Athletics’ Mr. 49er

The Long Beach State athletic department has seen plenty of changes since 1985.

Three sports — swimming and diving, men's tennis and football — have been cut and 49 different head coaches have been hired. The baseball team changed its name from the 49ers to the Dirtbags.

Yet, women's volleyball head coach Brian Gimmillaro has been the one constant.

The 2009 season is the 25th year at the helm for Gimmillaro, who is only matched by former track coach Jack Rose — the man who the on-campus track is named after — for the longest tenure in LBSU history with one team.

But time isn't on the 61-year-old's mind.

"The only reason you think about it is because people bring it up," Gimmillaro said.

He credited the school itself and the city's community for influencing his decision to not chase more lucrative offers at other universities.

"It's one of the ideal overall settings in the country," said Gimmillaro, who graduated from LBSU in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. "Who has this location, attractiveness, academic success and community environment?"

LBSU President F. King Alexander calls him "one of the main pioneers" for women's volleyball in the nation.

"We're fortunate because he could have gone anywhere he wants to in the United States at any point," Alexander said.

The legacy

Gimmillaro's résumé and the 49ers' accomplishments under his watch read like a separate volume for a volleyball encyclopedia.

On the national level, Gimmillaro's teams are responsible for three of the four NCAA championships (1989, 1993, 1998) in LBSU history — including the first-ever national title. His 1998 team completed the first-ever undefeated season in NCAA Division I volleyball history.

LBSU has been selected to 23 NCAA Tournaments, including 22 consecutive trips, and the team has won at least 20 matches in 19 of the past 20 seasons.

"Brian is Long Beach State volleyball," said former longtime assistant Debbie Green, who spent 23 years on the bench before stepping down after last season. "He's responsible for building this program. … This is where his heart is."

As for Gimmillaro's No. 1 achievement at LBSU, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Famer said without hesitation it was bringing home the school's first NCAA title.

"I was told up until the title game — from people at the school, the public, fellow colleagues, unanimously — that we would not win," the three-time National Coach of the Year recalled. "Until then, it was ‘they' — Long Beach State — never could win, but I thought ‘we' could.

"If given the chance, you could compare our reputation to anyone."

The success of his program will forever be recognized with every glance up at the Walter Pyramid rafters. Four of the 12 retired jerseys — Danielle Scott-Arruda (No. 2), Misty May-Treanor (No. 5), Antoinette White (No. 7) and Tara Cross-Battle (No. 14) — belong to players coached by Gimmillaro.

"Obviously, he's built a great tradition here," said first-year assistant coach Erika Chidester, who played for the 49ers from 2001-05 including one of Gimmillaro's eight Final Four teams.

Gimmillaro, who owns a 668-159 (.808) coaching record, is just one of 13 active coaches with at least 650 victories and entered the season ranked 20th on the all-time NCAA Division I coaches wins list.

In April, Gimmillaro signed a new seven-year contract but Alexander hinted it's more like a lifetime contract.

"We gave him a contract that basically says, 'You're here with us as long as you want to be here with us,' which is kind of a career award," Alexander said. "He's our Joe Paterno," referring to Penn State's 82-year-old football coach of the past 43 seasons.

Many of his players continue to pursue volleyball professionally, while others show up throughout the course of the season to assist in practices.

"All of his players come back," Chidester said. "They pursue volleyball as a career, if not as a coach. He makes you love the game."

The stories

Chidester has been in charge of contacting former players for LBSU's alumni game on Friday.

In messages to former players, who she finds through LBSU's alumni Facebook page, Chidester said she usually types something along the lines of: "I've heard a million stories about you."

"[Gimmillaro] has a story about every player who's been through this program," Chidester said.

Meetings with Gimmillaro are rarely short and always due to stray off topic — but not without a story.

What might start out as an ordinary run-in can develop into anything ranging from analogies to past matches, other sports or even "the history of apples," middle blocker Naomi Washington recalled.