The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake Catholic hires Cline as coach
Rob Cline, who works at a volleyball club, wanted to bring his high school coaching to the east side of Cleveland.
Two years ago, soon after Rob Cline’s daughter, Olivia, was born, he joked with former Lake Catholic volleyball coach Rich Severino about his future.
“Are you going to coach 15 more years?” Cline asked Severino. “My daughter’s probably going to Lake.”
Severino laughed, said “no way” and presented a counter-offer. “How about you take it when I retire?” Severino asked Cline, then the coach at BrecksvilleBroadview Heights.
What Cline and Severino joked about years earlier became reality. After Severino retired in January, the Cougars announced Cline as their new head volleyball coach on Feb. 20.
Brecksville is only a season removed from its 2016 Division I state championship under Cline. But the opportunity to coach at Lake Catholic was irresistible.
“I think this is one of the best jobs in Ohio, to be honest with you,” Cline said.
Cline, who works in Mentor at Eastside Cleveland Juniors Volleyball Club, also wanted to bring his high school coaching to the east side of Cleveland. His wife, Kathy, works in marketing at Willoughby’s Marketing Communication Resource Inc.
Cline owns a career record of 169-57 over eight high school seasons. He spent eight seasons over two tenures at Brecksville. Cline coached the Bees from 200710 and guided Brecksville to a state final four berth in 2008. He spent three seasons at his alma mater, Kent State, as the Golden Flashes’ offensive coordinator before he coached at Aurora for one season. Cline returned to Brecksville in 2013, and the Bees defeated Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame in the 2016 state title match.
Cline graduated from Kent State in 2001. He began coaching at his high school alma mater, Cadiz, in 1995 and has experience as an assistant at Villa AngelaSt. Joseph and Beaumont.
Cline says he is an offensive-minded coach, but plans to learn Severino’s patented man-up defense to mix in with his own schemes.
“I try to spread it out,” Cline said. “I try to spread the offense out and then when somebody gets hot, that’s when we feed them the ball. That’s probably where I can help us the most.”
Lake Catholic athletic director Sam Colacarro said the Cougars interviewed three candidates, but Cline was “far and above” the best prospect.
Colacarro didn’t receive as many applications as he anticipated. The prospect of following Severino was of such a magnitude Colacarro joked the job would be similar to following Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Cline’s interview lasted more than an hour as Colacarro sensed he fit well on Reynolds Road.
“He was just the best fit, and we’re excited to have him,” Colacarro said. “He has vast knowledge and he’s well-respected in the volleyball community, so I think it’s a good hire.”
Severino compiled a 548183 record over 28 years as the Cougars’ coach. More than a dozen of Severino’s players went on to play Division I college volleyball. Lake Catholic advanced to the state level six times in Severino’s 28 seasons and won the 2010 D-II state title.
The Cougars’ current group is led by rising senior Pitt commit Ashley Browske and rising junior setter Katy Yopko, committed to Northern Kentucky. Rising junior middle blocker Ainslie McLaughlin also showed promise in the second half of Lake Catholic’s season and during the Cougars’ run to another state final four appearance.
Cline currently coaches Browske and Kelsey Whalen’s Junior Olympics team. Browske looks forward to the perspective Cline will bring to the program.
“He has implemented so many key things in our whole team,” Browske said. “We’ve become such a new and better team through him. He’s really a numbers kind of guy, a stats kind of guy. It makes you realize what you do in the game affects the overall result.”
Assistant coaches Katie White and Jenna Golic will remain on Cline’s staff. Lake Catholic will search to add a third assistant.
Cline takes over a program coming off back-toback trips to the state final four.
“They’re good to coach,” Cline said. “They work hard, they listen. They’re optimistic, they’re yelling things at me. It’s been great, I think this will be a good transition, a good fit.”