If it were up to Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose, I wouldn't have written any of this.

"You should know me well enough by now to know that I don't want that," he told me when I mentioned this spread. "Write about the girls so they can see their names in the paper. Write about my coaching staff. It isn't about me; it has never been about me."

I sat on the bleachers in the South Gym of Rec Hall, unsure of what to say. After all, there aren't many things I would disagree with Coach about.

"Well," I said. "We already have it planned."

But this time, for once, I had reason to go counter to Rose. Because in his 25 years at Penn State, in 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances, in 25 seasons with 22 wins or more, in a 1999 National Championship, and in a nationally ranked women's volleyball program that he built up from nothing, somewhere in there it had to be about him. And if I know him well enough by now, then I know him well enough to know that.

He has a way of motivating players, of pushing the right buttons, of creating just the right combination of support and pressure to make them become the absolute best they can be, on and off the court.

A few weeks ago, I heard him at practice with sophomore setter Sam Tortorello.

"Sammy, this is your drill, don't mess it up," he said to her. She smiled as she pushed the cart of balls away and responded, "I know, Coach."

I asked Leslie Peters Bleggi, who played for him from 1980-83, if she would have been the same player or person without Coach Rose.

"Absolutely not," she said. "I was one of those people that if he hung a carrot out in front of me, I went for it. He took me to a whole new level that I wouldn't have gotten to with other coaches at other schools. And also outside being a player, being a productive person. There are only so many people in your life who influence you positively, and he was definitely one of them."

He has a way of bonding with his players so that when they leave the program, they realize how far they've come, how much of that relates to Coach, and how much they'll miss him. I was on the phone with Christy Cochran, who played from 1995-98. "I'm doing a profile story on Coach Rose to commemorate 25 years," I told her.

"Oh, for Russ Rose, of course," Cochran said immediately. "Anything you want to know!"

She went on for nearly twenty minutes, telling me story after story. And then she paused to reflect.

"He's a special one," Cochran said. "And I've been coached by tremendous coaches, but no one is like him."

And he's found that magical balance between making every practice challenging to the maximum, while still being fun.

It's in his running commentary when he hits the balls for the coach-on-four drill, it's in his wisecracks while standing by the post of the net.

"He's someone who means business, but also he's someone who knows that volleyball is something that's fun," three-time All-American Lauren Cacciamani said. "He always made it something that we would enjoy, never something that we dreaded. It's possible to work hard and have a great time, and that's what it was all about for us."

To watch Coach in action is to understand that it truly is about him. I've been to enough practices and matches to know that. No, it's not all about him, but enough that it can be said that Penn State women's volleyball would not be where it is today without his influence, and I doubt that anyone will ever forget that.

"People come and go," Rose told me. "When my story's over, my story's over. I'm smart enough to know that."

Yes Coach, your story will someday be over -- but not forgotten. Because like any good tale, it will be read again and again and again.