The Shadow
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia volleyball head coach Shannon Wells announced the hiring of Ryan Wills as an assistant coach on Wednesday (May 6). Wills arrives after a year on staff at Liberty.
“Ryan is an exciting addition to our staff, bringing valuable experience as both a head coach and an assistant at the P4 level. We take pride in developing our student-athletes at UVA and throughout this process, I wanted someone who could immediately step into the gym and make our athletes better, on and off the court and Ryan is that person,” Wells said. “His energy and unique perspective complement our staff and we can’t wait to work alongside him. We’re also excited to welcome his wife, Evyn, and his son, Ryder, to UVA and our community. This is truly an exciting time for our program.”
During his lone season at Liberty, Wills helped lead the Flames to a 20-10 record and tutored a trio of All-CUSA selections. Liberty’s three all-conference selections in 2025 were the most by the Flames since 2023.
“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to coach at such a prestigious university and within an outstanding athletic department,” Wills said. “Joining Shannon, the staff, and the team as we work to build something special is an honor.”
Wills arrived in Lynchburg after spending nine seasons (2014-22) as the head coach at Tulsa, where he compiled an overall record of 137-126.
He became the first Tulsa coach to lead his team to three postseason tournaments, all coming in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC). His 2019 team reached the NIVC semifinals and finished with an 18-16 record. In his career at TU, Wills coached 16 All-American Conference selections, including 11 first-team performers, two American Conference Libero of the Year selections and one American Conference Freshman of the Year.
Before returning to his alma mater as head coach, Wills spent three years as an assistant coach at Alabama under head coach Ed Allen.
Wills helped the Crimson Tide post an overall 53-44 record. In 2013, Alabama compiled the most wins in school history with a 24-10 mark and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Before joining Allen at Alabama, the Tide had won just 19 matches in the previous two seasons. In their first two years, the Tide posted 29 wins, including an 18-14 mark in the 2012 campaign.
Before his stint with the Crimson Tide, Wills was an assistant coach for Tulsa in 2010 under Allen. Tulsa posted a school-record 31 wins and won the program’s first NCAA Tournament match with a victory over 15th-ranked LSU. Tulsa finished the 2010 season with a 31-3 overall record, a perfect 20-0 mark in Conference USA play, a conference regular season crown and the nation’s No. 20-ranked team in the AVCA Coaches poll.
Wills was a student assistant coach at Tulsa for the 2006-07 seasons and helped the Hurricane win its first Conference USA regular-season title in 2006, followed by the program’s first C-USA Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007. Tulsa compiled an overall 54-15 record during those two seasons.
Upon his graduation from Tulsa in 2008, Wills was a volunteer coach at UCLA for two seasons (2008-09) under National Volleyball Hall of Famer Andy Banachowski, the all-time winningest NCAA Division I women’s volleyball coach.
UCLA reached the NCAA regional semifinals in 2008 and the NCAA second round in 2009. Wills helped train three AVCA All-Americans, two Pac-10 Conference Freshmen of the Year performers and one AVCA National Freshman of the Year. The Bruins posted a 46-20 record in his two years and were ranked as high as sixth nationally.
In his 16 seasons coaching on the collegiate level, Wills has been involved in 11 winning seasons, seven 20+ win seasons and eight postseason appearances, including five NCAA Tournament appearances. Wills was also the Beach Program Director at the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club, where he developed and directed the sand volleyball program for the club. In 2009, the program won the inaugural National Club Championship for beach volleyball.
He trained nine girls who received Division I scholarships while coaching for the Mizuno Long Beach program and had five players earn Junior Olympic All-America honors, including future Tulsa athlete and all-region performer Kellie Culbertson, who was the Junior Olympic 17 Open Division Most Valuable Player. Wills also assisted with Club ONE Volleyball in Tulsa from 2006-08, where the program won three Oklahoma Regional Volleyball Association Championships and received three bids to the Junior Olympic National Championships.
A native of Tulsa, Wills graduated from Wright Christian Academy before attending The University of Tulsa. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from TU in 2008.
Wills will be joined in Charlottesville by his wife, Evyn, who was a four-year letterwinner for the Golden Hurricane volleyball team and their son, Ryder.
