Jeff “C.J.” Werneke had no idea he was walking off the Alumni Hall floor for the final time as Fairfield’s volleyball head coach after the MAAC Championship in November. But after six seasons at Fairfield, Werneke announced Monday that he has been hired as the Rutgers University head coach.
“It was the right time to move on,” said Werneke. “Rutgers pursued me because they knew me from my time as an assistant coach there and because of all the success we had at Fairfield.”
Werneke was an assistant coach at Rutgers from 1999-2001.
The Rutgers coaching job opened up following a 3-22 season after which Head Coach Orlando Gonzalez was not retained. It was the Scarlet Knights’ third-straight losing season.
“Rutgers is a place that I had great experiences and memories, so I am looking forward to returning there,” said Werneke. “They made me an offer I could not refuse.”
At Fairfield, Werneke led the Stags to a 21-13 overall record and a 17-1 MAAC season.
Overall, Werneke has a 111-85 career record and is the winningest coach in Stags volleyball history. He has been named MAAC Coach of the Year twice, in 2006 and 2007, and won four-straight MAAC regular season championships.
“C.J. continued to build on the success of our volleyball program,” Athletics Director Gene Doris said in a statement. “We are confident that the qualities he brought to our program will help him in bringing the Rutgers program to the upper echelon of the Big East. We thank him and wish him well.”
Werneke inherited a strong Fairfield program in 2001, when he left Rutgers and took over for Mitch Jacobs.
Werneke immediately brought in impact players in his first two recruiting classes, including Natalie Barba ’07, Kiana Kauwe ’07 and this year’s impressive class of six players, who have been the core of the team since their first season here.
He led the Stags to a first-place finish in the conference and to the MAAC championship game in his first season as head coach, before falling to Loyola. In his second season, Fairfield was picked to win the conference but lost in the semifinals.
After that season, Werneke led the Stags to four-straight regular season titles and final appearances, but could never get over the final hump and into the NCAA tournament.
During that stretch Werneke, passed Kress on the career wins list. He also helped develop two MAAC Rookies of the Year, a MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, and back-to-back MAAC Setters of the Year.
He also had 11 All-MAAC selections and many All-Academic players.
The Stags said they will miss Werneke, who has helped put together a strong core that will return next season and should compete for another regular season championship.
“Coach was our team,” said Lauren Campbell ’08. “When we came into the program he immediately gained our trust; without him, we may not have been the same team.”
“I’m really going to miss the players,” Werneke said. “I spent six years there and will miss the people.”
Campbell, who will graduate this year, expects the Stags to be able to recover from the loss of Werneke, but said he will be missed.
“Losing someone as dedicated – wanting the team to do well, to have success on the court and off – it is difficult,” said Campbell. “It is not easy to find someone like that; he brought out the best in us.”
Doris and the Athletic Department will begin the search for a new coach immediately.
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