Metro East Sun

After a satisfying and successful coaching career at the helm of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville volleyball, head coach Leah Johnson will take on a new role with even more challenges as head coach at Illinois State University in the Missouri Valley Conference. 

The former SIUE head coach is already living in Normal with one child as her husband is still in Edwardsville with the other child. Johnson said she is excited about the opportunity. 

"Yes, this is going to be a different kind of coaching experience," Johnson told the Metro East Sun. "You get to take to the next level of competition as a coach in the Missouri Valley Conference."

Leah Johnson | SIUE

She had kind words for her time at SIUE. She said she will miss being on campus and in Edwardsville.

"I loved everything about SIUE," Johnson said. "It's a beautiful and peaceful place. I always wanted to leave my office and go walk around. Also the people. I felt like SIUE was very special in that sense. From administration, athletics, students — they were all really enjoyable to be around. It had such a home feel. That's something I will certainly miss."

But her heart is in competition. The transition takes her away from the Ohio Valley Conference, where she was the 2016 conference Coach of the Year. Now she has bigger fish to fry. 

"That conference only sees one team go into postseason play and that's a pretty big difference," Johnson said.

During her five-season career with the Cougars, Johnson had an 80-98 record. The Cougars were 46-54 in OVC play during those five years, according to an SIUE news release.

The new Illinois State head coach is just getting settled in but already working along in the transition to prepare for an upcoming volleyball season. 

"I've spent time meeting each player and hearing each of their stories," Johnson said. "I don't have the prior relationships as I did at SIUE over several years. As best you can as a coach, you just spend some time having small talk with the players. The rest of the time you spend getting to know the bureaucracy and compliance and other systems at the campus at Illinois State." 

Johnson said coaches are often involved in many other areas of the campus, working alongside all sorts of departments and administrators. It takes some discipline and responsibility, she said.

"Coaches have their hands in so many branches of the campus," Johnson said. "You have to invest time in each of those branches. I'll be prepping for pre-season, which starts in early August. I'm working heavily on recruiting right now."

Johnson said she will take some important things with her from her time at SIUE — things she learned over the course of years coaching volleyball. 

"The biggest and most obvious one is that SIUE was my first head coaching job," Johnson said. "It helped me learn how to prepare for all of the technical and personal aspects of coaching college volleyball as a head coach with my own style and philosophy. Sometimes I did well and sometimes I struggled. I really found who I was as a head coach. It's pretty special that I had the opportunity to grow in that way."

As she leaves SIUE, she wants the community to become even more involved and supportive of the school's athletic program, which, in her opinion, has done some amazing things at the division level.