A couple of duffel bags sat on the floor in Salima Rockwell's old office, as the former women's volleyball assistant struggled to talk about her departure.

"We have a lot of personal things going on in our lives," new Texas assistant coach Rockwell said Monday about her family and coming to the decision on Jan. 16. "Whenever people take jobs, it's never for one thing. It's never just money or going to Texas. It's less to do about that than other things. I don't like to be vague, but I can't get into it too much. For our family, it's the best move right now."

Although Rockwell said she won't move to Texas until around the middle of February, she has started to work for the Longhorns.

Rockwell, who was wearing a Penn State volleyball fleece and a Nittany Lions hat, said her husband works in the technical industry as a tech writer. She said Austin, where the University of Texas is located, is the No. 2 tech city in the country, so that part of the change will be good for him.

Penn State head coach Russ Rose said Rockwell's position will be filled. But he said he will not be looking for a candidate who can replace Rockwell's talents, as all coaches are unique and have their own special abilities.

Once a new assistant is found, however, it could mean Rose and others on his staff may have different responsibilities, something he said he's had to do previously.

Rose also added that the search is in "a very early stage," but did not give names as to who he has talked with.

Besides being on staff the last three seasons, Rockwell was a setter at Penn State from 1991-94, earning All-American honors twice. She said everything happened within days of each other and that it caught her off-guard.

"It was a very agonizing decision because Penn State is who I am and is in my blood and always will be," Rockwell said. "It's not anything I came to lately. It was a tough decision but for me and my family, it was the best decision right now."

Before news broke about her job change, Rockwell wanted to let the team -- specifically setter Alisha Glass -- know ahead of time.

She said she called Glass to let her know about her decision, and Rose said he then told the rest of the team himself because Rockwell was out of town at the time.

Rose said Texas initially contacted him a couple of weeks ago about getting permission to talk with Rockwell about its assistant coaching vacancy, as assistant coach Tonya Johnson left the Longhorns to become the head coach at Georgia Tech.

Despite Rockwell's sudden departure, Rose was adamant about being fine with the situation, saying both know he has her back and her time at Penn State was "great." He said both his program and her new one will be fine.

"We didn't take her keys and throw her out in the street," Rose said. "That's not how we are and how it is. But I know she works for Texas. If I see her in a month out on the road recruiting, I know she works for Texas -- today, too.

"But that doesn't change how I feel about Salima. She's still the same person that I remember when she was a kid."