Sean Huiet celebrated not only his team acheving a 3-0 sweep against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi but earning his 100th career win as head coach of the Bobcats Friday night at the UTEP Tournament in El Paso.
Huiet is no stranger to success as after spending nearly 20 years with the team, stepping up to the head coach position in 2019 following Karen Chisum’s retirement.
Regardless of the numbers, Huiet said reaching the 100-win milestone reflects his long journey with the program and represents the growing culture of Texas State volleyball.
“I’ve been blessed to be able to be here and have a really good staff [and] really good players around us,” Huiet said. “So every victory has been not just me—I wouldn’t get to 100 wins if I didn’t have a really good team.”
Huiet said reaching the milestone, let alone becoming head coach, is something he would never have imagined when first stepping into the program so many years ago.
“Texas State has made this huge jump [since] I’ve been here, and so being a part of that process has been awesome; I probably would have told myself [in 2006] to just go with the flow and see what happens,” Huiet said. “So I’ve been, like I said, a blessed man to have been here for this long.”
Texas State’s success is rooted in Huiet’s approach of getting each coach involved in team development, giving the program the tools to bring Huiet to such a large milestone.
“Being with Sean since he became the head coach, it’s pretty exciting to see all the work and time and energy that he’s put into this program for him to reach that milestone this early,” Associate Head Coach Keith Anderson said. “He’s good at getting to know people and bringing people together, and with that, he’s able to get our teams to win and love each other.”
Fifth-year setter Ryann Torres said Huiet gained respect and appreciation from his players and built a culture among the team.
“He knows balance, and when we come into the gym he knows that it’s go time,” Torres said. “He’s very strategic as well during games on the sidelines; he’s a smart, smart man.”
Huiet spent 13 seasons as the assistant coach to Chisum. Huiet said she impacted his coaching development by encouraging him to lead and work with the team.
According to Huiet, his relationship with Chisum during those years built the foundation he now stands on as head coach.
“I don’t want to be controlling; I don’t want to be a micromanager type leader, [I want to] kind of set them up and say, ‘Hey, like there’s a million ways to skin a cat’ like, what do you think is a good idea? What do you think will help this program?” Huiet said.
Exciting as the milestone is, Huiet said he isn’t quick to get caught up in labels and remains focused on his mission as a coach, growing a family culture and reaching bigger goals such as a Sun Belt Championship.
“I think the biggest piece of advice I got when I got the head job was just don’t change, be who you are,” Huiet said. “You got the job because of who you are.”
