Doug Beal was playing on the national team in 1970-71, when he started coaching at university level before accepting the head coaching position with the USA men’s team for the first time in 1976 at the age of 29.

After finishing 13th at the 1982 World Championships, Beal implemented a new revolutionary offense and won the first leg of the elusive Volleyball “triple crown” in 1984 when the USA men captured the country’s first-ever Volleyball Olympic gold medal. Victories at the 1985 World
Cup and 1986 World Championships capped off the American rise to the top of international Volleyball. The 1984-88 teams received special recognition in the greatest men’s Volleyball team of the century category.

Beal resigned as head coach to become the organization’s National Team Center Director from 1985-87 before heading to Italy to coach in 1990.

Back at the helm of USA in 1997, Beal saw USA finish ninth at the 2002 World Championships before claiming fourth position at the 2003 World Cup.

Beal was elected to the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1989 and was USA Volleyball’s first recipient of the All-Time Great Coach Award in 1995. He was named a finalist for the FIVB Greatest Coach of the Century. Beal was also recently selected to the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary All-Era Team as a coach during the Men’s 1978-2002 era.