Angel Agu was promoted to the head coach for Rhode Island Women's Volleyball in July of 2021 after joining the volleyball staff as an assistant coach in March of 2020. Prior to coming to URI, Agu served as a volunteer assistant coach for Wisconsin Women's Volleyball, and was a part of the 2019 national champion team there. As a player, Agu had a successful five-year career at Dayton from 2011-15.
We were able to meet with Coach Agu, in which she shared her experiences, difficulties, and some recruiting strategies she has implemented in her first year.
Related: 6 Tips to Get Recruited for Division 1 Volleyball
The First Year
Agu described her first year at the helm as a success, despite the fact that she felt it was “rushed.” After being hired in July 2021, she was tasked with getting a group of student-athletes ready for the upcoming volleyball season in a short period of time. Agu says, “I tell my players all the time that I would run through a wall for them…I came in and set expectations for us, I'm big on transparency, and having that mark for us really helped guide me and this team through this season.”
Fast forward to the spring of 2022, and Agu has set her offseason focus on building a better team culture for women's volleyball at URI. “It's the time where you implement culture, and some players did struggle with that,” she said. “But team bonding is something that I want to do more. The biggest advice I got was to reach out to each player individually to hear their thoughts and what they are thinking.” Agu feels that her transition from assistant coach to head coach went smoothly and believes that the culture she wants to instill in the program is well underway.
The Recruiting Challenges
During her time as an assistant coach for URI prior to becoming the head coach, Agu spent a lot of time on the recruiting side of things. As most people remember well, the 2020 year was riddled with COVID-19 and all of its restrictions. Agu attributed some of the difficulties in the recruiting process to it. Now as the head coach, Agu continues to be a sharp recruiter, “I spent some time at the Nationals Tournament doing some recruiting and I just got back recently from a three-state recruiting trip.”
Agu was open and honest with some of the challenges that she has faced during her experiences recruiting as a head coach as opposed to an assistant. “As an assistant, you don't need to talk about the scholarships and the specifics,” she said. “I love talking about everything, but I need to split the two up.” As the head coach, there is more to the recruiting process that Agu needs to touch on and explain when talking with athletes and their families.
Agu understands that in order to be a successful recruiter, you need to be “consistent.” She says, “I'm only 5-10 years older (than the recruits), but I still understand that there is a generational shift from when I was being recruited.”
The Search For an Assistant Coach
Agu originally found her first assistant coach through “word of mouth” from her previous coaching experiences. However, the assistant that was with her this past season has decided to go the club coaching route, so that position is once again open. Agu says, “I have higher expectations than probably the normal person.” Finding an assistant coach that best suites and compliments your coaching style is an underlooked factor in the coaching world. Agu says that she is still looking for the assistant that is right for her.
All in all, Agu is grateful to be the head coach at URI. While she's young for her position, she has the experience and resume to build a strong program in the years to come. Be on the lookout for URI women's volleyball and stay up to date with the program here.
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* Originally published on May 6, 2022, by Ashton Grenon
