Technician: Can you tell us a little about your background?

Bunn: I was born and raised in San Antonio and basically lived there until I was 35. For the last three years I was at Baylor University as associate head coach. We made the Sweet 16 this year, so it was a good run. Prior to that I was the head coach at North Florida University for seven years. We were Division I the last three years I was there. We had a 60-run conference win streak and went to Regionals all five years and we were ranked in the top 15 the last three years.

Technician: What attracted you to the State head coaching position?

Bunn: One of the biggest was that it was a head coaching position in the ACC. I’ve always felt that the program underperformed and that somebody could come in here and make this program competitive. It’s baby steps. First we want to be competitive in the ACC, then we want to be competitive in the region, then we want to be competitive nationally. But it’s going to take a while to get there.

Technician: Have you met the team yet?

Bunn: We’ve been working out. We have individual workouts, which are two hours per week per person, and they’ve been doing their strength and conditioning, which is about six hours per week. I’ve had individual meetings with all of them. They’re learning new things and a new system so it will take them a little time to get adjusted, but they’re all working hard right now so we’re in good shape.

Technician: There’s supposedly a wide berth between “West Coast” and “East Coast” volleyball. Which category does your coaching style fall into?

Bunn: Texas is one of the top three states in the country, I think, as far as high school and club volleyball, but it’s not a different style of play from over here. In football, you have west coast offense and stuff – in volleyball, it’s pretty simple. You have to control the ball to win, and that comes from serving and passing. It makes your life pretty easy as a setter if you’re controlling the ball, so that’s what we’re working on right now. We need to make sure we can serve hard, return the serve and play defense, because without that, it doesn’t matter how good your hitters are. West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, Southwest – it doesn’t matter.

Technician: You’re taking over a program that has had just four conference wins in four seasons. How are you going to get it back on the right track?

Bunn: We need to change the culture of the program. We’ve got to turn it around about 180 degrees right now. They need to learn how to win. They need to be confident in themselves. We try to keep everything super positive. I believe in building people up positively, not tearing people down.

We’re going to outwork everybody, outhustle everybody and we’re going to be tougher than everybody, because those are the things we can control. We’re going to work on those things.

Technician: What are your goals for the near future?

Bunn: Our vision is to get competitive in the ACC and it’s going to take about three years to get there. We’re not going to be in the top part of our conference right away, but it’s our goal to get there. Teams need to be afraid to play us. I don’t think they’ve been afraid of us in a while, but next year they’re going to know that they’re going to have to play well to win. We have what we need. The players have to believe that they have what they need, and I’m not sure they’ve done that before.

Technician: Fan support has waned in the past few years. Will one of your first steps be trying to get more fans back into Reynolds?

Bunn: People support winners. When you put a good product on the floor, people are going to recognize that and come watch it. You can’t put guns to people’s heads and make them come to the games. We’ve got to put something on the floor that’s worth watching, whether it’s the energy and the passion we play with or the quality of the game we play. Even if we’re not winning yet, if we play with energy, people will come because it’s a fun sport to watch and be involved in.

Technician: Who are your assistant coaches?

Bunn: Stevie Mussie is one of the other coaches. She was a four-year outside hitter at University of the Pacific for two years and University of Washington for two years and an All-PAC-10 player and the Seattle Regional’s most valuable player. She was on a team that won a national championship and had been to the Final Four. She has great experience and I think she’s going to give the girls a good role model because she knows how hard you have to work to be successful, and it’s been pretty recent for her. The other coach is going to be Pete Hoyer, a longtime friend. He has 17 years of Division I coaching and he was head coach at Dayton for nine years. He got out of college coaching for a number of reasons but is ready to get back in, and he is a great worker, great recruiter and a great person.

Technician: You’ve said the team you have provides a solid foundation, but it is predominantly made up of upperclassmen. How will recruiting build a strong base for the future of the program?

Bunn: There have been some great, great people coming out of this area recently, and I think you can best recruit locally. We need to foster good relationships with the local clubs and high schools so they trust that they can send players over here. I think that’s going to go a long way in helping us get better. We have to attract the players that are going to help us get to the top. If we get some better players from around here, we’re going to get better support and the atmosphere is going to be better. Our facilities are great. We have what we need to be successful in this conference.

Technician: Have you enjoyed the time you’ve spent in Raleigh so far?

Bunn: My wife and my puppy are back home, and I miss them. But I’ve been here three weeks and the city’s great. I love the area. I’m excited about being in Raleigh, being in the ACC, being in charge and getting this program headed in the right direction.