New Era on the Sand: UNF Names Delaney Rose Head Beach Volleyball Coach
The University of North Florida has found its next leader on the sand. UNF Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nick Morrow named Delaney Rose the fourth head coach in North Florida beach volleyball program history on May 5th. She arrives in Jacksonville with a track record of rapid program building, and frankly, UNF needed exactly that energy.
Who Is Delaney Rose?
Rose comes to UNF after three seasons as head coach at UAB, where she didn’t just succeed — she rewrote the record books. The winningest head coach in UAB program history, Rose compiled a 66-39 (.629) record and coached the Blazers to a program-record win total in each season she was at the helm.
Her final season at UAB was a statement year. In 2026, UAB posted a 26-11 overall record and went 5-0 in CUSA — the first undefeated conference season in program history. Even more striking: Jasmine Haas and Olivia Stant earned the program’s first-ever AVCA All-America honors, securing Second Team recognition while setting program records in single-season wins, pair wins, and Court 1 wins with 29.
She’s not just a results coach either. Rose guided UAB to the 2024-25 Conference USA Beach Volleyball Academic Excellence Award, honoring the highest team GPA in the conference, along with back-to-back UAB Team GPA and Team of the Year honors.
And her résumé runs deep. A 2024 AVCA Thirty Under 30 honoree, Rose played four years as a libero at Pittsburgh, where her 1,602 digs remain third all-time in program history, competed for the USA Collegiate National Team in 2014, earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors as a graduate transfer at Florida Atlantic on the beach in 2016, then played indoor professionally in Switzerland before competing on the AVP circuit from 2019-22. She has lived every side of this sport.
Why This Hire Matters for UNF
North Florida beach volleyball is coming off a genuinely solid 2026 season. The Ospreys were ranked No. 17 nationally and made a deep run in the ASUN Championship, sweeping Jacksonville and FGCU before falling to No. 14 Stetson in the conference final. There’s talent here. There’s infrastructure here; the Cooper Beach Volleyball Complex (“The Coop”) is a legitimate on-campus facility. What the program needed was a coaching identity for its next chapter.
Context matters: Doug Wright, who had taken over the beach program in November 2021 and delivered back-to-back ASUN titles and a consistent top-20 AVCA ranking, departed ahead of this season. The search that followed was important, a program that has built real credibility nationally needed a hire that would protect and grow that standing.
Rose fits that bill. She’s a developer. Nine of the top-10 individual single-season win totals and four of the top-five single-season pair win totals in UAB program history came under her watch. She knows how to build pairs, build culture, and build academic excellence simultaneously.
Morrow said it plainly: “Delaney Rose is exactly the kind of leader we were looking for. She understands the standard that has been established here, brings a strong recruiting and developmental mindset, and shares our commitment to competitive excellence and the holistic growth of our student-athletes.”
What Comes Next
Rose steps into a program with immediate portal decisions to make and a 2027 roster to build, right as the transfer portal window is wide open. With her UAB connections, Florida roots (she previously coached at Eckerd College in St. Pete), and player development pedigree, she’s well-positioned to hit the ground running.
UNF has the facility. UNF has the history. Now it has a coach who has spent three years proving she can take a program from good to great. The Ospreys faithful should be excited. ☕
— VolleyTea