Henderson State University Athletics

Phil McDaniel was hired as the Reddies' head coach in February of 2017 and begins his ninth season at the helm of the Henderson State volleyball program in the 2025 season.

In 2024, McDaniel's Reddies reached yet another GAC Tournament, following a regular season in which the team defeated eventual league champion Ouachita Baptist. HSU also produced two All-Conference players.

In 2023, McDaniel led the Reddies to their third 21-win season in the last five seasons, as well as their third 10-win GAC season in that same time span. Following a 19-10 regular season, HSU reached the the program's second ever GAC Tournament Championship Game after upsetting No. 1 overall seed Harding in the Semifinals.

Ahead of 2024, McDaniel has accumulated a 121-76 overall record and a 60-46 conference stand. During the 2023 season, McDaniel produced four All-GAC recipients, which is the most of his career while in Arkadelphia. In his eight seasons, McDaniel has coached 16 All-Conference players - five First Team, five Second Team and six Honorable Mention recipients.

In the final match of the 2022 season, McDaniel reached career win number 100 at Henderson with a 3-0 victory at Arkansas-Monticello, becoming the second HSU head coach to ever reach the century mark. In that same win over the Blossoms, McDaniel reached 50 GAC victories. 

After the 2021 season, McDaniel had led HSU to three 20-win seasons in the last four seasons - the only GAC team to reach that feat during that time span. Additionally, his teams have earned the United States Marine Corps/American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award three consecutive years after having never won the award prior to 2019.

In his first year, McDaniel led the Reddies to 14 wins, their most in a single season since 2010, which included Henderson's first victory over Harding since 2009. In year two, Henderson took a huge step forward, and produced one of the finest seasons in school history. The Reddies won 28 matches, a school-record 13 Great American Conference contests, and reached the GAC Tournament Championship Final at the Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs. Henderson's 28 victories were the most for the program since 2001.

His third season saw another 20-win campaign, as the Reddies finished 21-12 overall and 11-5 in the GAC. COVID-19 shortened the 2020 campaign, which was played in the spring, but HSU finished third in the GAC Eastern Division and won its first round game in the GAC Tournament. In four years under McDaniel, Henderson has a winning percentage of .644.
 
Before coming to Arkadelphia, McDaniel built a long and impressive resume which included head coaching stops at Drake University and South Dakota State, as well as assistant coaching position at several top Division I and II institutions. His career also includes successful head coaching positions on the high school and club levels.
 
McDaniel spent the 2016 season as an assistant coach at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he was responsible for recruiting as well as working with the Wolves’ defensive play. NSU finished the season ranked No. 21 in the final AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll.
 
Prior to his stint at Northern State, McDaniel served as head coach at South Dakota State from 2011 to 2015. During his time in Brookings, South Dakota, he had two Jackrabbits earn First-Team All-Summit League honors, two named to the Summit League All-Freshman Team, and eight garnered Summit League Player of the Week accolades.
 
His teams at South Dakota State earned Academic All-American Volleyball Coaches Association honors all four years, by compiling a grade point average of 3.3 or better each year.
 
McDaniel's first DI head coaching job came at Drake University, where he rebuilt the Bulldog volleyball program which had tallied only seven wins in 2007.
 
With McDaniel at the helm, Drake reached numerous program milestones including qualifying for the Missouri Valley Tournament in 2009 and 2010, with a total of four players receiving all-conference honors, including the program’s first First-Team MVC honoree in over a decade. In 2009, the Bulldogs registered a 22-12 record and followed with a 23-11 mark in 2010.
 
McDaniel served as an assistant coach at South Dakota State from 2005 to 2008. During his tenure at SDSU, he helped the Jackrabbits to the 2007 Summit League title and the school’s first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
While overseeing SDSU’s recruiting efforts, McDaniel also monitored the academic progress for the Jackrabbits with the team earning the AVCA Academic Awards in 2005 and 2006.
 
Prior to his time at SDSU, McDaniel was an assistant coach at New Mexico State, where he helped lead the team to an 86-15 record and three straight Sun Belt Conference Championships. The Aggies also made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and 2004.
 
McDaniel began his coaching career at J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C., where he led the program to a 42-7 record and earned Big East Conference 4A Coach of the Year for two consecutive seasons (2000, 2001).
 
McDaniel earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Culver-Stockton College in 1996 and a master's degree in counselor education from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1998. He competed on both the soccer and tennis teams while at Culver-Stockton.

CAREER RECORD AT HENDERSON STATE
 

YEARS	WINS	LOSSES
2017	14	14
2018	28	6
2019	21	12
2020	6	6
2021	21	9
2022	10	18
2023	21	11
2024	15	15
TOTALS	136	91

CAREER CONFERENCE RECORD
 

YEARS	WINS	LOSSES	CONFERENCE
2017	7	9	Great American
2018	13	3	Great American
2019	11	5	Great American
2020	5	5	Great American
2021	10	6	Great American
2022	4	12	Great American
2023	10	6	Great American
2024	6	10	Great American
TOTALS	66	56