Following the departure of 34-year head coach Mary Wise on Feb. 6, Florida volleyball named Ryan Theis as its next head coach Monday night.
The 17-year head coach guided Marquette to 10 NCAA Tournaments during his 11 years in Milwaukee, most recently reaching the NCAA Regional semifinals in 2024. With the Golden Eagles, he won three Big East titles while notching a 402-101 record. Before his time at Marquette, he spent 2008-2014 at Ohio, guiding the Bobcats to four NCAA tournament berths.
Prior to heading to the midwest, Theis served as an assistant on Wise’s staff at Florida 2006-07.
"I am excited to continue the legacy created by Mary Wise,” Theis said in a press release. “We will embrace the expectations through an others-oriented, team approach. We will make daily choices that steer us toward success and be champions in everything we do.”
Theis emphasized his focus on continuing the standard Wise built as Florida’s coach, which featured 25 SEC Championships, eight NCAA semifinals and two NCAA Championship runner-up finishes. However, those standards dipped over Wise’s last four years, as Florida lost six or more games each season, concluding with a 23-8 record in 2024. In Wise’s first 30 seasons at UF (prior to 2020), that only happened five times. Theis will look to lift Florida back to its SEC dominance.
“After two seasons as an assistant coach for the Gators, Ryan went on to build highly successful programs at Ohio and Marquette, competing for and winning championships while making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said.
Contact Noah White at nwhite@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @noahwhite1782.
Noah is a Spring 2025 Assistant Sports Editor and Copy Desk Chief. He's a second-year journalism major who enjoys reading and shamefully rooting for Tennessee sports teams. He is also a Liberty League Women's Soccer expert.
