Daemen University Athletics

Sean Byron has been named the third head men's volleyball coach in Daemen University history, Vice President of Athletics Traci Murphy announced on July 7, 2026.

Byron's expertise coaching volleyball spans three decades across all three NCAA Divisions in both men's and women's volleyball, as well as 30+ years of coaching at the USA National Level. In his illustrious volleyball career, Byron has accumulated over 360 wins as a head coach, with that total growing to over 700 victories as both an assistant and head coach at the collegiate and national team level.  

"As a member of the Western New York Boys' and Men's Volleyball Hall of Fame, Sean Byron already understands what volleyball means to this region. Add nearly 30 years building championship programs and coaching USA National Teams to gold medals, and it's clear why he's exactly the leader our student-athletes need. We couldn't be more excited to welcome him home to lead Daemen Men's Volleyball," Murphy said. 

Byron got his collegiate start as the head men's volleyball coach at Springfield College from 1996 to 1998 and helped lead the Pride to the very first Division III men's volleyball national championship in '97. He then made the jump to Division II as the head coach of both the men's and women's programs at East Stroudsburg University from 1998-99. After two seasons in Pennsylvania, Byron moved back down to D-III, becoming the men's and women's head coach at Rutgers University-Newark from 1999 to 2007. At Rutgers-Newark, he led the women to the NCAA and ECAC tournaments for the first and only time in school history. Under Byron, the men's program was regularly ranked in the ACVA Men's DI-DII top 15 national poll. 

After a decade as a head coach in Division II and III, Byron made the jump to Division I from 2007 through 2025 in various coaching positions. After leading Rutgers-Newark, Byron worked as the offense and recruiting coordinator for the perennial powerhouse Ohio State men's volleyball team from 2007 to 2015 where he coached 29 MIVA All-League players, six AVCA All-Americans (including the 2014 National Newcomer of the Year), 94 MIVA academic award winners, 66 Academic All-Big Ten award winners, two Big Ten Medal of Honor winners and one National Strength and Conditioning All-American. Byron then spent one year as the assistant women's volleyball coach and offensive coordinator at West Virginia University from 2015-16 before making the move to the University of Michigan where he was the offensive and recruiting coordinator for the women's program from 2016-19. At Michigan, Byron helped lead the 2016 team to the highest attack efficiency in 10 years. The Wolverines advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament twice while he was an assistant coach. 

Byron returned to a head coaching role in 2019 of the women's team at Marist University for seven seasons, overseeing all components of the program, recruiting, training, supervision of assistants and managers, marketing and budgeting as well as increasing team academic performance every semester. He led the Golden Foxes to 78 wins over his tenure and coached the MAAC Player of the Year in 2023. Following his departure from Marist, Byron returned to men's volleyball and the place where he got his start as a head coach, serving as an assistant coach this past spring at Springfield. Under his mentorship, the Pride won the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball National Championship. 

"I am incredibly excited to take over the Men's Volleyball program at Daemen. This position is a wonderful opportunity to return to Western New York, and I am grateful to Traci Murphy and the search committee for their trust in me," Byron said. 

"I am thrilled to lead the Daemen Men's Volleyball program and build upon its strong foundation. Having grown up in the area and recently being inducted into the Western New York Volleyball Hall of Fame, this feels like a true homecoming. I was deeply impressed by the vision of the athletic department and the commitment to student-athlete success. I look forward to working with our talented student-athletes and competing for championships in the years to come."

On top of coaching at the collegiate level, Byron has been involved in the United States National Team pipeline for over 30 years, coaching various Boys Under-19 and Boys Under-21 national teams as well as coaching the USA National B-Team, USA High Performance Teams and World University games. A native of Western New York, Byron was inducted into the Western New York Boy's and Men's Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2023. 

A standout volleyball player at Springfield College, Byron earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1993. He then earned a Master of Education in Physical Education from Springfield in 1998. He is also an instructor for the Coaching Accreditation Program (C.A.P.) National Certification courses for aspiring club, high school and college coaches in the United States and has had several published works on volleyball skills.

Byron inherits a Daemen men's volleyball program that has seen success over its eight years, touting a 109-69 record since its inception in 2019. As a member of the Division I conference NEC since 2023, the Wildcats have gone 30-16 in NEC play over the past four seasons, making the NEC Tournament three times, and have won the NEC Tournament title twice (2024, 2025). Daemen is coming off a .500 season in 2026 in which they went 13-13 and 6-6 in conference matches. 12 Wildcats return from the 2026 squad, including Second Team All-NEC player Patrick Mullen (Farmingdale, N.J.) who led the team with a single-season record 334 kills this past season, and Aidan White (Fairport, N.Y.) who put together a standout redshirt freshman campaign. 

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SEAN BYRON
 
"Daemen hit a home run with this hire. Sean is a successful coach at the college and international level, including National Championship and Regional Gold medals. Sean has a great knowledge of the game and is an effective and simple problem solver on the volleyball court. I am sure the program at Daemen is going to new heights."
 
-- Charlie Sullivan, Head Men's Volleyball Coach, Springfield College
"Sean is more than a knowledge volleyball coach who has coached at the highest levels including with USA Volleyball.  But he brings an energy and enthusiasm for the game that is infectious to the players and team, which propels them to achieve their very best."
-- Andy Read, USA Volleyball
"Daemen University has found an outstanding person and coach to lead their men's program! Sean has outstanding knowledge of the game and can develop players with the best. His energy, vision, and compassion has made him an outstanding coach and mentor and allows him to get the best from everyone in the gym. I am grateful to have had him as a coach, and even more so as a mentor and friend. He will do great things for the Wildcats!"
-- Michael Henchy, Head Women's Volleyball Coach, University of California Santa Barbara
"I'm excited to see Sean back coaching men's volleyball. He's an excellent mentor of people and our game will be better with him back involved!"

-- Jonah Carson, Director of Boys Programs, Mountain View Volleyball Club