Wise pleased with new volleyball staff members

<p>One of the best compliments you can be given after leaving a job is that the organization will continue to run smoothly years later because of your contributions.</p><p>Although the Gator volleyball team isn't your typical organization, the fingerprints of former assistant Nick Cheronis are all over the program's 5-0 record and No. 4 national ranking.</p><p>Cheronis left to pursue other business opportunities over the summer after spending 17 years with UF. More than an assistant, head coach Mary Wise credits Cheronis with helping to lay the blueprints for the national powerhouse team.</p><p>“What Nick brought in 17 years, 17 SEC titles and seven Final Fours, he is directly responsible for that,” Wise said. “He helped to build Gator volleyball.”</p><p>Replacing Cheronis wasn't an easy task, but Wise didn't have to go far to find a candidate. Chris Keen was the team's volunteer assistant for two years, studying under Cheronis, and was ready for the 12-inch move to the next seat over on the bench.</p><p>“One of the things that allowed me to survive and sleep at night without Nick was to have Chris, a familiar face,” Wise said.</p><p>Keen, much like Cheronis before him, has been focused on the Gator defense during a grueling early schedule this season. The players put in extra work over the summer to learn the new system and it's different intricacies.</p><p>“It's been tough learning the different system, but it's starting to click,” junior Kristy Jaeckel said before the start of the season. “We can see where it's going to pay off.”</p><p>Even Jaeckel would have struggled at the time seeing the team jump from No. 13 to No. 4 in two weekends. Some fans online have attributed the boost in production into the shakeup in the coaching staff, arguing that a change after so many years adds a fresh voice to the huddle. Wise attributes the early success more to her team's growth.</p><p>“The difference is not us and what's happening on the bench, it's on the court,” Wise said. “It's the three seniors… I've always said a team is a reflection of their senior class, and these three seniors are so driven to make this their best year.”</p><p>That doesn't mean that she doesn't expect things to be different in the change from Cheronis to Keen. She's seen a complete overhaul of her staff this summer, replacing assistant Ken Ko with Dave Boos, a talented coach that Wise has long admired.</p><p>“I think every coach brings their own personality. I'm sure Florida's (football) defense will be different without Charlie Strong,” she said. “It's part of the evolution that coaches move on. The thing that made it different and special for us (with Cheronis), and why were we good every year, was the continuity in our staff. So if change is good, it's only good if the people in it are good.”</p><p>So far, so good, for the Gators. The team has adjusted well early to the new schemes of play and a staff that has two new faces, and a silent partner whose fingerprints won't be washed away any time soon.</p>