Northern volleyball is full circle for Wagner

When Jerry Wagner was cutting his college coaching teeth at then Northern Montana College, the Applied Technologies on the Northern campus didn't even exist yet.

On Thursday however, Wagner stood inside the ATC in Havre, emotional, talking about a possible return to his roots.

After 35 years coaching college volleyball, Wagner could very well be coming home. He interviewed for the vacant head volleyball job at Montana State University-Northern this week, and Thursday, he spoke to the public about coming full circle. Wagner's first head coaching job was at his alma mater, when he took over the Skylights in 1987. He led Northern to a third-place finish in the Frontier Conference that season. A native of Havre, Wagner was also the HHS head girls volleyball coach from 1984-1987.

"This is coming full circle for me," Wagner said. "This is where I started, as a student, this is where I got my education, and this is where I started as a coach."

Wagner may have started his coaching career at home, but, it didn't take him long to move up the ranks. He was an assistant to the great Dick Scott at the University of Montana from 1988 to 1991, then moved to Pac 10 powerhouse Oregon State where he served as an assistant for eight seasons, working with former Montana State head coach, and former Northern athletic director Dave Gantt. Wagner's coaching career also took him to Bozeman where he was an associate head coach for MSU in 2003-2004, then to Gonzaga as an assistant.

Finally, in 2006, Wagner landed what he called his "dream job" - the head coaching job at the University of Montana. He spent eight seasons in Missoula, and helped the Grizzlies to plenty of success, on and off the court.

"I've learned every step of the way," Wagner said. "I've been able to work with so many great coaches and great people. And I've learned from them all.

"(UM) was my dream job," he continued. "It was being able to be a head coach at the Division I level, and it was coming home. And in my time there, I truly felt I left that program in a better place than it was when I got there. We were able to do some things they hadn't done there since 1996, or longer. It was a great experience."

Point of fact, Wagner has always had an impact, at every stop, whether as a head coach, or an assistant coach, and that's something he wanted to do again, when, after a year away from coaching, he took an assistant coaching position at NCAA DI University of Texas-El Paso, several years ago.

"It's in my heart," Wagner said. "I've always wanted to be a coach. It's my career, it's what I've always done. Coaching is my calling."

Wagner noted Thursday that, had there not been a coaching change at UTEP this past offseason, he would have remained in his position in El Paso.

"If things had remained the same there, I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "I went to UTEP, I didn't know anything about it, but I wanted a new challenge. I wanted to see if I could make an impact there, and I felt I was able to help do that. And I intended to stay there and see it through. That's what I've always tried to do in my career, to have a positive impact, to leave the program better than it was when I got there. I do truly feel that I've always been able to do that, and I felt that way at UTEP. And I think they're going to go on and have great success there in the future."

Now however, Wagner wants to have that same impact at the school he calls home, in the community he's always called home. After 35 years of coaching, Wagner is hoping to return to his roots, to help rebuild a Northern volleyball program that has had its struggles in recent years.

"I feel the reason I've stayed in coaching as long as I have is that, I've always done things the right way," he said. "I think people know that, and respect that. I've always wanted to have a positive impact on whatever program I was coaching in, not just on the floor, but off it, in the classroom, in the community, in all aspects of the program. And whatever program I was in, what ever logo I was wearing, that was where my heart was.

"So I'll say this, no one will work harder than Jerry Wagner to turn this program (Northern) around."

And not only will no coaching candidate work harder than Wagner would to help revitalize the Skylights, few candidates could match Wagner's vast and successful experience at the collegiate level, or his passion and love for all things Northern - something that has never wavered, even though he has been away from Skylight volleyball since 1987.

"Like I mentioned, this is coming full circle for me," Wagner tearfully said. "I'm coming to the end of my career, but I'm not old. Coaching has actually kept me young. But I am coming to the end of my career, and this would not be a jumping off point for me. That is the last thing this program needs.

"I want to come here, I want to come back home and make Northern volleyball as good as it can possibly be," he continued. "I want to be here to help return this program to great things, in all facets of it. I want to come home and have an impact on this, and when it is my time to leave it, I want to make sure it's in a place where the next person could come in and have great success also. This is a special place for me. It's home. It's everything to me."