On and Off the Court: Jon and Debby Baker’s Life as a Coaching Couple
For the Bakers, work isn’t a nine-to-five chore — it’s at the center of their relationship.
By Erika Peterson and John Gaughan
Collegiate volleyball: it takes dedication, teamwork, and most of all, a love of the game to rise to the top. For Southern Virginia University’s new head coach Debby Baker and assistant coach Jon Baker, that’s not just how they approach the sport — it’s how they approach their marriage.
“I called him ‘Peach,’ and it was very sarcastic. I hate peaches,” Debby said as they both laughed. They met through work at a Del Monte cannery in Smithfield, Utah, but neither hail from the Beehive State. Debby is from Star Valley, Wyoming; Jon came from California. They were both students at Utah State when they crossed paths.
Since then, they’ve coached together on and off — mostly on — for the last 20 years. They came from New Mexico to join the Knights in August.
She doesn’t call him “Peach” anymore, but they still love to tease. Whether it’s beating the other at dominos or at a competition during practice, both like to rub it in. “We’re really competitive,” Debby said, laughing.
That attitude deeply influences their coaching as well. “That competitive trait that both of them carry, it really helps them push us to the next level, and to play better and to work hard,” said Avery Najarian, middle blocker for the men’s team.
Their drive to excel has blended their personal and professional lives almost inseparably. They once established a “no volleyball in the bedroom,” rule, but to no avail.
“It lasted a couple weeks” said Jon. They still maintain vacations as their designated “no-work” zones.
“If we won, we’d stay up thinking, ‘Okay, now what about Idaho State?’” said Jon. Those nights, the conversations sometimes go to 3 or 4 a.m.; when they lose, they can run longer. As people congratulated them on the men’s 3–1 win over Arcadia last weekend, they were thinking about missed blocks and weak back row attacks.
“To us, this is just normal,” Debby added, referring to the lifestyle. “We don’t know any different.”
The same holds true for their son, Logan. When they left the hospital after he was born, they didn’t go home — they went to the gym. “He’s got a coach’s son’s mindset. He catches things most people wouldn’t,” said Jon.
Debby remembered a practice when Logan corrected a player who dropped her elbow on her serves. “He was spot on. I had to pull him aside,” she said, “but he was spot on.” He was nine years old.
When it comes to disagreements, “we tell our players to have short memories” Jon said, meaning they should let go of them quickly. That’s how he and Debby approach them. “We can argue about something because we don’t agree with it [sic], but it’s never personal,” said Debby.
Nicole Gwynn, who recently stepped down as head coach of the women’s team for health reasons, said the Bakers balance each other out. She described Jon as “kind of fun-loving, easygoing, very easy to be around… I think he’s a very good counter-part for Debby.”
“She’s a lot like me that way. You know, much more of a go-getter, get things done, very structured, very type-A,” Gwynn said.
They work as a team, but they don’t have any formal rituals together surrounding the game other than a handshake or a hug after a win. Before games, Jon likes to set up the net by himself. “It gives me time to think,” he said.
When their time at Southern Virginia ends, they hope to leave their athletes with several lessons: giving back through service, walking away with no regrets, and appreciating the short period when they can play volleyball competitively.
“We hope that we left them as better people,” said Debby thoughtfully.
Special thanks to Michelle Najarian and Erik Flores for photographic contributions.
