Derek Schroeder - Women's Volleyball Coach - Tulane University Athletics

Derek Schroeder

Title:
Head Coach

Derek Schroeder was hired as the 11th head coach of Tulane Volleyball in January of 2026.

Schroeder brings 17 years of head coaching experience, most recently serving three seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville State. He has amassed a 279-234 career record and secured five conference titles.

During his tenure with Jacksonville State, Schroeder developed two All-Conference USA performers: First Team honoree Kayla Williams and All-Freshman team selection Charlee Solomon. He also helped the Gamecocks increase their win total in each of his three seasons.

Prior to Jacksonville State, Schroeder led Mercer University’s volleyball program for six seasons. As head coach of the Bears, he earned 81 wins from 2017 to 2022. Notably, in just his second season, he guided Mercer to 16 wins—more than any other Southern Conference season in program history—and secured the program’s first SoCon regular-season titles in 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, Schroeder was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year, and three Mercer players earned All-SoCon honors, including Libero of the Year Megan Smith.

Schroeder spent eight seasons (2008-16) at the helm of the Samford volleyball program. Prior to his arrival, the program has mustered just single-digit win totals in three of the four previous seasons. He promptly led the team to a 28-5 record, the SoCon North Division title and the finals of the SoCon Championship in his first season. During his time with the Bulldogs, he led the program to 169 wins with seven winning seasons and a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2014.

While leading the Bulldogs, Schroeder posted more than 20 wins four times. He also won the SoCon North Division a total of four times and coached three different SoCon Players of the Year, in addition to a Freshman of the Year honor and one SoCon Libero of the Year.

Schroeder’s coaching career began at Furman in 2003, where he served as an assistant coach for four years. He then spent the 2007 season as an assistant at Saint Louis, leading the Billikens to a 23-7 record before accepting the head coaching position at Samford.

A native of Wheatley, Ontario, Canada, Schroeder is a 1998 graduate of the University of Windsor, earning his bachelor’s degree in human kinetics. He will be joined in Uptown by his wife Jenna and their great dane Luna.