UCLA men’s volleyball hired John Hawks as its next head coach, the program announced Friday afternoon.

Hawks – who served as the Bruins’ assistant coach from 2015 to 2022 before taking on the head coaching post at Loyola Chicago – will succeed John Speraw, former head coach and current president and CEO of USA Volleyball, as the third head coach in program history.

“I am honored to take on the role of head coach at UCLA, a place that has meant so much to me both personally and professionally,” Hawks said in a statement. “UCLA stands as the flagship program in the country, with an unmatched tradition of excellence and 21 NCAA Championships.”

Hawks mustered a 40-17 record through two seasons with the Ramblers, earning Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Coach of the Year honors in 2023. Under his tutelage, Loyola Chicago posted the nation’s third-highest hitting percentage and claimed a share of the MIVA regular season title for the first time since 2018.

A conference-best six Ramblers earned All-MIVA honors, while snagging both Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards – marking the first time the team had completed the sweep since 2013. 

Prior to his stint at Loyola Chicago, Hawks took command of UCLA’s offense and recruiting efforts under Speraw from 2015 to 2022. 

Guiding the Bruins to a .713 winning percentage through his stretch in Westwood, Hawks developed five AVCA All-Americans and mentored MPSF Player of the Year and now-Olympian in former setter Miles Partain.

In the Bruins’ 2022 conference-winning season, Hawks steered the Bruins to the country’s top attack percentage, later being acclaimed as the 2022 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year after a dominant nine-week reign atop the AVCA Coaches Poll. 

“I am excited to bring John Hawks back to UCLA,” said UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond in a statement. “John embodies what it means to be a Bruin and will embrace the rich tradition of UCLA men’s volleyball. He helped establish the culture of this program, recruiting many of the student-athletes who won back-to-back national championships the last two seasons.”

UCLA advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2022 after its first 20-plus-win campaign since 2018 and first MPSF regular season title in 24 years. A product of Hawks’ work with the offense, the Bruins connected for at least a .300 mark in 17 of its 18 matchups on the season.

Outside of the collegiate landscape, Hawks serves as head coach of the United States Under-21 National Team and piloted his team to gold at the NORCECA Qualifiers this past summer in Mexico. His arsenal punched a ticket to the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championships in China next August.

Hawks will inherit a Bruin squad riding on back-to-back championship runs but now devoid of standout First Team All-Americans Ethan Champlin and Merrick McHenry.

The winningest program in collegiate men’s volleyball will usher in a new era come early January.