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Stout thanked Marshall President Brad Smith, Herd athletic director Christian Spears and Marshall senior associate athletic director for Olympic sports Beatrice Banford for the opportunity.

Spears said Stout met four principles in the hiring process �����Ƶ� connection to place, connection to people, known passion that is easily seen and the understanding of purpose.

Of those, connection to people and place is easy to find. Stout was an assistant coach for the Herd in 2024 and has familiarity with every player on the roster.

�����Ƶ�She understands what it means to live in Huntington and wants to be at Marshall,�����Ƶ� Spears said. �����Ƶ�Connection to people �����Ƶ� each and every one of the student-athletes that represent our volleyball team are here today. They all, to a person, told me and Beatrice directly that this is the right person for us. This is who they want to lead us. You want to listen to your student-athletes.�����Ƶ�

Another wrinkle is that Stout is yet another coaching hire made from the community of Glenville, West Virginia.

�����Ƶ�We�����Ƶ�ve had a lot of success with hiring coaches and student-athletes who played at Glenville (State University) and had an experience there,�����Ƶ� Spears said. �����Ƶ�(New Marshall football coach) Tony Gibson is a Glenville product. (Former Marshall women�����Ƶ�s basketball coach) Kim Caldwell, another Glenville product, and Heather herself was a middle blocker for the Pioneers �����Ƶ� lot of success with people who have connections to this place.�����Ƶ�

That�����Ƶ�s how Stout has developed a love for the closeness of Huntington, she said. She formerly coached at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. The Cardinals improved its win total each season and went 20-12 in 2023 before Stout came to Marshall. Before that, Stout was an assistant at New York University.

�����Ƶ�Coming from two city areas, you don�����Ƶ�t stop at Starbucks much and have people ask, �����Ƶ�How is the team? How was the weekend?�����Ƶ� It�����Ƶ�s pretty much what your order is down there,�����Ƶ������Ƶ� Stout said. �����Ƶ�You get that here. When you go downtown, they�����Ƶ�re invested. When you go to church, they know our pastor comes to the matches. This town of Huntington is home.�����Ƶ�

But the passion that Spears saw in the interview room was what he said won him over.

�����Ƶ�She sat in front of me and said, �����Ƶ�You go ahead and look at all of these people. Interview others �����Ƶ� no one is going to do a better job than me,�����Ƶ������Ƶ� Spears said. �����Ƶ�She said it in such a way that was respectful and with so much passion and grit that it gave me pause. I was challenged directly.�����Ƶ�

Stout comes from a sports family. Her father, whom Stout said introduced her to the sport, was in attendance at Wednesday�����Ƶ�s introduction.

�����Ƶ�I�����Ƶ�m so thankful that I get to share this moment with my dad,�����Ƶ� Stout said. �����Ƶ�It is perfect because he is the person who introduced me to the sport of volleyball. He served our country as a United States Marine. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and he picked up volleyball while he was traveling.

�����Ƶ�He ended up making the all-Marine team. I come from a family of coaches. They have paved the way for me to be here today. My mother was the men�����Ƶ�s basketball and volleyball coach at my local high school. My father and uncles coached football, basketball and AAU teams in our local community. I spent my childhood years chatting about practice, game-planning and watching film.�����Ƶ�

Marshall finished with a 15-14 record in 2024 before former coach Ari Aganus resigned in late December. One of the most significan advantages for Stout is that she has spent time alongside the entire roster throughout the process.

�����Ƶ�To the women of this program, how you 10 have handled yourself during this time �����Ƶ� no coach can ask for better,�����Ƶ� Stout said. �����Ƶ�I can stand up here and talk about X�����Ƶ�s and O�����Ƶ�s, and I can talk about how we�����Ƶ�re going to win. But your character, you 10 have outstanding character. You can�����Ƶ�t coach that. I hope to make you proud each and every day.�����Ƶ�