Long Beach State athletic director Bobby Smitheran made the easiest hire anywhere in the NCAA last week. After legendary men’s volleyball coach Alan Knipe announced his retirement with four national titles to his name at LBSU (three as a coach, one as a player), Smitheran got to look one spot down the bench and hire Knipe’s longtime assistant Nick MacRae.
MacRae has been the program’s Associate Head Coach for their recent run of dominance, including three NCAA championships. He was also twice named the AVCA’s National Assistant Coach of the Year as well as making its 30 Under 30 list. He’s been an assistant for 13 years and could certainly have taken several other open jobs over the years, but stayed loyal to his alma mater.
“He’s been at the heart of our program’s rise to national prominence,” said Smitheran. “He’s the guy.”
MacRae will start with the runway you’d expect for a high-value hire, with a five-year contract at the Beach.
Knipe has spent the last 13 years as MacRae’s boss preparing him for this moment.
“There’s literally nothing in our program that he hasn’t had his fingerprints on over the years, everything from Data Volley on the bench up through offense and defense, working on scholarships, being our recruiting coordinator,” said Knipe. “He’s ready. And he has what I think is most important which is a tremendous love for our community, our program, and our team.”
MacRae is now also a rare thing to find at Long Beach State—a Long Beach native in a position of power. He played volleyball for Wilson, Long Beach City College, and Long Beach State before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater—his entire assistant coaching staff will also be LBSU alums.
“This is the greatest honor because at Long Beach State and in men’s volleyball, this is the Mecca of our sport, and I’m taking over for the greatest ever in Alan Knipe,” said MacRae. “I also get to do it here in my own city—all my peers have had to move all over to get their dream jobs, and I get to do it here. I’m born and raised here, my wife and I are raising our kids here. Sometimes it works out.”
MacRae said it’s been a whirlwind since Knipe’s surprise retirement announcement. He’s been doing what Knipe would have done in his shoes—doing his best to keep things focused on the court.
“We’re hunkering down,” he said with a laugh. “The staff is dialed in, I met with all five seniors, spoke to the entire team, spoke to the commits. I’ve had the luxury of learning from Al and I’m saying, ‘Let’s treat it like a Final Four week with all the noise out there.’ We’re just working.”
That’s necessary, of course, because the season starts soon for the reigning NCAA champs, who also just announced the nation’s top recruiting class signed in MacRae’s second week as head coach. The Beach will open up at home in the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid Jan. 2 before embarking on a season that sees them host UCLA, Penn State, and Hawaii among others.
MacRae said he doesn’t feel any anxiety about following one of the greatest coaches of all time in his sport and at his school.
“I’m not afraid of that, I’m leaning into it,” he said. “It’s the most sincere and greatest honor taking over for him. Being here for 14 years I see almost every new coach or AD talks about reinventing the wheel or bringing back the glory days. I get to be the first to just celebrate the guy I’m following, and keep pushing this baby even further.”
Knipe said that he’s not just happy for his protégé, but for the program and Long Beach State fans as well.
“I’m so happy for Nick but I’m so happy for the program that they get Nick, too,” he said. “He’s committed 13 years as an assistant coach, that’s a tremendous amount of time. And I suspect that just like when I took over after being an assistant, I felt like I was pouring everything into it and then suddenly I had even more. I think it will be that way for Nick.”
MacRae laughed when told of Knipe’s prediction.
“Well I’d compare it to the first time you become a father and you realize, ‘Oh I have more energy in the tank.’ I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” he said. “I was up at 3am this morning connecting with a commit who’s ten hours ahead. There’s some extra energy in the tank for sure.”
In addition to the other unique aspects of MacRae’s tenure, he’ll also be coaching on a court with his own name on it. MacRae’s father, Bruce “DD” Mac Rae, is a much-loved and well-known Long Beach State booster. His support of the university’s volleyball programs was recognized with the moniker “Mac Rae Family Court” being added to the Taraflex volleyball court rolled out for every match in the Pyramid.
Truly, it’s hard to imagine a much sunnier start to a head coaching tenure than the one MacRae is enjoying. Coaching in his hometown, in the program he grew up in, taking over for his mentor as a reigning national champion, and raising three beautiful young children with his wife, Ashley.
“It’s a dream,” said MacRae.
