Episodes

  • What Makes College Sports Great, Staff Shouts, Camp Winners and Characters Wanted
    Jul 28 2025

    I get back on my kick of trying to make college volleyball more exciting again. Pumping up the need for better rivalries and more exciting coaching characters in the sport.

    I point how colorful HC's in other revenue sports fuel rivalries and get "edge spectators" to tune in and spend $ on tickets, apparel and draw additional interest to a program or contest that normally they would not. Still going back to my main point that eventually volleyball is going to need to draw my "Buffalo Wild Wings Crowd" to truly grow and survive and thrive if they want to catch basketball as a revenue sport (at the college level). Also, it's just boring listening to the same old press conference where every coach and every athlete says the same boring rehearsed line time after time.

    Plus we get into staff shouts from the latest recruiting weeks and who has been crushing it at the end of the Select Camp Circuit before we head into Prep VB season.

    Lots of fun banter as the college "fan" in me comes out and I draw up some potential trash talking rivalries that might be fun to see for VB Fans:)

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Todd Chamberlain: Building a Successful Career in the Louisville Family
    Jul 17 2025

    I talk with Louisville Associate HC Todd Chamberlain about many topics in his career at Louisville from: Talent evaluating, to building their culture, treating people the right way, locking down hometown recruits from Day 1, all coaches having valuable say and knowing who they could get and who they couldn't.

    He talks about the early years of building to get a step better and how they struggled to fill their 1000 seat arena in the first year, but they invited anyone who wanted to be a Louisville fan to do so.

    One of the great guys in the sport who has been a part of the recruiting and talent evaluating for the past 8 years. One of the people I have been fortunate enough to meet and know in this sport.

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • Episode 22: Recruitology "The study of Program Power Values" how colleges land on the pyramid
    Jun 4 2025

    We explain the other half of the PPV Pyramid and how it came to be. There is the athlete PPV Chart and then the program PPV Chart. Recruitology is the study of volleyball recruiting and it's patterns and predictability. I break down who is rivals with who, what programs tend to recruit where and and why the actual athlete PPV score doesn't matter as much as the Level does. This is a generalized look at my study of program recruiting trends over the past 3 seasons and predicting this class from information gathered through our website and communication with prospects, etc.

    It may be interesting if you are a volleyball recruiting nerd and it may be extremely boring or useless who knows

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Season 2 Episode 21 Recruiting Myths and Sensitive Topics
    Apr 19 2025

    We dive deep into some sensitive subjects, dealing with hot topics in our world of recruiting and helping athletes and families have the experience that is best for them.

    We tackle topics like athletes being unable to attend Select Camps due to club practice, overpractice, and too long a season, as well as the insane month of June for 16s.

    Then we dive into our yearly topic of WHY would any club ever tell prospects that they ARE NOT ALLOWED to talk about camps they are going to or schools they are looking at ? We discuss why that benefits the athlete and the reasons why the clubs may be doing it in their best interest, not that of the athlete.

    Other topics covered...." Anytime a coach or club person tells you 'you are not allowed to... ' that should probably be a RED FLAG," and why athletes should and need to speak up about their experiences MORE in HS and College.

    This aligns with what we teach in our Str8 Talk Recruiting Series, which focuses on educating people on the process and asking why. This is an individual process that clubs shouldn't have blanket policies on.


    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Talking Spring Ball with Vandy and Louisville
    Mar 26 2025

    We talk about the happenings of Spring around volleyball, and that definitely includes college volleyball. We bring in Anders Nelson, head coach of Vandy Volleyball, to talk about Year 1, how things are going with his new program, and everything exciting leading up to their August start date. What an exciting time in Nashville. Then we bring on C.C. McGraw of Louisville to talk about everything new and old in The 'Ville as the Cards go through Spring under Dan Meske. She talks about the program in great detail and everything that makes it one of the best.

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Kansas' New Captain: Matt Ulmer takes time to talk
    Jan 24 2025

    Matt Ulmer sure has had a busy week. The former Head Coach of Oregon gave college volleyball plenty to talk about last week when he took the Head Coaching position at the University of Kansas. The last week has been slightly hectic, but the new leader of the Jayhawks is taking it all in stride and he took a few minutes to talk this morning.
    He describes the process, WHY KANSAS, his immediate goals and long term plan. Plus why this seems like such a great fit. Then we talk about what all goes into taking a new job, from moving your family, to assembling a staff and then recruiting.
    You will hear how busy Coach Ulmer is and why it's even more classy of him to take the time to talk with us. This seems like a Home Run in Lawrence and a move that could put #RockChalk on the verge of being the "Next Big Thing" in college volleyball.
    Then we conclude filling you in on a couple of new projects coming for our fanbase on the site. Thanks for following.

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • Nayellis Cabello just doing her thing Winning with Positive Energy
    Jan 18 2025

    We sat down with Louisville Sophomore Setter Nayellis Cabello who was named ACC Freshman of the Year and also helped guide the Cardinals to the NCAA National Championship Match in December. She has also been horribly overlooked by the national volleyball media during her prep and young college career, but that doesn't phase the energetic Floridian one bit. Her upbeat, care-free attitude is evident on and off the court and it was just what the doctor ordered this season for the Cards as she fit in perfectly with their veteran lineup. Listen to her talk about recruiting, leadership and how she opens up and is COMPLETELY REAL talking about nerves and true emotions during some of the biggest matches of last year's season. These are the athletes that are so easy to cheer for and really should get so much more positive press in the game. Don't kid yourself she's one hell of a volleyball player as well.

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Genevieve Harris: The Mindset of a Champion. How She Dealt w/ Criticism and It Set Her Apart
    Jan 10 2025

    Texas commit Genevieve Harris talks with VBAdrenaline about her early years of volleyball and her extremely competitive nature. She talks about how she was misjudged by some as a bad teammate, but rather than getting upset or angry she used that to see things from others point of view and become a better leader, player and friend. It also helped grabbed the attention of some of the top programs in the country and set her apart from others in the country when it came to recruiting.
    Harris talks more about training, competing and attitude when it comes to college, Texas and what it takes to succeed and how her ability to accept criticism and thrive from it and not pout or get angry about it and how that has truly helped her achieve so much.
    This is a great episode as this is a problem we see all the time with athletes and parents who get upset all the time with little things like rankings or offers or our PPV scores and college coaches truly do look for things like that when weeding through recruiting stacks or final lists for scholarship offers. Harris is a great example of how to elevate your status with a Champions Attitude

    Connect with VB Adrenaline:

    • Check out the website
    • Connect with Darren on Instagram @vbadrenaline.com


    PS- Do you love this podcast? We would appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review for the show. This will help us continue to grow and spread the word about all the amazing things that are happening in the world of college volleyball.

    Don't forget to FOLLOW the podcast so you don't miss a single episode.

    Show More Show Less
    51 mins