Prior to his first season as head coach at USC, Powers had coached the sport at various levels. He was an assistant men s coach at USC in 1981, helping the Trojans to an NCAA second-place finish. He also coached a Yugoslavian junior team preparing for the European Championships during his time in that country. In 1993, he was the head girls coach at University High in San Diego and guided the team to the CIF finals. In 1996, he conducted the Pat Powers Professional Volleyball Clinics, a 33-stop tour through the United States.
Powers also has a business background.
A highly-regarded motivational speaker whose articles have been published in national publications, he also is regarded as volleyball s social commentator. Volleyball Monthly once described Powers as volleyball s Plato, a philosopher and analyst of the human condition who just might be the most powerful outside hitter to ever play the game. He earned his bachelor s degree in psychology from USC in 1981. USC Men's Volleyball feedback Copyright 2001, Student Advantage, Inc. and the University of Southern California. The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated.