LSU volleyball coach Fran Flory announces retirement after 24 seasons

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU volleyball head coach Fran Flory has announced her retirement after 24 seasons.

Flory has more than 500 career wins with the Tigers.

She is also the winningest coach in program history and the school’s longest-tenured head coach.

Flory, announced her retirement on Thursday, Dec. 6.

“Fran Flory epitomizes the spirit of LSU,” said LSU Director of Athletics Scott Woodward. “Her passion for coaching and educating student-athletes is unrivaled and has never wavered. She has built a program that stands for everything that is right about collegiate athletics. Her teams have won on the court, thrived in the classroom, and transformed the community. We are grateful for her years of service and the legacy that she has left on our entire department.”

“It has been my life’s calling to coach, mentor, and support incredible student-athletes, and fulfilling that calling at a place like LSU has been a dream come true,” Flory said. “I will forever cherish the time spent, the lessons learned, and the lifelong relationships shared with the coaches, players, and staff I have been blessed to work alongside. This program and this place have unlimited potential, and though it is time for me to begin a new chapter of my life outside of coaching, I will always do everything I can to contribute to the success of LSU Volleyball and our entire athletics community.”

Flory first started off as an assistant coach at LSU from 1988 to 1991, and then became the fifth head coach in program history when she returned to LSU in 1998.

Since 1998 she has led the Tigers to 405 victories, including 9 NCAA tournament appearances, 7 20-win seasons, 7 SEC West divisional titles, and the 2009 SEC Championship.

While the coach at LSU Flory’s success shined off of the court as well. The team put together their own projects to better serve the Baton Rouge community by partnering with Blue Star Mother’s of Louisiana to acquire household goods that were packaged and sent to troops overseas, and “Meals from Mike” that collected hundreds of pounds of food for the Baton Rouge area food banks.

A national search for Flory’s successor will begin immediately.

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