When Penn State faces Buffalo in Washington, D.C. this weekend, a familiar face will be on the opposing sideline.
Buffalo is coached by Blair Brown, a former Penn State two-time first-team All-American. Brown also won four consecutive national championships under Rose from 2007-10.
"It's hard to even describe how big of role that (Penn State head) coach (Russ) Rose had on our lives," Brown said. "Our time at Penn State was so special to every one of us, and I think what he does better than anyone is build this incredible confidence in his players that we all get to take with us when we leave."
Blair Brown
Meanwhile, on Penn State's side of the net stands another former national champion under Rose in first-year assistant coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. Schumacher-Cawley, also a two-time All-American, was a member of Rose's first-ever national championship team in 1999. Schumacher-Cawley was hired to the staff last February and returns to State College after serving as a head coach for the last nine seasons at Pennsylvania and Illinois-Chicago (UIC).
"Playing for Coach Rose was an honor…I learned so much from him and carried that with me in my coaching career," Schumacher-Cawley said. "It's kind of crazy how that all circles back here but he has always been a great mentor to me."
Brown and Schumacher may have played in different decades, but they are both among the all-time great Penn State players during Rose's illustrious 40-year tenure in Happy Valley. Both pointed to Rose's consistent honesty with his players as one of the roots to his success during his long career.
"I think that in this crazy age of sports it is pretty rare that you find someone that is that genuine and honest, and he has always been that way," Schumacher-Cawley said.
"We never ever questioned as players that he was the most committed person in the room," Brown said. "When you have that trust it makes it much easier to give everything you have each day. He always told us where we stood
Katie Schumacher-Cawley
and that makes for a very healthy team environment."
After her decorated career at Penn State, Brown trained with the U.S. National Team and played professionally from 2011-13, having competed in Italy, Puerto Rico and France. She was then hired as Buffalo's head coach in 2015 and is in her fourth season with the program.
"Playing at Penn State definitely makes you mentally tougher, and I think that's something that we've tried really hard to make sure we have in our program," Brown said. "We know it's going to take some time on our end, but we're willing to put in the time to get the results in the end."
Brown's first career match at Buffalo was actually against Rose in 2015, and Saturday afternoon will be the second time that she faces off against the coach for whom she helped win four national championships and 109 consecutive matches.
"It is definitely a little weird to see him on the other side of the net, but it's also a really fun full-circle moment to come back and play against their team," Brown said. "They're going to have a great team as always, but it will be fun to be on the other side and coach against him."
Schumacher-Cawley, on the other hand, added that although coaching alongside Rose has been an adjustment after playing for him, she has seen no difference in Rose despite the different perspective.
"He's always worked very hard, and his will to want to be great are things I admire that about him," Schumacher-Cawley said. "He really is the same guy and is just as consistent as it gets in the way he treats people, the way he treats his players and his love for the university."
Brown and Schumacher-Cawley, each great players in the Blue & White will now face off against each other this Saturday, but neither can deny the impact that Rose has had on their coaching careers and the sport of women's volleyball as a whole.
"Everyone knows him and his impact in terms of continuing to grow the game and his love for Penn State," Schumacher-Cawley said. "He really cares about his players and I think that shows."
"As a whole, I remember being young and not really able to watch women's volleyball on TV and then as a player I got to be on TV and have young girls watch us play," Brown said. "I think the sport of women's volleyball has grown so much in the last 10 years and of course his success at Penn State has been such a huge part of that."