tulsa, Okla.
College: Tulsa ’08, bachelor’s degree in business administration

WILLS’ YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD

Year	School	Position	Record	Postseason
2006	Tulsa	Student Coach	27-7
2007	Tulsa	Student Coach	27-9	NCAA First Round
2008	UCLA	Volunteer Coach	22-11	Regional Semifinal
2009	UCLA	Volunteer Coach	24-9	NCAA Second Round
2010	Tulsa	Assistant Coach	31-3	NCAA Second Round
2011	Alabama	Assistant Coach	11-20
2012	Alabama	Assistant Coach	18-14
2013	Alabama	Assistant Coach	24-10	NCAA First Round
2014	Tulsa	Head Coach	22-9
2015	Tulsa	Head Coach	15-17
2016	Tulsa	Head Coach	19-13
2017	Tulsa	Head Coach	15-17
2018	Tulsa	Head Coach	19-12	NIVC First Round
2019	Tulsa	Head Coach	18-16	NIVC Semifinal
2020	Tulsa	Head Coach	2-8
2021	Tulsa	Head Coach	14-16	NIVC First Round