Architect of Lady Falcons’ return to volleyball prominence tells school he plans not to return next season for personal reasons
By Al Muskewitz
Jamie Clendenin, the energetic coach who returned the Donoho volleyball program to statewide prominence in four years as head coach, will not be returning to the Lady Falcons next season.
Clendenin told school officials Tuesday that for personal reasons he would not be back to help the Lady Falcons defend their state championship.
It is his hope to find a physical education teaching position in the public education sector and if a coaching position comes with it, so be it. If not, he is comfortable with just teaching.
“My wife and I are very hopeful of some things happening where our family grows and if that’s the case the thought of needing to be in the state retirement systems is a big deal,” Clendenin said. “And having family time is important.
“We adopted our son five years ago and I haven’t had much time to spend with him. Teaching and coaching is hard to do. The fact I’m taking so much time way from my family is something I had to consider.”
Clendenin has coached Donoho the last four years, taking a team that had won seven matches the year before and missed the playoffs for the first time in 33 years. After a 31-win rookie season, he directed the Lady Falcons to the Class 1A state finals each of the last three years, winning it all in 2019 and 2021.
The Lady Falcons went 52-9 this past season and defeated Bayshore Christian in straight sets to win the state title. It was their 12th Class 1A state volleyball title all-time and avenged a loss to Bayshore in the previous year’s final.
They did not lose a set the entire state tournament, super regionals or Elite Eight. Eight of their players have been to all three trips to the title match. The seniors were 160-60 during Clendenin’s tenure.
Because of their success, the Lady Falcons will play in Class 2A each of the next two seasons to satisfy the AHSAA’s competitive balance protocol for private schools.
Clendenin said he informed the school of his decision now to give it time to conduct a thorough search for his successor instead of dropping it on them at the end of the school year forcing the school to rush on the hire.
Donoho athletics director Steve Gendron hoped the school would hire Clenendin’s successor before the summer.
“He will be hard to replace,” Gendron said. “I would say he was exactly what the program needed at the time (of his hiring) and he’s been nothing but professional and successful the whole time he’s been here. Wherever he ends up, I’m sure he’ll do a fine job.”
Clendenin said the resurgence wasn’t about him, but had everything to do with the athletes who went on the floor.
“It was not an easy decision,” he said. “I was blessed with a group of girls who were bought in and worked extremely hard. That made it easier for me coming in as a coach and having high expectations.
“Sometimes you have high expectations and you push a ton of people away and it’s hard to build things, and sometimes you have high expectations and the people who are there want to rise to the occasion and that’s what I was blessed with.
“Having a young group bought in was huge and I think what we were able to do over the last three years was something you’d almost consider magical. We went from a team that didn’t make the playoffs in, what, 33 years, to winning a state title and going (to the finals) three years in a row.
“That’s not a me thing; that’s a program thing. The girls did that. I couldn’t go into another program next year and just replicate that. I can’t go into a program and make a program great. It’s the girls wanting to buy in and that’s what makes them great.” [*** read more]
