Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
He is the answer to Irini’s trivia quiz. Who was the first coach to lead the University of Illinois women’s sports team to the official Big Ten Championships?
And in the way his Irini career began rudely in 1983, no one, including Mike Hebert himself, would have accurately predicted the ultimate success.
The shy young man grew up in San Bernardino, California, but lost his father, Air Force Captain Robert Hebert, in 1952 during a deadly combat mission during the Korean War.
I wrote Mike in my 1993 biography, “The fire is still burning“I must have heard from well-meaning relatives and acquaintances a thousand times.’You must be a homeman because your dad is gone.'” I didn’t want to be a homeman. . I was an 8 year old kid. I wanted a dad. “
Hebert said his “emotionally responsible duty” was the first of a series of decisive moments.
“I have begun to foster a strong competitive urge,” he wrote, “the will to succeed.”
Hebert’s early passion was water sports typical of young people who grew up 50 minutes from the Pacific Ocean. He has been involved in other sports, with moderate success in athletics as a jumper and higher performance as a basketball player after failing to try out mainly in baseball and soccer. As a teenager, he was hired by a hamburger joint owned by a brother named McDonald’s. Yes, those McDonald’s.
After attending college at BYU, he transferred to his hometown of Cal-Santa Barbara and discovered the sport of volleyball. Sand courts were everywhere, and Hebert said, “I was immediately hooked on the game. He was a good defensive player with a 36-inch vertical jump, fast, and a fairly strong hit to the ball.” ..
As a senior at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Hebert applied for the Peace Corps.
“The idea of helping people and broadening my horizons was fascinating,” he writes. “The next thing I learned was getting off the plane in Lagos, Nigeria. This is a beach boy. This is not a vacation. This is life. (From) From Isla Vista to Nigeria, from Jacuzzi to the pool. It was like jumping into ice water. “
Hebert was supposed to spend a full two years in Nigeria, but the political atmosphere deteriorated and he and other Peace Corps volunteers needed to leave early. Shortly after returning to the United States, he set out for Indiana University to earn a master’s degree in academic administration. In Bloomington, Hebert’s life changed even more dramatically, when he got married and had two daughters. In his spare time, he took the volleyball game even further and played for Jerry Yeagley, a well-known IU-successful soccer coach.
In 1972, Hebert and his young family moved to Pittsburgh to teach secondary education at Chatham University. Three years later, he taught 9th grade social sciences at Peabody High School in Pittsburgh. Hebert continued to play in his volleyball by playing in the YMCA League. There, he was discovered by the University of Pittsburgh and was hired as the first female Varsity Coach in the Panthers for $ 2,500 a year.
“The main reason for my employment was the extra income of my family,” Hebert wrote. “The more I coached, the more I liked coaching. Winning in the pits allowed me to be at the top of the world, but I had little idea why I won. Because I was defeated. , Is there a lower level than the basket case? “”
Near the end of the 70’s, Hebert began checking out other coaching positions. He settled at the University of New Mexico in 1980 and later became obsessed with Chuck Elbe’s staff at the US World University Games.
Elbe finally reached out to Hebert to get his job at the University of Illinois, suggesting Hebert’s name when he declined Carol Cars’ offer in 1983.
“Illinois has found its location and academic reputation to provide a better opportunity for the best players needed to build an elite program,” Hebert wrote in his book. increase. “It was clear that Illinois had taken a step towards a solid position in every aspect of my profession. I was serious about asking questions during the interview and Carroll was tired of answering them. I wasn’t completely prepared for what I found when the team arrived in Champaign in early August, just two days before they went to practice. “
When Hebert and his assistant coach Don Hardin went to look into the UI facility, Kenny Jim, he realized he didn’t have to go through the building where his team played.
“It was 1983,” Hebert wrote. “But since the place was built in 1900, Kenny had to be crap. Padlock plywood box with wheels. One problem: the box was kicked during the summer, The contents have been stolen. Welcome to a new job … Step up a professional ladder. There was no ball, no net, no place. If you actually want to store it, keep everything safe. Had Ball and net. It seems strange now, but at that point Don and I were seriously wondering if we did the right thing to come to Illinois. “
Hebert and Hardin practiced at least the first few times at the on-campus gymnasium where they could check the net and the ball.
“We kept pushing the bare minimum,” Hebert wrote. “We were insisting, and our players loved it.” God, “they said,” We have never stood up for us. It was a big problem for them. They knew that coaches respected them, believed in them, and were willing to fight for them. Finally, one Sunday night, Don and I met at the gym and dragged all the trash into the hallway. The next day, I went to practice and the mountains were gone. It must have taken several hours for the mechanic to load and carry the cargo on the truck. Don and I exchanged a secret smile. “
From the time they first arrived in Illinois, Hebert and Hardin established where the program was going and set a set of principles that were trying to rule the program. At that time, the wins and losses were not on the list. They talked enthusiastically with as many community groups as possible to get people to talk about Irina Volleyball. Enthusiastically, they started visiting with a state high school coach.
“When I agreed to get a job in Illinois, I explained to Karol Cars that I would work on everything for the first three years of the program. I coached the team, recruited players, and recruited the team. Promote. Sell tickets, build public relations … I’m responsible for everything you need to put a better product on the floor and sell it, but three years later, the team Also said it would be good enough. We need to train staff to promote, market and promote Illinois Volleyball. That’s exactly what has evolved. “
Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part story detailing the influence of former Illinois volleyball head coach Mike Hebert. The second part is about how his program slowly took shape and evolved from a record of the first season of 5-25 to a unit that won the first three big ten championships in Irini Women’s Athletics. I will explain.
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