For many players, the biggest improvements come from year one to year two. The same can be said for the LSU volleyball team’s associate head coach Jill Lytle Wilson.
Before the 2013 season, Lytle Wilson was promoted from assistant coach to her current role, and head coach Fran Flory said she can see the difference in everything Lytle Wilson does around the program this season, especially in her game plans.
“She has really developed her [game plan-making] ability and her coaching ability in the last few years,” Flory said. “She didn’t have the confidence to put together a game plan and really felt like that was something she could stand by. She’s been awesome this year. She’s done a great job of analyzing opponents.”
Senior setter Malorie Pardo said Lytle Wilson’s game plans are better than anything she’s been accustomed to. Instead of receiving just one sheet on the Tigers’ opponents, the team receives six sheets breaking down everything they need, Pardo said.
But Lytle Wilson’s contributions don’t stop with her game plans, according to Pardo.
“She does so much,” Pardo said. “She keeps all of us motivated. She’s our biggest fan. She prepares us. She is the most compelled person in the program. Her passion for the game leaks into us. She loves her job, which makes us love to be here.”
Sophomore middle blocker Briana Holman said she loves the hype videos Lytle Wilson creates for the team each game.
“She gets us pumped up before the games,” Holman said. “She makes these really awesome videos. They have all these motivational quotes and things that uplift you and make you feel so happy and bubbly before the game, but at the same time, really intense and really focused.”
Holman is one of the most intense players on the LSU team, which she credits to Lytle Wilson’s passion.
“Jill is very passionate, and whenever the team is lacking our passion, you can just look Jill in her eyes and you can feel her drive,” Holman said. “It does nothing but inspire you. Her drive is contagious.”
Lytle Wilson also functions as the program’s recruiting coordinator, and her drive for her current players is just as strong for her recruits, Flory said.
Pardo said she remembers Lytle Wilson watching each of her games during her recruitment.
“She’s so passionate about what she does and the people she is recruiting. She will stay there all night and be at every one of their matches,” Pardo said. “It shows you how much they care and how much they want you.”
For each of the last four years, LSU has brought in a top-30 recruiting class, according to PrepVolleyball.com. The website has not released its rankings for this year’s class yet, but Lytle Wilson was crucial in bringing in all three players who signed during last week’s early
signing period.
Flory called her associate head coach an encyclopedia of recruiting.
“She’s the best recruiter in the country,” Flory said. “She knows every kid across the country. You throw a name out, and she can tell you where she is and what she’s doing and what schools are on her list.”
Lytle Wilson’s work has been even more important this season, because LSU doesn’t have an assistant coach.
Flory said her team couldn’t be playing at the level it is without Lytle Wilson’s hard work.
“She’s the backbone of the program,” Flory said. “She’s carried a huge load. We’re a man down. We don’t have an assistant coach. Jill and I are doing it ourselves. Certainly we’re getting a lot of help on the video analysis part from

, but she’s carrying a ridiculous load and she always does. She’s definitely my right hand.”
Lytle Wilson’s playing experience under the longtime head coach allows her to help the players overcome any obstacles they may face.
Lytle Wilson played for LSU under Flory from 1997 to 2000.
“She’s been in their shoes playing for me,” Flory said. “It’s really simple for them to trust and understand, and it’s easy for her to say, ‘Here’s what you’re going through and I’ve been there and I can help you.’ She can empathize, sympathize and then help them get through it. There’s nothing more valuable.”
Pardo said she considers Lytle Wilson a big sister that perfectly balances out Flory.
“In certain circumstances, it’s easier to go to Jill to talk about it,” Pardo said. “If you’re having a bad day or something, Jill’s always the one to pick you up, which is exactly what a big sister would do. That’s the perfect word for that.”
Flory said she knows Lytle Wilson is a hot commodity in the coaching carousel, but she thinks Lytle Wilson’s ultimate goal is to take over whenever Flory calls it a career.
“Every year at the end of the season, my phone blows up and I say, ‘Jill, such-and-such is calling,’ … and she goes, ‘Tell them not to call,’” Flory said. “There’s a couple of jobs that I think she would be interested in, but I think for the most part she is purple and gold through and through, and I think her dream job is to take over this program when I’m done.”