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ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ Assistant Vice President for Athletics John Ashaolu announced that  has been named Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives. Friend will still serve as the men's volleyball head coach at ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ. 
 

In the Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic initiative role, Dan's role will broadly encompass several internal and external areas as he will assist in spearheading a number of strategic and revenue-driving initiatives for the athletics department with an emphasis on innovation, community visibility, and brand expansion.

"Dan has achieved a high level of success as one of the top Men's Volleyball coaches nationally through his dedication and strategic mindset," Ashaolu said. "He is very passionate about ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ and about positioning our athletic department to reach greater heights.  As the co-founder a very successful non-profit organization (Rae Strong Foundation) and overseeing the growth of one of the largest single-sport endowment funds in the college athletics, I am thrilled to add Dan's skillset department wide. His expertise will position us to adapt to a changing landscape as he will be responsible for spearheading and leading initiatives to grow our revenue streams and enhance our brand awareness."

Friend has been at ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ since 2005 after taking over for the ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ men's volleyball program with a 392-198 record at the helm and has took the program to new heights. In that time, Friend's student-athletes have earned 4 MIVA Player of the Years, 4 MIVA Newcomers of the Year, 86 All-MIVA Conference Players, 86 MIVA Players of the Week, 11 AVCA National Players of the Week, 40 AVCA All-American honors, and 1 AVCA Newcomer of the Year.  Friend himself was named the 2015 AVCA Men's National Coach of the Year and 2015 Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year along within being named MIVA Coach of the Year in 2015, 2019, and 2020. Friend has recorded non-conference victories over every Top 20 opponent including UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Hawaii, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Penn State, Long Beach State and BYU. Friend's new role will broadly encompass several internal and external areas as he will assist in spearheading a number of strategic and revenue-driving initiatives for the athletics department with an emphasis on innovation, community visibility, and brand expansion.

"I'm extremely excited about the opportunity to serve ÃÛÑ¿ÊÓƵ in another capacity," Friend said. "We have a fantastic athletic department with great students, coaches, and staff and I look forward to growing and promoting our brand throughout our community."