GOLDEN EAGLE HEAD COACH
John
Blair
College: University of Tennessee (1976) B.A. in Education Year at Tennessee Tech: 10th year Coaching Experience (Record: 378-526) Tennessee Tech University: Head Coach — 2003-Present (104-165) University of Mississippi: Head Coach — 1986-2001 (218-282) University of Tennessee: Assistant Coach — 1983-85 University of Illinois: Assistant Coach — 1979 Head Coach — 1980-82 (56-79) Born: November 18, 1950
John Blair continues his reign as head coach by reaching the decade mark becoming only the second coach in Tech history to do so. During the 2011 season, Blair reached another milestone, earning his 100th victory at UT Chattanooga in a five-set thriller. Blair has had continued success since he lead the Golden Eagles to a conference championship in 2008, making it to the OVC tournament four out of the past five seasons. During the 2011 season, Blair earned his 69th OVC victory when the Golden Eagles defeated Eastern Kentucky Milestone Caree
r Victories:
1st Career win : Northern Illin ois 3-2 (1980) 25th Career W in: Illinois State 3-2 (1981) 50th Career W in: Minnesota 32(1982) 75th Career w in: McNeese St ate 3-0 (1986) 100th Career W in: US Internat ional 3-2 (1989) 150th Career W in: Mississippi State 3-1 (1991) 200th Career W in: Louisiana Te ch 3-1 (1996) 250th Career W in: Auburn 3-1 (2000) 300th Career W in: IUPUI 3-2 (2 005) 350th Career W in: UT Martin 31 (2008) 1st T TU victory : Louisiana-Lafa yette (2003) 1st OVC victory : Eastern Illino is (2003) 25th OVC victo ry: UT Martin (2 50th OVC victo 005) ry: Jacksonville State (2008) 100th T TU vict ory: UT Chatta nooga (2010)
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on November 11. Blair now has 373 wins after 27 years as a head coach, including 104 career wins at Tennessee Tech, making him the third winningest coach in program history. During his time at TTU, Blair’s players have amassed numerous awards including 11 all-OVC awards, five all-OVC Tournament awards, seven all-OVC Newcomer awards, as well as an OVC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards. Blair’s players have also excelled in the classroom as they have earned one Academic All-American and four Academic All-District IV awards as well as 61 OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll awards during his time at TTU. Blair coached at the University of Mississippi for 16 years prior to coming to Tennessee Tech. As the Rebel’s winningest coach, Blair coached six all-Southeastern Conference players. With 12 SEC tournament appearances to his credit while at Ole Miss, Blair brought with him a proven ability to win. In his tenure at Mississippi, he had an impressive 70 SEC Academic Honor Roll students and four earned Academic All-America Honors. Blair served three seasons as assistant volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee. While with the Lady Vols, he helped UT capture SEC titles in 1983 and 1984. Blair, 60 , also served as head coach at the University of Illinois from 1980 through 1982, after spending one season as an assistant coach for the Illini. His 1980 Illinois team participated in the AIAW National Championship Tournament. A native of Knoxville, Blair earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Tennessee in 1976. He played volleyball for the Volunteers under coach Bud Fields, who led the team to a ninth-place finish in the open nationals in 1976. He competed in the World University Games in 1973 and was a member of the United States training team for the Pan Am Games in 1974 and the U.S. National training team in 1975. In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Blair coached the South men’s team to a gold medal in 1986 and a bronze medal in 1987 in the U.S. Olympic Festival and led the Texas Stars USA Volleyball team to the 1996 championship in the men’s master’s division.
Purple Pride . Tennessee Tech Volleyball