Former Tulane assistant coach Sam Ojie has returned to the Pelican State to join LSU’s volleyball program as an assistant under LSU coach Fran Flory.
The Nigeria native has traveled the world coaching and playing volleyball, most recently as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma.
“I’ve known Sam since he came to the States and while he coached at Tulane,” Flory said. “I know he’s the type of volleyball coach to help a program get better. He’s a person of outstanding character, which is what we need in today’s athletics to help lead young people.”
Ojie helped coach a Sooner team that won 96 games and made the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 once in its four appearances.
Ojie says he will help recruit players to LSU, an aspect he learned was important at Oklahoma.
“We have to buckle down recruiting more,” Ojie said. “Fran, [former assistant] Steve [Loeswick] and [assistant coach] Jill Lytle Wilson have done an excellent job bringing in some of the best athletes. … We’re getting the recruits now, but we need to maintain that level to stay in the top 25. Our goal is to recruit good athletes and skill-players and then find a good mix of both.”
Flory said Ojie will be a major contributor to the team’s film study and game plan preparation.
As for on-the-court coaching, Ojie’s focus will be on developing the team’s blocking game.
“He has a passion about blocking,” Flory said. “We’re already better at blocking since before he got here. The way he presents it is a little different, which some athletes will respond to a little better.”
Ojie got his start as an assistant at Tulane, working primarily with hitters. In his five-season stint that started in 1999, he was a major factor in boosting the Green Wave’s hitting percentage by 25 points and posting four All-Conference USA hitters.
“It’s been great [coming back to Louisiana],” Ojie said. “I’ve known Fran since I’ve been here, so she’s not only my boss but a very good friend, so I felt like I was coming back home.”
After his time at Tulane, Ojie signed on as an assistant at Central Florida. He got his only head coaching experience during the 2004 season when he took over for then-head coach Meg Colado while she took maternity leave for all but two games of the season.
“I wasn’t prepared for that. It came as a shock,” Ojie said. “It opened my perspective in many ways on how to manage the team. … It made me a better coach.”
Ojie is not completely unfamiliar with the LSU program. In 2006, while coaching at Georgia, Ojie was on the opposing bench twice in two losses to a top 15-ranked LSU.
 
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Contact Michael Gegenheimer at [email protected]