EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — After conducting a national search, East Stroudsburg University has hired John Forman as the 14th women's volleyball head coach in program history, Director of Athletics Dr. Allen Snook Jr. announced Tuesday.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead the East Stroudsburg Women's Volleyball program, and I want to thank President Long, Dr. Snook, Sarah Ross, and everyone involved in the search for their trust," Forman said. "What stood out throughout the process was the competitiveness of the student-athletes — both on-court and in the classroom — and the support around them at all levels. I can't wait to get started, with the aim of taking volleyball to the next level."
Forman joins the Warriors with over 20 years of coaching experience and knowledge across all levels in the NCAA, has experience in professional volleyball, and has spent time in national pathway leadership.
"I am very excited to welcome John Forman to our Warrior Athletics program as the next head women's volleyball coach," said President Long. "He aligns strongly with our mission, vision, and philosophy, and we are expecting the program to continue to grow and achieve success under his leadership."
"I am excited to welcome John to the Warrior family," said Dr. Snook. 'He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our volleyball program, from playing to coaching at multiple levels both domestically and internationally."
Since May of 2023, Forman has been the indoor performance director for Volleyball England, where he lead the national indoor talent pathway and national junior and senior teams. He was also responsible for budgeting, annual camp and competition calendars, and multi-stakeholder planning across the coaches, team managers, and partners. He managed and developed a national coaching network including a five-year talent plan and co-organized the UK Volleyball Coaches Symposium.
Forman spent a year as an assistant coach at Radford University for the 2022 season, where he led recruiting and scouting efforts, managed practice plans, and evaluation of transfer portal prospects. He helped drive improvement from 6-22 (2021) to 12-16 (2022), while the conference record jumped from 4-11 to 8-8. Academically, the team was awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award for their achievements in the classroom.
In his time at Medaille, he was hired as the university's first full-time head volleyball coach for both the men's and women's programs in July of 2020. He managed all aspects of the programs and guided the men's team to its first winning season since 2016 while the women delivered their best home record since 2015. Under his guidance, the programs produce 17 Academic All-Conference selections while the women's team was awarded the AVCA Team Academic Award in 2021.
Previously, Forman spent time at Midwestern State University as an assistant coach, beginning in March of 2016, and later stepped into the acting head coach role for the spring of 2018. As a first assistant in a Lone Star Conference, he served as the recruiting lead and primary support on training design, opponent preparation, and match planning. He also coordinated camp operations and organized community and promotional events. In his acting head coach role, he directed all aspects of offseason and spring competitions, management of staff, and led the recruiting efforts.
He spent a year as the head coach of the Svedala Volley, a team in Elitserie, the top league in Sweden. He guided the club to one of the best overall seasons, winning the 2015 Time Vision Cup and earning a Grand Prix bronze medal. Three players were also named to the league's Team of the Year.
From 2012 to 2015 Forman served as the head coach of both the women's and men's programs at the University of Exeter. He guided the women's team to the semifinals in 2013-14, while the men's team reached the quarterfinals all three seasons.
He started his college coaching career in 1998 at Dean College before starting his NCAA coaching career in 2000 at the University of Rhode Island. In 2001, he became an assistant coach at Brown University where he spent five seasons. At Brown, he was responsible for training, scouting/analytics, recruiting, and operations. He contributed to an Ivy League co-championship in his first season and recruited six All-Ivy honorees.
"I am excited to see our team grow and continue to compete at the highest level under John's guidance," said Dr. Snook.
Forman founded CoachingVB.com, a coaching education platform, and has been an editor since 2013. The platform contains over 1,500 practical articles and produces a weekly newsletter for thousands of coaches that focuses on turning complex ideas into usable practice. Forman is also an author, developer, and conference presenter.
Forman graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He then received his master's degree in business administration from the University of Maryland, College Park. Finally, he earned a Ph.D. in Behavioral Finance from the University of Exeter.
