Ulland steps down as Moeller volleyball coach

As I walked out of the Pickerington North gym area last night I ran into two Moeller parents who are friends of my parents. They said, “Oh you’re here for TV again? Did you know this is Greg’s last match?”

My jaw hit the floor. I’m not kidding either.

“Greg? Ulland? The head coach?” I stammered.

“Yeah, it’s his last match, and his assistant, Joe,” they replied.

Just ten minutes before Moeller was scheduled to take on St. Edward in the state title in volleyball, the biggest storyline of the night had just hit me.

For the two hour drive up to Pickerington the only thing I could think about was the importance of St. Edward having a shot to break the reign of GCL teams in the state title match.

That changed in a heartbeat, literally.

Ulland, who has been the head coach of his alma mater for nine seasons, was the consummate head coach in boys volleyball in the past decade. His teams captured four state titles in that run, and only once did his Moeller team miss the state championship match in those nine years: in 2008.

Kind of tough to argue with those credentials.

Ulland also played on Moeller’s first state title team in 1997. And while many coaches seem to be ego driven, never once did Ulland take any of the credit for his team’s success. During last year’s run to being state runners up, Ulland had every opportunity to stand in front of the TV camera and say, ‘Look at me.’

He didn’t.

In fact, he walked out of the Moeller locker room with his captains after beating St. Ignatius and said, “You don’t need me do you?”

‘Well,’ I thought, ‘it would be nice to talk to you coach,’ but before I could get that thought out, I said, “No, these guys are good.”

“Great,” he said. “I want to get my guys on TV. People could care less about hearing me.”

And this wasn’t the first time he’d told me that. When I did my story on Moeller’s volleyball program last year for FOX19, Ulland noted numerous times, “This is about the kids. I’ll do anything to get my kids on TV. Don’t worry about me.” (Here's that story in case you've never seen it: http://www.fox19.com/story/12536075/moeller-volleyball-lesser-known-dynasty?redirected=true)

I respect the hell out of that, and I’m damn glad I got to see Greg Ulland coach volleyball for almost every one of those nine years he sat on Moeller’s bench.

As Tucker Skove, one of Moeller’s senior captains, pointed out last night, Ulland’s final match was one that every single player wanted to win. But even in the loss, there was silver lining.

“We came up a little short tonight but it’s not the win or the loss that is going to make us or define Greg’s success,” he said. “It’s a lot more about the relationships we’ve made throughout the year. We sent him out on the right note.”
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I said it earlier and I’ll say it again, it’s been a pleasure to work with Ulland and the Moeller volleyball program (file that under things I never thought I’d ever say about four years ago) over the past two seasons. I wish Coach Ulland the best of luck in whatever his future holds for him.

It’ll definitely be different without Ulland on the bench at Moeller next season, but he’s laid one heck of a foundation for whoever takes over for him.