"This is Where I was Meant to Be" - A Conversation with Jason Mansfield
Aug 23, 2024 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
MANHATTAN, Kansas - Jason Mansfield was a part of seven NCAA Final Fours and one national championship during stints at Stanford and Washington.
He'd like to bring such notoriety to Kansas State.
Mansfield, who was selected as the ninth head coach for K-State women's volleyball on December 27, 2022, put together an impressive first campaign with the Wildcats — one that ended unexpectedly when they were shockingly left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Still, there was much to be proud of — a record-breaking five top-25 victories, including one over No. 3 Texas that gave the eventual national champions their lone conference loss — for a season that ended with a 16-11 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in the Big 12.
There's ample promise for this squad, which was picked seventh in the Big 12 Conference, and eyes a NCAA Tournament with revenge on its mind.
K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen spoke with Jason Mansfield about this season:
D. Scott Fritchen: You talk a lot about consistency. How has consistency guided your life, and does it guide all aspects of your life?
Jason Mansfield: That's a great question. The best illustration of consistency I saw growing up was my mom. She continues even to this day to be someone that never really raised her voice at us. She is just a rock, you know? She's consistent in her emotions and how she parented. I try to do the same as a parent, husband. Certainly being a husband and a father has made me a better coach, for sure. In the gym, I just had really good examples with the four head coaches I was able to coach with to see how consistency can affect a team or how inconsistency can affect a team. I'm trying to be consistent every day, in every meeting that we have as a team, or with an individual, or in general. I just try to be really consistent with my tone and messaging. It starts with me.
Fritchen: What did you learn sitting as an assistant to standing on the court as a head coach in year one?
Mansfield: I found that the 20 years that I coached club volleyball as a head coach were very valuable in that I found myself falling back into those days of coaching 68-70 matches each year at club tournaments, and just found the comfort of knowing that I've been there before and that it's really about helping the players trust their training. I found myself watching behaviors a lot more to see if people were themselves or not, and if not, try and help them get back to being confident and to being the teammate and competitor I know they want to be. I think the time I had as a head coach really allowed me to be more comfortable in the head coaching chair. I grabbed onto things that I like about the other head coaches I worked with, and I tried to emulate a little bit of that from them.
Fritchen: You've mentioned that last year was a blur. But going back and reviewing last season immediately after it was finished you must've found some things you were pleased and not so pleased with. What were some of your biggest takeaways from last season?
Mansfield: I needed to get them to be better in practice and we needed to train at a higher level. I thought our practices were fine. I thought the girls trained and that we were fine that way, but I think we could've been better. That definitely started in January with the way we were more organized on the specifics of what we wanted to be better at, such as intensity of practice, and the drills, and just the expectation of how we want to train to get better, communication to set a higher level. We saw a big upgrade there in the spring and so far, we're carrying it into this season. It's a big reason why teams continue to get better as the season goes on individually and as a group. That to me is the biggest takeaway, I think.
Fritchen: That initial meeting for this season with this group — what message did you really try to hammer home to them entering the season?
Mansfield: Everybody is excited to start the season. I think any team is that way in any sport. How long can we stay excited? How long can we stay motivated? How long can we stay hungry to get better and be great? That's the challenge for every team, to try and find ways to do that, and not feel like going to practice or to a film session is the same. That's the goal. That's the challenge that I have as a head coach and certainly our staff has, and these players have, but the urgency of older players always is really powerful so the players who are in their last season, the sand is running out of the hour glass, hopefully that urgency will continue throughout the whole season and help their younger teammates stay motivated in times that are challenging.
Fritchen: Do you feel like K-State was undervalued being picked seventh by league coaches in the Big 12 Preseason Poll?
Mansfield: No, I don't. When I was voting for the teams, it was really difficult to rank teams, because I think a lot of teams are going to be good, and it's hard to separate them, and then I thought about where we should be, and I would've put us at six or seven. We have to be more consistent. If teams are really going to be worried about us and feel like we're a team that's hard to beat at home and on the road, then we just have to be better. The teams ahead of us are more consistent programs who've been good for five, 10, 20 years. Arizona State is the outlier. They were good last year, and they hadn't been good before that for a while, but they came off a Sweet 16 season. That makes sense.
Fritchen: Going back to this year's K-State team. There's a lot of fan interest and excitement surrounding this team. Everyone knows about Aliyah Carter and her importance. Who are some other players that every K-State fan should know about heading into this season?
Mansfield: There's a lot. There's a lot. Izzi Szulczewski is going to touch the ball the most for us at setter and she helps our offense go and helps Aliyah be successful. The returning girls from last year, besides Izzi, there's Aniya Clinton, who's getting healthier and she's close to 100% now, and she was a big part of what we did certainly later in the season last year offensively. Brenna Schmidt continues to improve. I think the two new players on the offense and defense side of the ball, two transfers — Meg Brown and Jordyn Williams — have a chance to be really important to us both offensively and defensively. I'm excited about adding them. Then Symone Sims just took a huge step up in her game in the spring and so far this fall and Ella Larkin, the transfer from LSU, a Wichita kid, both are just really, really good. It's kind of everyone. Liz Gregorski, her leadership and experience that she had, she had a chance to finally play last year and just helped us in a variety of ways and played mostly backrow for us, but she's going to be really important for us both in the front and back row. Her game in the front row has really developed and she's physically in a good spot right now to compete for a spot.
Fritchen: What do you like most about the non-conference schedule?
Mansfield: I like that we're playing good teams. I like that we're starting off playing tough games on the road — at Purdue and at Creighton and playing a UMBC team that's won their conference the last three years in a row with a coach that I coached with at Stanford, who's a great coach. Then playing USC at Creighton, a top-10 team pretty much every year, a top-10 team with tons of talent with top-five recruiting classes — it's just a good test being on the road. We know we're going to have the support of the crowd in a lot of matches we play at home, but can we be road warriors and battle tested on the road and can we start our season figuring out whether we're ready to take that next step and be better on the road.
Fritchen: How important is the homecourt advantage in the K-State volleyball facility?
Mansfield: It's important for a lot of reasons. It connects our community and our fans to our team. Last year was so special and it wasn't just special in a couple matches that we won, it was special in every single match that we played here. We felt it from the beginning. That support is so unique compared to lots of other programs across the country that don't have the support and don't have the beautiful facility. We're lucky to have it. It's a huge part of recruiting and a huge part of why kids stayed instead of transferring out. It certainly makes our program special.
Fritchen: What are some of the things you go out and tell recruits now?
Mansfield: I don't think we have to tell them much. I think they know a lot on social media and in watching matches. It's a matter of getting them here for camp and if they're here they get a chance to play in a new arena and get a chance to feel Manhattan and see what this great town is all about. I don't think there's a lot of messaging out there. I'm not a big guy that's going to pump up our program to recruits. When you get here and feel what Manhattan is like with the facility they can come and see a match in person and that's obviously huge. There's a lot of talk out in recruiting, people talking about the Texas match and the BYU matches that were fun to watch last year. That was the best compliment we could've gotten.
Fritchen: What are you most looking forward to in coaching this year's team?
Mansfield: Just the potential. Just knowing we have good pieces, and we have a lot more depth in every position. We're really trying to find ways to get better and hopefully see this team grow. The potential is exciting. I'm just really excited to help that potential grow and for us to be in a position where we can be a really, really good team throughout the whole season, and hopefully not just at the end.
Fritchen: Do you believe this has the makings of a NCAA Tournament team?
Mansfield: Yeah, I do. Knowing what that means and how close we were to that last year, yeah, I think this team has a chance to make the tournament and if we do that, we'll see how good we are going into the tournament. Yeah, I think the talent and the experience, I think those two things kind of are things that are invaluable. We have talent and experience. That's a pretty good place to be.
Fritchen: What have you learned most about yourself since you arrived at K-State?
Mansfield: That this is where I was meant to be. This is where I should be right now. It's confirmed every day with the people in Manhattan and with how happy my family is to be here, and the players that I get to coach every day and the staff I get to coach with, this is exactly where I should be right now. I'm just really happy to be here and happy to have this program continue to grow in hopefully the right direction. There's nothing more important than people and I love the people of Manhattan and love the people I get to coach every day.
He'd like to bring such notoriety to Kansas State.
Mansfield, who was selected as the ninth head coach for K-State women's volleyball on December 27, 2022, put together an impressive first campaign with the Wildcats — one that ended unexpectedly when they were shockingly left out of the NCAA Tournament.
Still, there was much to be proud of — a record-breaking five top-25 victories, including one over No. 3 Texas that gave the eventual national champions their lone conference loss — for a season that ended with a 16-11 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in the Big 12.
There's ample promise for this squad, which was picked seventh in the Big 12 Conference, and eyes a NCAA Tournament with revenge on its mind.
K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen spoke with Jason Mansfield about this season:
D. Scott Fritchen: You talk a lot about consistency. How has consistency guided your life, and does it guide all aspects of your life?
Jason Mansfield: That's a great question. The best illustration of consistency I saw growing up was my mom. She continues even to this day to be someone that never really raised her voice at us. She is just a rock, you know? She's consistent in her emotions and how she parented. I try to do the same as a parent, husband. Certainly being a husband and a father has made me a better coach, for sure. In the gym, I just had really good examples with the four head coaches I was able to coach with to see how consistency can affect a team or how inconsistency can affect a team. I'm trying to be consistent every day, in every meeting that we have as a team, or with an individual, or in general. I just try to be really consistent with my tone and messaging. It starts with me.
Fritchen: What did you learn sitting as an assistant to standing on the court as a head coach in year one?
Mansfield: I found that the 20 years that I coached club volleyball as a head coach were very valuable in that I found myself falling back into those days of coaching 68-70 matches each year at club tournaments, and just found the comfort of knowing that I've been there before and that it's really about helping the players trust their training. I found myself watching behaviors a lot more to see if people were themselves or not, and if not, try and help them get back to being confident and to being the teammate and competitor I know they want to be. I think the time I had as a head coach really allowed me to be more comfortable in the head coaching chair. I grabbed onto things that I like about the other head coaches I worked with, and I tried to emulate a little bit of that from them.
Fritchen: You've mentioned that last year was a blur. But going back and reviewing last season immediately after it was finished you must've found some things you were pleased and not so pleased with. What were some of your biggest takeaways from last season?
Mansfield: I needed to get them to be better in practice and we needed to train at a higher level. I thought our practices were fine. I thought the girls trained and that we were fine that way, but I think we could've been better. That definitely started in January with the way we were more organized on the specifics of what we wanted to be better at, such as intensity of practice, and the drills, and just the expectation of how we want to train to get better, communication to set a higher level. We saw a big upgrade there in the spring and so far, we're carrying it into this season. It's a big reason why teams continue to get better as the season goes on individually and as a group. That to me is the biggest takeaway, I think.
Fritchen: That initial meeting for this season with this group — what message did you really try to hammer home to them entering the season?
Mansfield: Everybody is excited to start the season. I think any team is that way in any sport. How long can we stay excited? How long can we stay motivated? How long can we stay hungry to get better and be great? That's the challenge for every team, to try and find ways to do that, and not feel like going to practice or to a film session is the same. That's the goal. That's the challenge that I have as a head coach and certainly our staff has, and these players have, but the urgency of older players always is really powerful so the players who are in their last season, the sand is running out of the hour glass, hopefully that urgency will continue throughout the whole season and help their younger teammates stay motivated in times that are challenging.
Fritchen: Do you feel like K-State was undervalued being picked seventh by league coaches in the Big 12 Preseason Poll?
Mansfield: No, I don't. When I was voting for the teams, it was really difficult to rank teams, because I think a lot of teams are going to be good, and it's hard to separate them, and then I thought about where we should be, and I would've put us at six or seven. We have to be more consistent. If teams are really going to be worried about us and feel like we're a team that's hard to beat at home and on the road, then we just have to be better. The teams ahead of us are more consistent programs who've been good for five, 10, 20 years. Arizona State is the outlier. They were good last year, and they hadn't been good before that for a while, but they came off a Sweet 16 season. That makes sense.
Fritchen: Going back to this year's K-State team. There's a lot of fan interest and excitement surrounding this team. Everyone knows about Aliyah Carter and her importance. Who are some other players that every K-State fan should know about heading into this season?
Mansfield: There's a lot. There's a lot. Izzi Szulczewski is going to touch the ball the most for us at setter and she helps our offense go and helps Aliyah be successful. The returning girls from last year, besides Izzi, there's Aniya Clinton, who's getting healthier and she's close to 100% now, and she was a big part of what we did certainly later in the season last year offensively. Brenna Schmidt continues to improve. I think the two new players on the offense and defense side of the ball, two transfers — Meg Brown and Jordyn Williams — have a chance to be really important to us both offensively and defensively. I'm excited about adding them. Then Symone Sims just took a huge step up in her game in the spring and so far this fall and Ella Larkin, the transfer from LSU, a Wichita kid, both are just really, really good. It's kind of everyone. Liz Gregorski, her leadership and experience that she had, she had a chance to finally play last year and just helped us in a variety of ways and played mostly backrow for us, but she's going to be really important for us both in the front and back row. Her game in the front row has really developed and she's physically in a good spot right now to compete for a spot.
Fritchen: What do you like most about the non-conference schedule?
Mansfield: I like that we're playing good teams. I like that we're starting off playing tough games on the road — at Purdue and at Creighton and playing a UMBC team that's won their conference the last three years in a row with a coach that I coached with at Stanford, who's a great coach. Then playing USC at Creighton, a top-10 team pretty much every year, a top-10 team with tons of talent with top-five recruiting classes — it's just a good test being on the road. We know we're going to have the support of the crowd in a lot of matches we play at home, but can we be road warriors and battle tested on the road and can we start our season figuring out whether we're ready to take that next step and be better on the road.
Fritchen: How important is the homecourt advantage in the K-State volleyball facility?
Mansfield: It's important for a lot of reasons. It connects our community and our fans to our team. Last year was so special and it wasn't just special in a couple matches that we won, it was special in every single match that we played here. We felt it from the beginning. That support is so unique compared to lots of other programs across the country that don't have the support and don't have the beautiful facility. We're lucky to have it. It's a huge part of recruiting and a huge part of why kids stayed instead of transferring out. It certainly makes our program special.
Fritchen: What are some of the things you go out and tell recruits now?
Mansfield: I don't think we have to tell them much. I think they know a lot on social media and in watching matches. It's a matter of getting them here for camp and if they're here they get a chance to play in a new arena and get a chance to feel Manhattan and see what this great town is all about. I don't think there's a lot of messaging out there. I'm not a big guy that's going to pump up our program to recruits. When you get here and feel what Manhattan is like with the facility they can come and see a match in person and that's obviously huge. There's a lot of talk out in recruiting, people talking about the Texas match and the BYU matches that were fun to watch last year. That was the best compliment we could've gotten.
Fritchen: What are you most looking forward to in coaching this year's team?
Mansfield: Just the potential. Just knowing we have good pieces, and we have a lot more depth in every position. We're really trying to find ways to get better and hopefully see this team grow. The potential is exciting. I'm just really excited to help that potential grow and for us to be in a position where we can be a really, really good team throughout the whole season, and hopefully not just at the end.
Fritchen: Do you believe this has the makings of a NCAA Tournament team?
Mansfield: Yeah, I do. Knowing what that means and how close we were to that last year, yeah, I think this team has a chance to make the tournament and if we do that, we'll see how good we are going into the tournament. Yeah, I think the talent and the experience, I think those two things kind of are things that are invaluable. We have talent and experience. That's a pretty good place to be.
Fritchen: What have you learned most about yourself since you arrived at K-State?
Mansfield: That this is where I was meant to be. This is where I should be right now. It's confirmed every day with the people in Manhattan and with how happy my family is to be here, and the players that I get to coach every day and the staff I get to coach with, this is exactly where I should be right now. I'm just really happy to be here and happy to have this program continue to grow in hopefully the right direction. There's nothing more important than people and I love the people of Manhattan and love the people I get to coach every day.
Players Mentioned
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