John Hawks will begin his eighth season on the Bruins’ staff in the 2023 season. He works with the offense and serves as the recruiting coordinator. His efforts on both fronts have helped UCLA rate as high as at least No. 2 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national polls in six of the past seven seasons.

     Hawks was honored as the 2022 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year after he helped lead the Bruins to the top attack percentage in the nation (.374) and a nine-week stay atop the AVCA Coaches Poll. During 2022, the Bruins advanced to the NCAA semifinals after hitting for a higher percentage than their opponent in all 22 wins and connecting for at least a .300 mark in 17 of the last 18 matches of the season. The total of 22 wins in 2022 is the first time UCLA has registered a 20-win campaign since 2018. Its nine-match winning streak earlier this season was the longest by a Bruin team since the 2016 squad opened the year with wins its first 10 matches. The Bruins also captured the MPSF regular season title for the first time since 1998. Setter Miles Partain was selected as UCLA's first winner of the MPSF Player of the Year Award since 2000. Partain was also one of three finalists for the Lloy Ball Award as the nation's top setter. In addition, Kevin Kobrine was a finalist for the Bryan Ivie Award as the country's best opposite. Merrick McHenry, who rated third in the nation in hitting percentage, was a finalist for the Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker. Partain, McHenry and Ethan Champlin were first-team All-America selections. Guy Genis was named MPSF Freshman of the Year.   

   In 2018, UCLA advanced to the national championship match and recorded 26 wins, the most by the program since the 2006 NCAA Championship season. Daenan Gyimah was awarded the Ryan Millar Award as the nation’s top middle attacker in each of the past two seasons and earned first-team All-America honors the past three seasons. Bruins Micah Ma’a (at UCLA 2016-19) and Mitch Stahl (2014-17) each saw action with the U.S. National Men’s Volleyball Team during its qualification run in the summer of 2019 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Stahl represented the U.S. in the Tokyo Games   

     In the summer of 2019, Hawks served as head coach of the U.S. Men’s Volleyball team which earned a silver medal in the NORCECA Continental Championships with Stahl and Ma’a on the squad. In the 2018 off-season, he was an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s Pan Am Cup Team, which finished seventh, and featured three Bruins (Stahl, JT Hatch, Jake Arnitz).

     Prior to UCLA, John spent four years in Cleveland, Ohio where he acted as Director of Volleyball for SPIRE Institute. SPIRE is a boarding school designed to blend athletics and academics at the highest level. He also served as Head Coach at The Academy for Volleyball where his 17 Open team won the 2015 AAU Girls’ National Championship.

     Collegiately, John Hawks has an extensive history in the MPSF, spending three seasons at Long Beach State (2009-11), where he was responsible for recruiting, day-to-day operations and either offense or defense. Hawks spent the 2007 and ’08 seasons at USC as the top assistant coach after serving four years as an assistant at UC Irvine (2003-2006) under current UCLA Head Coach, John Speraw.

     During his time at LBSU, the 49ers made the tournament both years and had ten All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selections and four AVCA All-America picks. John also served as an athletic department representative on the Academic Integrity Committee.

     In his two years at USC, Hawks was responsible for recruiting the top classes in the country and helping the Trojans to two consecutive playoff appearances, while compiling the most wins for the program since 2000. Those recruiting classes went on to play in two final fours during their career.

     During his four seasons at UC Irvine, the Anteaters won 70 matches (more than the program’s first 11 years combined), and qualified for the MPSF playoffs three times. He was on the sidelines during the 2006 campaign when UCI won the program’s first conference title, led the nation in wins (27-5) and reached the national semifinals, after spending eight weeks at No. 1. Hawks helped to recruit classes that went on to win two National Championships under Coach Speraw.

     In August 2011, John led the U.S. Junior National team to its best finish ever, fourth place, at the FIVB World Championships in Brazil. In May 2010, Hawks served as assistant coach at the Pan American Cup in Canada where the team beat Argentina to capture the Gold Medal. Later that summer, he was head coach of the U.S. Men’s Junior National Team which competed in the NORCECA zone qualifier in Quebec. Hawks’ team won USA’s first ever Gold Medal at the Junior National level and qualified for the 2011 FIVB World Championships. In September 2010, he also served as a scout for the Men’s National team during the 2010 World Championships in Italy.  During the summer of 2009, Hawks was an assistant coach with the U.S. Men’s National Team for the 2009 World League, where they finished in fifth place in Belgrade, Serbia picking up wins versus Netherlands, Italy and China along the way.

     In May of 2008, Hawks headed up a small group of USA National Team players that trained at the Japan Institute of Sports Science (JISS), successfully helping the Japanese to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing. In June 2008, Hawks spent time as an assistant to Alan Knipe with the U.S. National Team at the Pan American Cup in Winnipeg, Canada, where the Americans defeated the hosts, won gold, and qualified the team for the America’s Cup later that year.

     He was also an assistant for the USA Boys’ Youth National Team, which went undefeated at the NORCECA Youth Continental Championship en route to the gold medal and qualification into the 2009 FIVB World Championship.

    Hawks served as the head coach at the 2006 USA Volleyball Boys’ Select A2 Training Camp, and was an assistant coach for the 2006 Men’s Junior A2 Team, 2007 Junior National team and the 2007 World University Games team. The Junior Team finished seventh at the World Championships in Morocco with wins coming against Russia, Brazil and Cuba, while the World University Games team defeated Italy for the bronze medal in Bangkok, Thailand.

     Hawks began his college coaching career as an assistant coach at Grossmont Junior College in San Diego, where he also played, from 1995 to 1997.

     He was the boys’ head coach at Santa Margarita High School from 2001 to 2002, after serving four years as an assistant. The Eagles went undefeated in 2001, winning the CIF Southern Section, before reaching the semifinals the next year. He was named the 2001 CIF Southern Section Coach of the Year and the 2001 Orange County Register Coach of the Year.

     Hawks also spent five seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, Edison High School (1990-94) and moved into assistant coaching duties at San Dieguito High School (1995) and Francis Parker High School (1996). Both squads won CIF San Diego Sectional Championships. He then moved to Santa Margarita High (1997-2000), assisting the boys (1997-2000) and girls (1997-1999) squads. The boys won a pair of CIF Southern Section titles (1997 & 1998) and the girls won three (1997-1999). The girl’s team also won the 1999 state championship, after finishing second in the state in both 1997 and 1998.

     On the club level, he coached Balboa Bay Volleyball Club for 12 years (1998-2011), winning nine medals at the Junior Olympics (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011), including Gold in 2000, 2009 and 2011, and silver in 2005. He was also a coach for Seaside Volleyball Club (1995-1997), winning gold in 1997 and bronze in 1995. On the girl’s side, John’s team most recently won the 2015 AAU National Championship in the 17 Open Division making him one of the very few coaches to have won Gold medals in Boys and Girls volleyball.

     John is married to Julianne and they have two beautiful girls named, Giavanna and Gabriella.