Coaching Staff
Head Coach Leo Sayles - Office 423-775-7263.
Email: leo.sayles@bryan.edu
Coach Leo Sayles (4th yr) has guided the Lions to elite status in four seasons. The 2007 season (24-17) is unprecedented in Bryan history. He led the Lions to their best season in 20 years during the 2006 season. Coach Sayles was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for his accomplishments in 2006. The past two season, he has guided the Lions to a 51-29 record. His overall record is 73-70.
Sayles came to Bryan with over 15 years of coaching experience with high school programs in California, Connecticut, and Illinois. His teams have produced numerous all-state and all-region players, and a number have successfully continued their careers at the college level and in the coaching realm. He has a number of league and conference championships to his credit.
While at Bryan, Sayles has produced an NCCAA 1st Team All-American, an All-American Honorable Mention, 10 All-Region, 10 All-Conference, 15 AAC Scholar-Athletes, 1 AAC Freshman of the year, and 7 NAIA Scholastic All-Americans. His teams won the AAC Champions of Character Award in 2006 and 2004, and were recognized with the AVCA Academic Team Award in 2004 as well. His teams have re-written virtually every individual and team record during his 4 year tenure at Bryan.
Sayles is a 1989 graduate of the University of LaVerne in California, where he was All-SCIAC and conference finalist in the 4x100 and 400 meters in track. He previously qualified for regional championships in the 400 IH at the University of Puget Sound his freshman year. He received a Scholastic All-American award his senior year, and was nominated for the 1989 editions of Who's Who Among American College Students and Who's Who in Music.
In addition to coaching volleyball, Sayles has successfully coached track, soccer, and basketball at the high school level, and has received basketball and volleyball Coach of the Year honors. He celebrates 20 years in youth ministry in 2007, and was an educator at the secondary level for 9 years. He is still an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and has served on regional and state executive boards for FCA. He currently teaches a college Sunday school class at a local church.
Coach Sayles resides in Dayton with his wife of 17 years, Tanya, and their 5 children: Benjamin (13), Faith (12), Jonathan
(9), Nathaniel (7), and Anna Rose (6)