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Rice University Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
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Taylor Stallman enters his second season as an assistant coach at Rice after helping build championship programs and develop elite athletes at every level of the sport. Across NCAA Division I, NAIA, club, high school and international volleyball, Stallman has developed a reputation for developing high-level attackers, implementing advanced scouting and game-planning systems, and building championship-caliber programs.
In his first season on South Main, Stallman played a key role in one of the most successful campaigns in Rice Volleyball history. Serving as the program's pin attacker coach while coordinating opponent scouting and offensive game plans, he helped lead the Owls to the 2025 American Athletic Conference regular-season championship, a 17-match winning streak and an NCAA Tournament appearance with an at-large bid.
Stallman's impact was immediately reflected in the development of Rice's student-athletes. Under his direction, outside hitter Taylor Preston emerged as one of the American Athletic Conference's top attackers, earning first-team All-AAC honors and AVCA Southwest Region Honorable Mention recognition after averaging 4.33 kills per set. Freshman Aaliyah Smith also enjoyed a standout debut season, averaging 2.69 kills per set while earning AAC All-Freshman Team honors.
In addition to his collegiate coaching responsibilities, Stallman has become an active member of USA Volleyball's National Team Development Program (NTDP). He served on the coaching staff for the Men's U21 National Team in 2024, helping Team USA win the NORCECA Pan American Cup gold medal. He also coached the Girls U17 NTDP Training Series in December 2024, the Collegiate National Team in February 2025 and the Boys U17 NTDP Training Series in March 2025. In 2026, Stallman assisted with the U.S. Girls U17 National Team, helping Team USA win the NORCECA U17 Pan American Cup gold medal in Honduras.
Before arriving at Rice, Stallman spent one season at the Air Force Academy, where he coordinated practice planning, opponent scouting and recruiting while continuing to refine his expertise in player development and match preparation.
Prior to Air Force, Stallman built Benedictine University Mesa into one of the NAIA's premier men's volleyball programs during four seasons as head coach. Under his leadership, the Redhawks compiled an 80-24 overall record, captured three California Pacific Conference championships, completed three undefeated conference seasons and advanced to three NAIA National Championship appearances. Benedictine was consistently ranked among the nation's elite, including earning the program's first No. 1 national ranking during the 2023 season. His teams also recorded victories over NCAA Division I UC Irvine and NCAA Division II programs Concordia Irvine and Tusculum.
Stallman was named the 2022 NAIA National Coach of the Year and the 2023 AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year. He also earned California Pacific Conference Coach of the Year honors twice, was selected to the AVCA Thirty Under 30 class in 2022 and received AVCA Southwest Boys Coach of the Year honors during his high school coaching career.
Stallman's athletes have earned six first-team All-America selections, eight All-America honors, four conference player of the year awards, one National Defensive Player of the Year honor, multiple all-conference and all-region recognitions, and NCAA Division I All-Freshman honors. Among the standouts he has coached are three-time first-team All-American and three-time California Pacific Conference Player of the Year Landon Fuller; 2024 California Pacific Conference Player of the Year and All-American Dapre Rogers; AVCA first-team All-Americans Tyler Watts and Daxton Tolman; National Defensive Player of the Year Bobby Henige; and Rice standouts Taylor Preston and Aaliyah Smith.
Stallman's coaching career also includes 10 years with AZ Fear Volleyball Club, where he helped establish one of the nation's premier boys volleyball programs. His teams won the 2018 Boys Junior National Championship, earned an Open Division silver medal in 2019 and an Open Division bronze medal in 2021. He also served as a graduate assistant at Ottawa University and helped Mesa Community College capture a regional championship in 2017 after a 30-year drought.
At the high school level, Stallman spent five seasons at Boulder Creek High School, contributing to three state championships — two as an assistant in 2014 and 2016 and one as head coach in 2017. During his tenure, he coached Arizona Player of the Year Patrick Ross and first-team all-state selection Ryan Serrano, both of whom went on to become four-year starters at McKendree University. He later helped Casteel High School capture the 2023 Arizona 5A state championship as an assistant coach.
Stallman earned a bachelor's degree in special and elementary education from Grand Canyon University in 2018. He and his wife, Rachel, reside in Houston.
