Jerry Wagner Position: Head Coach

The 2011 season marks Jerry Wagner's sixth year as head coach at the University of Montana. Wagner was hired in May 2006 to complete a circuitous return to the program that gave him his first NCAA Division I assistant coaching position in 1988.

After leaving the Grizzlies in 1990, Wagner coached for 15 seasons at Oregon State, Montana State and Gonzaga before finally making it back to Missoula and his dream job.

He was hired to return a program that had fallen on hard times back to one of the Big Sky Conference's elite teams. Wagner has done that, and quicker and more seamlessly than anyone could have predicted.

Montana has gone 63-73 in five seasons under Wagner, but more important the Grizzlies have gone 44-36 in Big Sky Conference matches, a remarkable improvement from the team's 12-58 league record over the five seasons prior to Wagner's arrival.

Montana has been above .500 in Big Sky play four of five seasons under Wagner and advanced to four postseason conference tournaments. The Grizzlies have made the last three Big Sky tournaments, the program's first three-year run of appearances since 1992 to 1994.

In addition to the team's success, individual players have thrived under the guidance of Wagner and his coaching staff.

Montana had not had a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection since 1996 when Wagner was hired. In his first five seasons, Wagner has coached and developed four: Claudia Houle in 2006 and Jaimie Thibeault in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Thibeault is just the third player in Montana volleyball history to earn three first-team all-conference selections, joining Cindy Pitzinger (1985-87), who was inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, and Karen Goff (1992-94).

Thibeault was voted the league's Outstanding Freshman in 2007, Brittney Brown the Top Newcomer in 2008 and Brown the Libero of the Year in 2009.

Montana's gains on the court have not come at the expense of the classroom. Rather, the team's academic performance appears to be in step with its on-court improvements.

The Grizzlies have had 24 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections in five seasons under Wagner, and his team had an impressive 3.46 grade point average last fall, the highest in the department.

Wagner's Division I coaching experience began in 1988 when he was hired by legendary Griz coach Dick Scott to serve as an assistant. Wagner helped Montana to two 20-win seasons in his three years (1988-90) and the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1990.

Wagner took an assistant job under Dave Gantt at Oregon State following the 1990 season. Wagner spent eight years as an assistant with the Beavers (1991-98), guiding those teams to 125 victories and trips to the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship (WIVC) in 1993 and 1994.

Following the 1998 season, Wagner reunited with Gantt at Montana State. Wagner was the top assistant with the Bobcats for four years (1999-2002) and was elevated to the position of associate head coach for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

In those six years, the Bobcats went 117-54 and advanced to six Big Sky Conference tournaments.

Wagner spent the 2005 season as an assistant at Gonzaga, where he helped the Bulldogs to their best record in a decade, before returning to Montana.

Born in Havre, Mont., Wagner is the youngest of four children and a 1979 graduate of Havre High.

Wagner's coaching career started the fall of his first year in college when he was a student assistant coach for the Northern Montana College (now Montana State-Northern) volleyball program in Havre. He coached for two seasons (1979-80) before graduating with an associate degree in drafting.

After working as a draftsman in the private sector for two years, Wagner enrolled again at Northern Montana (NMC) in the fall of 1983. He graduated in 1986 with a degree in secondary education and an extended major in physical education.

Wagner spent four falls (1983-86) as an assistant at NMC and spent the 1985, 1986 and 1987 winter seasons as the first head volleyball coach at Havre High.

Wagner worked as the head coach at Northern Montana in 1987 before joining Scott's staff at Montana in 1988.

Montana year-by-year under Wagner
2006 ... 12-15, 9-7 BSC (4th) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament
2007 ... 10-16, 6-10 BSC (7th)
2008 ... 14-13, 10-6 BSC (t-3rd) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament
2009 ... 14-14, 10-6 BSC (4th) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament
2010 ... 13-15, 9-7 BSC (t-3rd) ... Advanced to Big Sky tournament

Wagner's coaching resume
Assistant coach, Northern Montana College ... Six seasons, 1979-80, 83-86
Head coach, Havre High School ... Three (winter) seasons 1985-1987
Head coach, Northern Montana College ... One season, 1987
Assistant coach, University of Montana ... Three seasons, 1988-90
Assistant coach, Oregon State University ... Eight seasons, 1991-98
Assistant coach, Montana State University ... Four seasons, 1999-2002
Associate head coach, Montana State University ... Two seasons, 2003-04
Assistant coach, Gonzaga University ... One season, 2005
Head coach, University of Montana ... Sixth season, 2006-present