John Forman is in his second year as Head Coach of Medaille's Men's and Women's Volleyball teams. The 2021-22 campaign will be his second at the Men's helm. Due to the 2020 cancellation, however, this year is only his first season leading the Women.
In 2021 the Mavs winning percentage skyrocketed during John's inaugural men's season. That included a 5-1 conference record and clinching the postseason for the first time since 2018. Unfortunately, the Mavs would not see a playoff-run due to a COVID-19 shutdown. Two Mavs made the AMCC All-Conference team, though, one as a First-Team selection.
Forman joined Medaille in 2020 after having been the Volleyball Director at Nation Academy in Charleston, SC. There he provided coaching and leadership to youth volleyball organizations. The move to Buffalo is his first foray into NCAA Division III. He previously coached at both the Division I and II levels, as well as overseas.
John started his coaching career in 1998 as assistant coach at the then 2-year Dean College in Franklin, MA. He jumped to the University of Rhode Island in 2000, before moving across state to Brown University in 2001. During six seasons in the Ivy League he recruited six future All-Ivy players and coached 11 players to 14 total selections to the All-Ivy team.
Forman took a break from coaching until 2012 when he made a jump oversees and became Head Volleyball Coach for both the men's and women's teams at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. During his 2012-14 tenure the the teams combined to go 82-48. Both teams reached the UK championships all three seasons. The women were semifinalists in 2013-14 and the men cracked the top-eight each year.
In 2015 John left England for Sweden to become the Head Coach for Svedala Volleybollklubb, a team in the country's top league, the Eliteserie. John led the team to only its second ever Gran Prix qualification, and a bronze medal in the event. The three Americans he advised the club to sign were all named to the league's Team of the Year. Two had played their college ball in the PAC-12, and one in the ACC.
Forman moved from Sweden to Texas in 2016. There he got his first taste of NCAA Division II action as the assistant coach at Midwestern State University. There his role was to help turn the team around after a 6-26 season of 2015, with no wins in conference. That he did. The 2017 team finished 15-16, with seven conference wins. In 2018 Forman became acting Head Coach. He led the team through the Spring season before joining what is now Nation Academy.
On top of coaching, John is also an author, developer, and educator. He writes for coachingvb.com, a volleyball blog read by over 100,000 visitors a year. His Volleyball Coaching Wizards project, which features interviews with top coaches, has produced in three books. John has taught Sport Marketing here at Medaille, and also taught at Midwestern State.
Forman received his Bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island. He then did an MBA at the University of Maryland, College Park in Business Administration. Finally, he earned a PhD in Behavioral Finance from the University of Exeter.
(Updated 07/29/21)
