McClure served as head coach at UT Martin for seven years from 2008 to 2014. In his time there, he helped the team reach three Ohio Valley Conference tournaments. UT Martin appeared in the championship match in 2011 when McClure was named OVC Coach of the Year.
“We are very excited to have Coach McClure join our staff here at Union,” said Tommy Sadler, director of athletics. “He brings great knowledge of the game of volleyball to our program as well as being a coach who can lead our student athletes in academic and spiritual growth.”
The volleyball program at Union has seen many coaching transitions recently with McClure being the fourth head coach in the past five years.
“I think the most difficult thing about getting a new coach is adjusting to new rules and coaching styles,” said Deja Moorer, sophomore psychology major and outside hitter. “I see him making this transition easier by being open to listen to the players and adjust, but also setting his rules and expectations at the beginning of the season and sticking to them.”
“He seems very prepared and organized which will create an environment of stability that we desperately need,” said Hannah Huguley, sophomore family studies major, setter and right side hitter.
McClure is excited to become part of the Union family and is eager to take steps to improve the volleyball program.
“It is amazing the people that you meet here and how easy they are to work with and to deal with,” McClure said. “I think Union has so much to offer.”
In previous years, Union volleyball had a successful history and McClure believes the team has the talent to return to that success.
“With Union making the jump to Division II, I think there’s a lot of positives there with starting kind of at the ground level and helping establish Union in the Gulf South Conference as a Division II school,” McClure said.
Both McClure and the team hope to improve fundamentally this coming year as well as create a stronger team bond. More than a winning season, they want to set and achieve measurable goals and continue to represent Union positively.
“We hope we have success next year,” McClure said. “But we’re going to gauge our success based on the little things that we do on a daily basis.”
