El Toro Renaissance Man Returns to Restore Volleyball Program

LAKE FOREST —  After El Toro boys’ volleyball Coach Mike Jagd finished yelling instructions to his players during a timeout in a recent match, he turned toward his bench and saw a 5-year-old boy had taken his seat.

“Hey you,” Jagd said pointing his finger at the youngster.

Then the coach cracked a smile.

It was his son Ryal, who giggled and ran up to hug the coach.

Yes, the demanding leader of the No. 1-ranked team in Orange County and the Southern Section Division I is also Mr. Mom.

Jagd wears many hats. His current part-time job brought him back to El Toro for a 15th season.

Jagd left the boys’ and girls’ volleyball coaching jobs at El Toro after leading the girls’ team to a State championship in 1991.

In his absence, the boys’ team exited the Southern Section playoffs in the early rounds for two consecutive seasons.

But Jagd’s return this season has helped the Chargers to a 12-1 start, and they appear ready to reverse the trend.

El Toro won two prestigious tournaments this season--the Orange County Championships Division I tournament and the Tournament of Champions at Cal State Northridge. Their only loss came March 10 against second-ranked Laguna Beach.

But Jagd’s full-time job as a husband and father is the most rewarding one for him.

During the day, he takes care of his two children--Ryal and 7-year-old daughter Nikki--while his wife, Kim, works as an assistant at UCLA for women’s volleyball Coach Andy Banachowski.

Kim Jagd played for UCLA under Banachowski and also spent a brief period on the women’s pro beach volleyball tour. But she always wanted to coach.

The Jagds left Orange County two years ago when Kim received an offer to be an assistant coach for women’s volleyball at Colorado.

“We liked everything about Boulder, Colo.,” Kim Jagd said.

She sold that idea when she successfully recruited Rachel Wacholder, the 1991 Times Orange County girls’ volleyball player of the year. Wacholder led Laguna Beach past El Toro to win the Southern Section Division I championship before the Chargers rebounded to win the State title.

“We had a picnic during Rachel’s visit,” Kim Jagd said. “Rachel spent most of the day with Ryal and Nikki. She loves them.”

Although the Jagds loved everything about their move to Colorado, an offer came that was too good to pass up.

Kim Jagd’s former UCLA and beach teammate, Liz Masakayan, was ready to leave her assistant coaching job at UCLA to devote more time to her beach volleyball career. Masakayan helped convince Banachowski that Kim would be a good replacement.

“I had a five-minute interview,” Kim said. “It was a perfect fit. Andy knew what he was getting, and it was a step up for me from a No. 2 assistant’s job to a No. 1 job . . . a full-time job.

“When I played at UCLA, I was actually the 13th player on the travel squad. I would chart matches, discuss strategy with the coaches. I even sat with the coaches during team meals.”

Said Mike Jagd: “If Kim didn’t get the UCLA offer, we would probably still be in Colorado.”

Lucky for El Toro, the Jagds returned. But it was a tough decision for the Jagds to leave Orange County in the first place.

“The group of seniors we have this year, Kim and I kept saying to ourselves before we left that this group could really be something special,” Mike Jagd said.

But it took this special coach to challenge the talented group.

“Mike has brought out the best in those talented players,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “He was the missing key. He gets his players to play hard in every match and that’s not an easy thing to do.”

El Toro hasn’t been easy for anyone to handle this season. Although their record and rankings are impressive, Mike Jagd doesn’t feel the Chargers are overwhelming.

“Our players must play all-out all the time,” he said. “You can see a big difference when they play at 85%, things are a little off and we’ve lost some games. I keep reminding the players that if they do that, we’ll be out of the playoffs in the early rounds again.”

The Chargers have all the pieces of a potential champion, and an early exit doesn’t seem likely.

El Toro has a dominant middle blocker in 6-foot-9 Chris Jacobson. There is a group of consistent hitters, including Doug Thompson, Steve Hilbert and Bill Coblentz.

And there are the marquee players--setter Todd Steinert and outside hitter Ryan Mariano.

Mariano has signed a letter of intent with Long Beach State and hits the ball as hard as anyone in the county.

“He could be the best hitter this school has ever produced,” Mike Jagd said at the beginning of the season.

While Mariano is clearly El Toro’s “go-to guy,” Steinert might be the team’s most valuable player.

Mike Jagd coached Todd’s older sister, Lesli, during the 1991 State championship season. Lesli sets for Kansas now, and Mike sees many similarities between the siblings.

“Both have that same dogged determination to do anything it takes to win,” Mike said. “They both do their jobs so effortlessly and smooth that no one notices them.”

Two schools are taking notice of Steinert. Jagd said Long Beach State and Brigham Young are recruiting his setter.

“I think Todd has the same potential as Lesli that once a coach gets him in his program, he could be starting for three years,” Mike Jagd said. “If we lost Ryan right now, it would be devastating, but we could adjust because of our depth. If we lost Todd, I don’t know what we would do.”

But with Mike and the Chargers reunited this season, El Toro’s opponents are the ones looking for answers.