Dain Blanton

Biography

DAIN BLANTON—an Olympic gold-medalist and the 2024 AVCA National Coach of the Year—is in his sixth season (2024-25) as head coach of the USC beach volleyball program. Blanton has led the Women of Troy to NCAA championships in each of the last four seasons (2021, ’22, ’23, ’24) and made USC the first team ever to capture four straight titles in the sport and the first women’s program at USC to win four consecutive national crowns. He also guided the Trojans to two Pac-12 championships; the first in 2022 and a second in 2024, which was the final Pac-12 title awarded. Including the shortened 2020 season—his first as a collegiate head coach—Blanton holds a remarkable 142-20 (.877) overall record as USC’s head coach. His record includes a 26-5 mark in postseason duals and an incredible 17-0 record in the NCAA championship tournament. Blanton was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame as an All-Time Great Beach Athlete in 2024. He is also a member of the CBVA Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2016 and was inducted into the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2020. Blanton is also a member of the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame’s class of 2008. Blanton’s 2024 Trojans finished the season 37-5 and claimed both the Pac-12 and NCAA championships. The team produced a 16-match win streak during the season and finished with six wins in a row, which included five 3-0 sweeps to go undefeated at the NCAA championship. In 2023, USC completed a 32-5 season with a