Rob Neilson needed something special to leave Utah State. He says his alma mater was that

PROVO — Rob Neilson made his first public appearance as the seventh head coach of the BYU women's volleyball program Thursday morning with humor, emotion and looking about 10 years younger.

But the picturesque beard he adopted in seven years at Utah State was a small sacrifice to pay for a return to a place that, in his own words, felt like home.

Neilson was happy in Logan, where he led the Aggies to a 112-59 record with five Mountain West championships (three regular season, two tournament titles). He made history with Utah State, including a 22-match win streak that is the third-longest in program history this past season that included a program-record .274 hitting percentage.

"I love the spot where the sagebrush grows," said Neilson as he choked back an array of emotions. "I'm going to miss it. Sarah and I poured our hearts into that community, and the abundance of love that we got in return is something that we will never forget."

Neilson added that it would take a "truly special" opportunity to pull him away from Utah State, after he had several "big-time" offers over six seasons during a run where he and his wife Sarah and five children were embraced by the Cache Valley community and Aggie students, fans and administrators alike.

But BYU was just that. Neilson won at the highest levels at BYU, the starting setter on the 2004 men's volleyball national championship team who compiled a 91-31 collegiate record in four years and tallied 2,790 assists, which ranked fifth in the Cougars' rally-scoring era upon his graduation.

Upon graduation, he spent 10 seasons on staff at his alma mater, including serving as the interim coach in 2011 and rising as high as associate head coach in 2014. His time as an assistant spanned two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships and a national runner-up finish in 2013.

So history was on Neilson's side when the Cougars' head coaching job for the women's program came open last month. Within a few days after wildly successful coach Heather Olmstead stepped down, athletic director Brian Santiago called his old friend and the two reconnected like only longtime friends could.

He wasn't alone.

"I've met 40 people in the last two days that have an influence over our program," he said. "Of those 40 people, I know 30 of them from 10 years ago who are still around. It's been an amazingly beautiful reunion.

"It feels like home everywhere that I turn."

Neilson's acquaintances at BYU run the gamut, from his former student athletic trainer on the men's team Dan Graham who has worked at his alma mater for 15 years to Santiago, the former deputy athletic director who took over for his mentor Tom Holmoe in April.

It's not lost on Neilson that he knows BYU as well as anyone, and thanks to the near-decade he spent at Utah State, he knows the state of Utah. The Aggies placed 12 all-conference honorees, three all-region selections and an All-American in Neilson's seven seasons in Logan, where he capped his tenure with a 24-8 record in 2025, an undefeated 18-0 run in Mountain West play, and a first-round upset of seventh-seeded Tennessee for Utah State's first NCAA Tournament victory since 2001.

Neilson's first hire was approved Thursday in Chloe Hirst, the former Woods Cross High outside hitter who played at Idaho State, and coached locally at Utah, Weber State and Salt Lake City-based Club V before spending the past seven seasons at Utah State including four as Neilson's associate head coach.

Together, the duo have begun assembling a staff and roster that Neilson feels is still capable of competing for championships, even in the Big 12 that ranks among the nation's best in women's volleyball.

The cupboard is hardly bare, even in a program that lost Big 12 freshman of the year Suli Davis to SMU among other transfers.

Neilson's introductory press conference was attended by most of the returning players to the roster, including outside hitter Claire Little Chambers, middle blockers Brielle Kemavor and Mia Lee, and setter Alex Bower — the rising junior who briefly entered the transfer portal afer averaging 10.63 assists per set in 31 matches a year ago.

"The program went through a coaching change two weeks ago, and all of these athletes are back here and wanting to be here," Neilson said. "There is such value that BYU provides that is sometimes outside the transactional nature of college sports these days.

"This place is transformational, and there's such power in that. It's one of the most amazing places with an amazing fanbase, louder than any other venue in the country. We get to tell so many different stories. We get to compete at the highest levels of the sport ... There are going to be All-Americans that will love being here."

Neilson gave credit BYU's lengthy history of volleyball success — from Elaine Michaelis to Heather Olmstead on the women's side, to Carl McGown, Tom Peterson, Shawn Patchell, Chris McGowan and current coach Shawn Olmstead on the men's side.

But he knows that the success of a program that ranks among the winningest in collegiate volleyball history that earned an 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid this past season starts with his players.

"We want talented, amazing athletes," Neilson said. "Alex is that; she's such a competitor, an incredibly talented athlete, and to be able to bring her back has been an amazing process.

"This is a competitive group," he added. "This is a talented group, a group that's ready to get after it. This is a top-25 team. This program is in an amazing place, and they're ready to get going."

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