Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
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New York native Don Perkins is in his second year as a member of the Volleyball Bulldog coaching staff, joining Tina Seals’ MSU volleyball team as an assistant coach in July 2007.
Perkins, 29, has 15 years of volleyball experience under his belt as both a player and as a coach. He joined the MSU staff in 2007 after serving for one season as head women’s volleyball coach at The State University of New York Institute of Technology in Albany, N.Y. A native of East Greenbush, N.Y., Perkins was also instrumental in the implementation of the SUNYIT’s first men’s volleyball program.
At Mississippi State Perkins works primarily with Mississippi State’s outside hitters and the Bulldogs’ SEC-leading serving game. He also coordinates MSU’s recruiting efforts and oversees team travel and scheduling, the team’s tape exchange program and opponent scouting.
Perkins is a 2000 graduate of Syracuse University in New York, where he competed on SU volleyball club teams that captured three consecutive league championships. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science in three years before earning a master’s degree in public administration from The University at Albany’s Rockefeller School of Public Affairs.
He previously served for three seasons as head coach with the North Country Albany Juniors Volleyball Club, helping guide the 17-and-under team to a second place finish in the 2005 regional championships. While with NCAJ, Perkins founded and served as tournament director of the Great Nor’easter Tournament, one of the top club volleyball events in the Northeast.
Prior to his work with NCAJ, Perkins served from 2001 to 2003 as head coach and club director of the University of Albany Men’s Volleyball Club. He guided his 2003 edition to the NIRSA National Championship Tournament. Perkins also worked with the University of Albany women’s volleyball team, one of the region’s top NCAA Division I teams.
Perkins, who also previously coached the Georgetown University men’s volleyball club, began coaching women’s volleyball in 2001, serving as assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the Sage Junior College of Albany.
The MSU assistant has also worked extensively with USA Volleyball, first as as the director of High Performance Programs for the Iroquois Empire Region and as an evaluator and court coach for the USA Youth and Junior National team tryouts. In 2008 he served on the staff of the USA Volleyball High Performance Pipeline camp in Austin, Texas.
Perkins’ coaching history also includes a stint as an assistant coach with the Adirondack Region Men’s and Girl’s Empire State Games in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Additionally, he has served as camp instructor and clinician at volleyball camps at the University of Florida, University of Texas, the University of Albany and the University of Pennsylvania as well as Mississippi State University.
Perkins, who is single, enjoys film and traveling.
Playing Experience
- Club Volleyball, Syracuse University (1998-2000)
Coaching Experience
- 2001: Assoc. Head Coach/Off. Coord., Sage Junior College of Albany
- 2001-03: Head Coach/Director, Univ. of Albany Men’s Club Volleyball
- 2003-06: Head Coach/Tournament Director, North Country Albany Juniors Club
- 2004-07: Director of High Performance, Iroquois-Empire Volleyball Association
- 2006: Head Men’s & Women’s Coach, The State University of New York Institute of Technology
- 2007-present: Assistant Coach, Mississippi State University
