As Rob Neilson takes his first steps as the BYU women’s volleyball head coach, his vault of knowledge has been built on a veritable “Who’s Who” of Cougar greats that came before him.

On Thursday, BYU Director of Athletics Brian Santiago introduced Neilson — most recently the head coach at Utah State — at a news conference in the Smith Fieldhouse.

It was a homecoming in every sense of the word.

“Rob talked about being at the (BYU) basketball game last night, and he said, ‘Man, it’s amazing how many people that I know,'” Santiago recalled. “I said, ‘because you’re home, this is you.’ This is your place, your blood, sweat and tears are right here on this floor and helped us hang one of those banners up there as a national champion.”

Neilson stepped to the dais and agreed with Santiago’s assessment.

“It is good to be home,” he said. “It is the honor of a lifetime to get to coach at this university that I love so much, on this court in this venue that is the best volleyball venue in the entire country. I love BYU, and I love BYU volleyball.”

Neilson helped the Cougars to a national championship in 2004 under Peterson and was the team’s starting setter in 2005 and 2006. His journey into coaching started at BYU and included a stint as the interim head coach of the men’s team before gaining valuable experience as the first assistant with Team USA for two years. That led to the women’s head gig at Utah State, where he was a three-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. In 2025, the Aggies went undefeated in league play and upset No. 7 seed Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

All of that experience included incredibly talented mentors that taught Neilson how to be a head coach.

“BYU volleyball has an incredible legacy,” Neilson said. “From Carl to Tom to Chris (McGown), we to Shawn, now on the men’s side, and then, of course, the women’s side, from Elaine (Michaelis) to Jason (Watson) to Shawn on the women’s side, and to Heather (Olmstead), there is an incredible legacy here to build on, and I’m so excited to be able to push it forward. What an honor to be able to build on, what amazing athletes and coaches have built here. Some of the greatest coaching coaches in the nation have come from BYU volleyball.

“I just want to say thank you to the mentors of mine in the game, obviously, Carl and Chris McGowan, John Speraw, Mike Wilton, Hugh McCutcheon. I’ve been honored to be around some of the greatest coaches in volleyball history, and they’ve taught me what championship culture and process looks like. And I hope some of that is rubbed off, and I’m excited to share it with our our team.”

BYU finished 22-9 in 2025 (10-8 in Big 12 play) and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars were eliminated in the first round by upstart Cal Poly in five sets, and almost immediately Big 12 Freshman of the Year Suli Davis and All-Big 12 setter Alex Bower entered the transfer portal. On December 11, BYU announced that Heather Olmstead, who had won at an 85% clip over her 11 years as the head coach, was leaving to pursue other opportunities.

It was a anxious time for the players who remained until Neilson was announced as Olmstead’s replacement 12 days later.

“We’re bought in,” BYU junior outside hitter Claire Little Chambers said. “We trust him. He’s just been emphasizing his relationships with us and our relationships with him, so I think he’s already off to a great start with that. We’re excited to see where that takes us. As players, to have someone that fully believes in you and will support you in your hardest times as an athlete, it’s just great.

“From Day 1, anyone that has ever talked to me knows that wearing BYU on my chest is the most important thing to me, more than the games, more than the wins, more than the losses. So for me to have someone that understands what that means wearing that (the logo) on your chest and representing it correctly is huge. I’m just excited that he gets it. He understands. He knows what it’s like. He knows our expectations as people and as players.”

Little Chambers added that Neilson has already gotten the players excited for the start of winter workouts, which begin Friday. Davis ended up transferring to SMU, but after Neilson took the job Bower announced she was returning to play for the Cougars.

“That’s a huge win for us,” Little Chambers said. “I’ll just say this, big things are coming. We’re excited. This is going to be a great group.”

Neilson announced that he’s made his first hire, bringing in former Utah State associate head coach Chloe Hirst to fill the same position at BYU.

“She’s is all-time good,” Neilson said. “People shake my hand, say ‘Good to see you, Rob,’ and then they see Chloe and light up. She’s the best part of what we got going on as our staff and we’re going to surround her with other great staff members.

“Together we’ll recruit the best LDS players, the best non-LDS players and the best international players. Playing in front of the ROC in the best venue in the country is where many of the best athletes in the country will want to be.”

As you might expect, Neilson said he couldn’t wait to get started.

“My expectations are to work hard tomorrow in practice,” Neilson said. ”

“I’ve met 40 people the past two days that have an influence over our program,” he said. “First off, its amazing that we have so much support for our athletes. But of those 40 people, I know 30 of them from ten years ago that are still around, and it’s just been an amazingly beautiful reunion. It just feels like home everywhere that I turn.”