Sports Newsmaker of the Year

Back in 1997 when Mary Lackey became a counselor at Newport Harbor High, she met the man who would eventually become her husband and the father of their children. Back then, she knew she liked him. Dan Glenn, such a positive and upbeat gentleman, she thought.

The students noticed. They would write faux love letters from Lackey to Glenn, scribbling, “Hey, I think you’re cute,” on a piece of paper folded for the volleyball coach.

Soon, the two started dating. Before Mary Lackey became Mary Glenn she wondered, just as many did, about how the coach could be so nice away from the court.

Behind closed gym doors at a volleyball practice, Glenn is known for being demanding, at times strict, pushing his players to reach their potential.

“He’s the opposite of that,” Mary said of how her husband is at home. “People ask me if he’s like that off the court. When we started dating I was asking the same thing. I think he saves it all for volleyball. I think he just keeps it with volleyball and competitiveness. He’s so playful with the kids.”

Glenn’s ability to compartmentalize was at all-time high in 2009. His ability to separate each area in his life must’ve helped when trying to guide the girls’ volleyball team to CIF Southern Section and state championships.

When the Sailors captured each title, the coach did his best to push the credit to his players. Yet that didn’t stop the great number of people in the community congratulating the coach on such a remarkable year.

Back in February, Glenn, the Daily Pilot Sports Newsmaker of the Year, was diagnosed with iris melanoma, a rare form of cancer in his right eye. To ease his wife’s worries he told her he would attack it like a volleyball match. There’s never been a match that he entered thinking he was going to lose. That’s how he planned to treat the iris melanoma.

Last month, he had his latest eye examination. The doctors told him he is in good health and there is no evidence of the cancer spreading, Glenn said. In most iris melanoma cases, there is a 5% chance of the cancer spreading.

He needs to maintain his visits to the doctor, as well as adhere to a healthy lifestyle to increase his chances of beating the cancer.

“Things are looking good,” Glenn said.

In 2009 with the girls’ volleyball team, things looked great. He had another talented team in his 24th year at Newport Harbor. But his challenge was to bring the group of girls together, unite them as a team.

When team captain and setter Mackenzi Campbell missed time with a broken little finger, he told his players to step up, especially setter Cinnamon Sary, who was recently named Sophomore of the Year by ESPN RISE. When the Sailors lost to Los Alamitos and shared the Sunset League title with the Griffins he reminded them they could see them again in the section championship match.

That’s exactly what happened. And this time Newport Harbor and the powerful duo of Katey Thompson and Kirby Burnham were too much for Los Al. The Sailors won in four to capture the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA championship. It was Glenn’s seventh section title.

But why stop there, Glenn asked his players. He wanted them to make a run at the state title. With a thrilling five-game win at Dos Pueblos of Goleta, the Sailors were on their way. The Southern California Regional final triumph proved to be the season’s landmark victory for Glenn and the Sailors. They then swept Salinas to earn the CIF State Division I championship. Glenn collected his fifth state crown after guiding the Tars to a 33-6 record.

As a coach and when he’s away from the game, Glenn shows different personalities. Off the court, he is described as laid back, his friends say. He is known to fall asleep mostly anywhere.

When he coaches his team, at times he could be intense. He uses great attention to detail when forming a game plan. Yet when he’s not in that moment, he knows how to turn it off. Before the girls’ volleyball season, he was a coach of a boys’ soccer team that includes his son, Jaden, 7. Jaden is one of Glenn’s four children.

Glenn will have fun with his Newport Harbor teams, too, but he tells them rewards come at a high price. They must work first to see the results pay off.

“I feel like I usually have a good relationship with my seniors,” says Glenn, also an economics teacher at Newport Harbor. “My younger kids, a lot of times, are scared of me, but that’s OK. It’s that thing where I’m most concerned with the relationship with my seniors.

“I don’t like the fact that someone would dislike me, but I just feel strongly about what I’m doing, coaching and teaching. So that’s the most important thing. If you believe in your values you’re going to do what’s best for the team.”