After spending 15 months as a volunteer assistant, Jerome Fraisse has been named the Michigan volleyball team’s third full-time assistant coach since 2015.
The move comes in conjunction with the departure of previous assistant coach Sean Byron, who agreed to become Marist’s new head coach in April.
“We are really excited to add (Fraisse) full time,” said head coach Mark Rosen in a statement. “He has a great skill set in terms of his coaching knowledge working with the setters. His personality and view of the game match our staff really well and makes him a great fit for our program.”
As a volunteer member of the staff in 2018, Fraisse crafted drills for the team’s setters and developed data-oriented gameplans. He crunched numbers and watched film on Data Volley and VolleyMetrics — two of college volleyball’s popular analytics services — to prepare the Wolverines’ scouting reports. From a modern analytical standpoint, Fraisse understands the numbers that go into running a successful offense.
As Rosen alluded to, Fraisse will assume Byron’s former role as the program’s setters coach. He inherits one of the Big Ten’s best setters in rising senior MacKenzi Welsh, who has tallied 3,881 career assists and an All-American Honorable Mention selection during her career.
The promotion marks Fraisse’s first full-time NCAA job at any level. That’s not for a lack of coaching experience, though, as he boasts an impressive overseas background.
Prior to arriving in Ann Arbor last year, Fraisse spent 18 seasons coaching in France — three as the men’s head coach at Grenoble Volley University Club, five as an assistant with L’Asul Lyon Volleyball Club and 11 between L’Arago Sète Volleyball Club, Volleyball Romans and L’ES Meylan Volleyball Club.
In addition to his coaching tenures with five separate clubs, Fraisse brings a wealth of national team experience to the Wolverines’ staff. While coaching for L’Asul Lyon Volleyball Club, he worked under former Italian national team head coach Silvano Prandi for five years. He managed tryouts for France’s U17 and U20 programs in 2017 and 2007, respectively, and has coaching experience in Canada.
While coaching in France, Fraisse spent time recruiting European players interested in playing volleyball in America. This could bode well for Michigan’s international recruiting efforts, and with Byron gone, Rosen may not hesitate to call upon Fraisse in that regard.
As a player, Fraisse enjoyed a three-year professional stint with the Grenoble Volleyball Club from 1997-2000. Though he only saw time at middle blocker and outside hitter during his playing days, his 20-plus seasons around the game make him a good fit to work with Michigan’s setters.
After losing Maddy Abbott to graduation, Fraisse will primarily work with Welsh, rising senior Katerina Rocafort and incoming freshman Madison Dowd in 2019.