After 22 years at the helm of Creighton volleyball, Kirsten Bernthal Booth announced on Sunday that she is stepping down effective immediately. She’ll hand the reins to her associate head coach, Brian Rosen.
Booth offered more insight into her decision, her next adventure and the future of the program on Monday as Creighton athletic director Marcus Blossom thanked her for everything she’s done for the program, university and community as a whole and introduced Rosen as Creighton’s new head coach.
Booth had a long list of people to thank, including her family for their sacrifices over the years, the fans for everything they’ve invested into the program, the presidents and athletic directors she worked for, all of her colleagues at Creighton and all of the alumni, players and coaches she’s worked with over the years.
She also thanked Bruce Rasmussen, who hired her at Creighton in 2003, and former Nebraska coach Terry Pettit, who initially gave her name to Rasmussen.
“Ras took a risk on a young, unprepared, eager, 27-year-old kid,” Booth said. “I think Terry and Ras saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself at that age. Having these incredible, successful people believe I could do this job changed the course of my life, and I’m forever grateful to each of them.”
Booth made it two sentences into her opening statement before needing to take a moment to compose herself as the emotions welled up. The emotions hit her even harder when she began thanking associate head coach Angie Oxley Behrens, who has been on Booth’s staff from day one 22 years ago.
“Angie’s been on this journey with me every step of the way,” Booth said. “Angie doesn’t aspire to be a head coach, even though she’d be a great one, but she truly is the glue to this program. She’s a dear friend, a mentor to me in any many ways, and I feel like I’m losing my right arm. Stop crying, Ang. Not seeing Angie every day will be really hard. She truly is the best.”
Booth shared that the rest of the coaching staff will remain at Creighton under Rosen, including Behrens.
The timing is notable, insofar as the Bluejays are in the middle of their spring season. However, she said taking this next step is something that has been in the works for a couple months and intensified over the past couple weeks — ultimately resulting in Booth accepting an administrative role with League One Volleyball (LOVB), the professional league in its first season.
Booth said after turning 50 this year, she began to wonder if she wanted to continue coaching Creighton for the rest of her career or if she wanted to explore new challenges. As a younger woman, she thought athletic administration would be in her future, and professional teams have reached out to her over the last couple of years.
She is passionate about growing volleyball in the United States and expanding professional opportunities, and LOVB is offering her a path to do so while remaining in Omaha.
“I’ve watched many players graduate over the years who want to keep playing volleyball but want to stay in this country,” Booth said. “I want little girls to grow up and dream about playing professional volleyball here in the United States. Volleyball is the number one girls team sport in the country, and the state of Nebraska is a volleyball mecca in our country. I want to be part of the group that makes this happen and successfully in the United States.
“I dream of a day when all pro volleyball games are on television, the stands are packed with large crowds, the players are household names and make a great living, and a little girl in fourth grade is holding a volleyball in her hands and says, ‘I want to be a pro volleyball player when I grow up,’ just like the boys dream of playing in the NBA, the MLB, the NFL, the NHL … I will do all I can to grow professional volleyball so you can continue to watch all your all-star Bluejays well past their graduation here.”
Booth said she isn’t running from anything. The changing landscape of college sports was not a significant factor in her decision to leave now. The catalyst, as much as anything, is her belief in what’s best for the future of the program — and who its next leader should be.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a right time to step away, but something that’s always weighed on me as I’ve considered this is putting the program and the staff and the current roster in the best situation to continue to move forward and make the program even better,” Booth said. “Creighton fans can be happy to know this is very much in place. Brian is absolutely the right person to lead Creighton into the future.
“Brian is a fantastic recruiter, great trainer, motivator, leader and wonderful friend. Most importantly, he’s an outstanding human who will continue to help the young women grow here, both on and off the court. I knew he was special early in his tenure here, and I look forward to our fans seeing how outstanding he is. Creighton volleyball is in great hands.”
Within the last two weeks, Booth said she discussed the potential succession plan first with Rosen and then with Blossom, and sensing that both were interested in taking that path, she finalized things with LOVB before sharing the news with the current players on Sunday.
“Brian has been pursued by several high-level and offered high-level jobs, and some of that came to a head a little bit, of me saying, like, ‘OK, let’s do this, and you stay here and take this thing,’” Booth said. “So it was not an easy decision. My husband knows I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights. I considered Crighton, I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a startup in 2003, and [LOVB] is a startup, and hopefully I can be part of doing something else that challenges me and help in a sport that’s given a lot to me and help it into the future.”
Booth said the thing she’s most proud of from her time at Creighton is the women that have come through her program. Now, with this career change, she’ll have more of an opportunity to invest her time with her own daughters.
