Glenn remains passionate

Kirby Burnham is a senior on the Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team. By now, she knows the drill, understands Coach Dan Glenn and his ways.

She wasn’t confused in the slightest Oct. 14. It was the day after the Sailors’ biggest Sunset League win and Glenn was putting his players through one of the roughest practices of the season.

While some players were puzzled and bothered by the rigorous workout, Burnham knew what was going on. Some thought a light day of work might come after a big win against Los Alamitos.

But, complacency is a dirty word in Glenn’s vocabulary — that not only applies to his players, but all that transpires on a volleyball court.

As an economics teacher, coach, husband and father of four, Glenn is the type who is passionate about each role. And, it has only seemed to intensify since he was diagnosed with iris melanoma, a rare form of cancer in his right eye. He found out in February. Of course, his life has changed. But he has not altered his coaching style.

He still loves the game. He still wants the best from his players.

“I have very high expectations from my team and from each player,” Glenn says. “I’m very confident in them because I know they’ve worked very hard.”

Glenn puts them to work during practice. He believes a match is a day that belongs to the players. But when it comes to practice, “this is my world,” he says.

Not everyone buys in, especially initially.

Last year, Burnham said she clashed with Glenn, mainly because she did not understand him. She was one of the few in the 24 years of Glenn’s coaching career at Newport who actually talked back to the highly regarded coach.

Burnham, a team captain who’s headed to USC, is one of the team’s top players, yet Glenn did not go easy on her.

“Yeah, that’s not a good thing,” she said of challenging the coach. “He’s tough on you, but it’s only because he wants to make you better … It takes a long time to understand him as a coach. Last year I kind of fought with him. Toward the end of the year, I started to get along with him. He has really helped me.”

Burnham is similar to many who have gone through Glenn’s program. She can also identify with others who have had the same experience. She’s had three siblings who have been coached by Glenn at Newport Harbor.

Glenn has coached other players who have also had brothers and sisters, and cousins who played under him.

When they go through the program and graduate from high school, many of them return to thank Glenn for the valuable lessons he taught them. Some of them keep in touch with the vibrant, positive man. Some invite him to weddings, or send him holiday cards.

“My philosophy is: How do the players judge me five years after they’ve left the program?” Glenn says. “I’ve had good relationships.

“But I tell the kids, ‘You guys have friends and you have your parents and I’m your coach. I’m your friend but to a point. I’m much more your coach than your friend. We’re going to do things a certain way and if you can’t buy into what we’re doing, there’s going to be a consequence for that.’ So if that comes off as bad, that’s OK with me. It’s just me being me.”

Glenn said winning early at Newport Harbor gave him the assurance to remain set in his ways. He won a CIF Southern Section title in his first year coaching the boys and the next season won a CIF section title with the girls.

In his career at Newport Harbor, his girls’ teams have captured four CIF state championships and six CIF section titles. He also won two CIF section titles coaching the boys.

Before arriving at Newport Harbor, Glenn coached a year at University High and then four seasons at Edison. He feels a bit disappointed for not knowing his overall coaching record, thinking it could add to this program’s grand tradition, but the missing data actually provides an example of one of his greatest attributes.

Glenn doesn’t want to think about the past as much, only picking certain stories to use to motivate his players.

His ability to ignore the periphery is what amazes most people. Just ask Mary Buckingham, who has two daughters in the Newport Harbor volleyball program and another who graduated in the spring and is now playing for UC Berkeley. The eldest daughter at Cal is Mary, who was a Newport Harbor rarity, making the varsity team as a freshman.

“It’s his ability to focus on just the player,” Mary Buckingham said of what makes Glenn such a great coach. “Parents or other people, he just pushes it to the side and focuses on the player.”

Of course not everyone approves of Glenn’s style. Some parents have wanted to complain to the administration.

Buckingham and others have heard about the punishment that Glenn will unleash if mistakes are made. They also know the difficult requirements needed to make the squad and stay on the team.

But Glenn won’t change because he believes his style is successful. And yet, that doesn’t mean his emphasis is just on winning. He’s well aware the lessons he’s teaching apply to other aspects of life.

But he also sees success when his former players return to thank him.

“I always love the fact that the kids who finished playing for him all love him,” said Charlie Brande, a former Newport Harbor coach and a close friend of Glenn. “I think that’s the method to his madness.”

Glenn credits Brande for making him a better coach, as the two have bounced ideas off one another throughout the years.

Now, Brande is a Newport Harbor volleyball parent, as his daughter, Kaili is a sophomore on the junior varsity team.

Brande hears the stories about Glenn’s practices.

“Even I think, ‘Gosh that’s tough,’ ” Brande said. “But then I realize that the stories I’m getting are all second-hand.”

Glenn, for his part, doesn’t usually deal with or socialize with the players’ parents. He believes his players have enough responsibility that he doesn’t need to go through their parents to get to them.

But many parents know he cares for their children.

“He’s probably the most sincere, honest and direct human being I know,” said Anne Yardley Caldwell, whose oldest son, Kyle, played at Newport and is now at UCLA. Her youngest son, Cody, plays on the varsity. “He would do anything for our kids at any time. And he’s such a great role model.”

It’s not just the parents who respect Glenn, it’s the players and alumni too. That also helps Glenn.

One of his former players, Amin Mirhadi, is now a doctor who specializes in cancer treatment. Glenn and his wife, Mary, sought out Mirhadi for advice.

Mirhadi was happy to help with all the information needed and assured them that the coach was in good hands at UCLA, where Mirhadi went through training.

Mirhadi, like many who know the Newport Harbor coach, was emotional upon hearing about Glenn being diagnosed with cancer. He knew Glenn needed support and wanted to help.

“I owe a lot of my success to him,” said Mirhadi, who also played football at Newport Harbor, from which he graduated in 1992. “I don’t think I would have the discipline to get where I am if it wasn’t for the way he pushed me. Basically I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. I credit my coaches, Jeff Brinkley and Danny Glenn.”

Glenn also receives respect from his competition: other coaches. Brande, who was also the head man at Corona del Mar, used to coach against Glenn.

“I think when you’re around for as long as I’ve been, the greatest compliment as a coach is the respect you have from your peers,” Brande said. “Dan is one of, if not, the most respected volleyball coach in CIF history.”

Glenn not only credits Brande, but also points to his high school friends and coaches at Newport Harbor for making him a better coach. Tom Pestolesi, Albert Gasparian, Mike D’Alessandro and Rocky Ciarelli knew Glenn while at Huntington Beach High. They’re all current or former coaches and they all keep in touch. Pestolesi is at Irvine Valley College, D’Alessandro’s at Golden West, where Gasparian had coached and is now the athletic director. Ciarelli coached at Huntington Beach and is now a volunteer assistant for the USC men’s team that includes his son, Tony.

At Newport Harbor, Glenn enjoys the relationship he has with the other coaches. He knows Brinkley well, as they were hired at the school within the same year.

“On our campus, there’s really a mutual admiration society because we have such great coaches across the board,” Brinkley said. “All of us pull from each other different things. It really helps you stay on top of your game. You’re not only competing with other schools, but if you don’t have a quality program on our campus, you’re not going to attract other athletes. With Danny here, it just makes everyone better.”

Many great players have come through Newport Harbor. That too has pushed Glenn to be a better coach. Glenn said people see him now, and notice that he loves what he does. But in the past, not many could tell because he wanted to make great players like Misty-May Treanor and April Ross even better.

May-Treanor is now regarded as the best beach volleyball player in the history of the sport and Ross is currently thriving on the sand.

“I had a fun time at Newport,” May-Treanor said. “He was my economics teacher, too. He cares about his players even after high school. He’s really in tune with what they do academically. He them to succeed on and off the court.”