Preparation is key
to Pettit’s success
By Andrew Strnad
Staff writer
Terry Pettit was 11 years old playing on a Little
League baseball field in Crown Point, Ind., when
he found out what the most important things in life
really are.
It wasn’t winning games, championships or
personal awards. It was more a sense of prepara
tion.
One day at practice Pettit’s father and coach,
Harold, was teaching the team members how to
slide into home plate away from the catcher using
their left hands.
Over and over Pettit slid into home plate, dust
ed himself off and got back in line to do it again.
The young Pettit wondered what the method to
his father’s madness was, and never once thought
he would ever have to employ this detailed maneu
ver in a game.
The very next game he played put him right
into that very situation, running home with a play
at the plate.
He shouldn’t have gone home, but he did, and
he was safe.
“What occurred to me right as it happened was
not the joy of being safe, but an understanding that
I was safe because of preparation,” Pettit said.
Harold, who doubled as a milkman, always
pointed out the details to Terry, giving him a better
understanding of preparation.
Pettit has lived by that credo the last 41 years of
his life. It is what drives him.
In his 25th year of coaching and 22nd at
Nebraska, Pettit is two victories from becoming
the fourth volleyball coach in NCAA history to
amass 700 wins. He stands 698-136.
During his tenure, Pettit has coached 16
American Volleyball Coaches Association All
Americans, won the AVC A National Coach-of-the
Year award twice, led five teams to the Final Four
and put one national championship under his belt
But all the recognition and wins don’t mean a
whole lot to him. Pettit said reaching a milestone
like 700 wins is almost trivial.
In some ways, the 52-year-old Pettit echoes the
theories of the great New York Giants Manager
John McGraw, who rolled up 2,700 wins and won
three World Series between 1902 and 1932.
Little Napoleon, as he was called, said his
players were deserving of the wins. All he ever did
was point out the weak spots in the opponent.
Listen to Pettit for awhile, and you’ll hear the same.
“Somewhere in the 1970s, we moved from a
culture that focused on actors to a culture that
focused on directors and a culture that focused on
baseball players started focusing on managers,”
Pettit said “Really, you go to the movies to see the
movie stars, not the director.
“I’ve always said that if you have a choice of
one of us not showing up - me or (NU setter) Fiona
(Nepo) - you better hope that I don’t show up.”
For Pettit, it’s not about winning as an end to the
means, but to instruct and instill the values he was
taught while growing up - not the destination, but
die journey.
Hard to grasp
While Pettit’s philosophy may be cut and dried,
understanding him is not die easiest task for those
who know him.
Ask junior defensive specialist Nikki Henk,
who transferred to Nebraska after playing a season
at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
Henk transferred to NU so die could play for
what many call the best volleyball program in the
country. Her first impressions of Pettit were like
many other players’: a man who had a tremendous
drive to make his team the best in the nation.
“He’s real intense. That’s the first thing I
noticed about him,” Henk said “Things get a little
crazy at times in practice because he’s so passion
ate shout what he’s doing.”
Even Pettit’s colleagues in coaching find him
to be very determined and focused on achieving a
particular result
Stanford Head Coach Don Shaw, the NCAA’s
winningest active coach, has known Pettit for 19
years and still says he doesn’t have a true sense of
how focused Pettit can be.
“We golf a lot together, and we compete on the
course, and I don’t think I have a complete grasp of
the guy yet,” Shaw said “But I think that’s the way
he likes it”
The family traits
Someone who does have a complete grasp of
Pettit’s persona is his daughter, Katherine.
The 20-year-old sophomore plays setter at
Colorado State and said she has absorbed some of
the same traits as her father, his passionate nature,
his love for volleyball and his perspective on life.
“I’m most proud of his perspective on a situa
Matt Miller/DN mmm
NU VOLLEYBALL COACH TERRY PEniT is two
wins away from his 700th collegiate win. He is I
known for his preparation, focus and passion
for the game he coaches day in and day out.
tion,” she said‘Turning to him, I find a lot of relief, 1
and he’s been there and done that He’s very reliable |
because he’s had so much experience in life.”
Growing up, Katherine spent hours in the gym
with her father and always wanted to play college I
Please see PETTIT on 7 |
1995 season best
for NU volleyball
By James Nicas
Staff writer
One goal... one focus... one champi
on.
The phrase on the media guide said
everything the 1995 Nebraska volleyball
team expected from their season.
After finishing 31-1 and losing in the
regional finals in 1994, the 1995
Comhuskers wanted to leave no doubt what
they wanted for die season.
The high expectations were not left
unfulfilled. Nebraska went 32-1 and
defeated Texas in the NCAA finals to win
the national championship. After three pre
vious trips to the Final Four, the Huskers
gave Head Coach Terry Pettit his first
national tide in 19 years.
“We knew we were one of three or four
teams that had a chance to win it going into
the year,” Pettit said. “Players had prepared
themselves in the summer, but nothing is
guaranteed, and there were probably teams
that were just as good as us that year.”
Led by seniors Christy Johnson,
Allison Weston and Billie Winsett,
Nebraska came into die season No. 1 in the
country.
“Going into die season, I felt this was as
good a shot as Nebraska ever had to win it,”
Johnson said. “We had a group of players
that if they took care of what they needed to,
then we would win it”
NU’s only loss was to No. 2 Stanford.
After winning the first game 15-8,
Nebraska went on to lose the next three
games, including a 15-17 loss in the fourth
in which they led 14-8.
Nebraska then won 22 matches, includ
ing five against ranked opponents, without
losing a game before facing No. 3 Florida.
The schedule prepared the Huskers for
the NCAA tournament. After defeating
three teams in the tournament, Nebraska
faced No. 4 Michigan State in the Final Four.
After splitting the first four games,
Nebraska broke open a 7-7 fifth game to
win the game 15-8 and advance to the finals
against Texas.
Led by Winsett and Kate Cmich’s 25
kills each, NU won the four games 16-14,
giving Nebraska its first and only national
championship. Defeating the Longhorns
gave Nebraska the title and fulfilled the
expectations of the team.
“The hardest thing to do is to come over
a period of three years and work at it,” Pettit
said. “National championships aren’t built
over one year, the title was just the tip of the
iceberg.”
Noth: Pettit changed with time
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior staff writer
Christy Johnson will never for
get her favorite spot on the Nebraska
volleyball team Is bench.
The former NU setter sat next to
Head Coach Terry Pettit during her
redshirt season in 1993, listening
carefully to every word he uttered.
She marveled at his ability to foretell
the outcome of every serve, transi
tion or attack.
As die watched each prediction
come true, Johnson knew she had
found a coach who would mold her
into a great player. She knew she had
found a coach around whom she
could model her future career.
“He’s been at this so long that,
first of all, he has a really good
understanding about how the game
works,” said Johnson, now an assis
tant coach at Wisconsin. “He’s bril
liant in that way.”
Pettit could earn the 700th victo
ry of his career this weekend if the
undefeated and third-ranked
Comhuskers beat No. 13 Texas and
No. 15 Texas A&M on Sunday.
And, as Pettit approaches the
milestone, Johnson knows she and
many other players have him to
thank for their own personal success
es.
“I don’t think I would have been
as good a player if I had played under
someone else. I probably wouldn’t
be where I am today, either.”
In 21 seasons at Nebraska, Pettit
has directed five teams to the Final
Four appearances and one to a
national championship
Pettit has produced five U.S.
National Team members and 18
players who have earned a total of 31
All-American awards. He has
coached more than 2,000 athletes.
He had dealt with each one and
their successes and failures in a dif
ferent way, Johnson said She praised
his ability to handle those situations.
“He’s been through so many
things with all his players that he
pretty much knows what you’re
thinking and why you’re thinking it,”
Johnson said “He has so much expe
rience. He knows situations. He
knows how his players are going to
work through things and deal with
things. And he knows how to help his
players when they need it”
Forma: NU All-American setter
(1981-84) and current Nebraska
Assistant Coach Cathy Noth remem
bers a time when Pettit reached out to
her. An outside hitter her entire
career, Pettit had a hunch about Noth
and converted her to a setter. She
became a two-time All-American at
the position.
“I had a lot of trust in his ability
to train me and make me a better
player,” Noth said. “I had a lot of
respect for him then, and I have even
greater respe ct for him now.”
Johnson labels Pettit “one of the
best setter coaches in the country.”
Noth said his intensity and intelli
gence make him a driven person.
' But he has changed over time.
“He gave a lot to us athletes back
when I played,” Noth said. “But now
he has allowed a lot of his life to
carry over into the players’. He is
more concerned about making sine
they are well-rounded people and
that they get everything they can out
of this.
“You grow softer with age. You
learn from experiences, and you
learn how important these kids real
ty are,” she said.
Noth expects several of Pettit’s
former players to be in the stands
Sunday. And she knows he will be
gratefUl - at least inwardly.
“It has to mean something,”
Noth said. “He’ll be shy about it.
He’s not a great receiver of public
attention. But that’s just something
that you rejoice about in your heart
What a great personal accomplish
ment that must be ”
