Hard work does not mean a lot to LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory. It is the result that matters.
“You have to get the job done,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how hard you work, it matters that you succeed.”
Flory, in her sixth season as head coach of the Tigers, said it takes discipline and sacrifice to be a successful student athlete along with a high expectation of yourself.
“I think a lot of people not involved in athletics short-change themselves,” Flory said.
She said athletes often expect the most from themselves, and that is what is needed to excel in life.
Flory is looking for several newcomers to excel this season as there are no seniors on this year’s squad.
“It’s a huge rebuilding year,” said Flory, who has to contend with losing 7 of her 12 scholarship athletes from last season. “This team will have to rely on tenacity and teamwork,” she said. “We’re young. We’re going to take some knocks but we’re going to give some too.”
Flory, who has an 80-70 record at LSU, has been coaching since 1986 but knew most of her life that it would be her career.
“I wanted to be a coach since I was 12 years old,” the Baton Rouge native said.
Flory said she had a sixth grade teacher who noticed her talent for coaching athletics and told her if she finished her school work she could assist the P.E. teacher with the younger classes. So Flory worked hard to finish her assignments each day and began her coaching career.
A graduate of Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, Flory went on to play volleyball for the University of Texas.
“I had a great opportunity and wanted to spread my wings,” she said.
While playing for Texas, Flory was named All-Southwest Conference and received All-South Region honors.
She was named an assistant at Texas A&M in 1987, but after one year she was hired at LSU as a graduate assistant. She was an assistant at LSU from 1988 to 1991, coaching along side Frances Compton, who Flory said is one of the most influential people in her life.
Flory went on to take the head coaching jobs at Southeastern and then Kentucky before returning to LSU as head coach in 1998. She led LSU to two consecutive winning seasons in 2001 and 2002.
“LSU athletics is about winning,” said Flory, who stresses winning on the court and in the classroom.
Flory said last year’s team was an underachieving team where as this year’s team has many young players that have not had a chance to prove themselves.
“This year is a great opportunity for young players,” Flory said. “They don’t know any better than to fight for every point. We are the underdog, but I think we will play well as the underdog.”