Bob Lutz: Why does Chris Lamb stay at WSU? Because he’s happy, that’s why

Chris Lamb owns the house he grew up in. It’s in Sebastopol, Calif., in the heart of Wine Country, and he’s always thought he would return there when he’s finished coaching college volleyball.

But Lamb, in his 16th wildly successful season as Wichita State’s volleyball coach, isn’t so sure now.

“Every year I go back there now, there’s less pull to that notion of going back there to live,” Lamb said. “I’ve come to realize it’s kind of easy living in Wichita. It’s not crowded, not busy, the people are great. People want to talk and hang out here. People back home seem like they’re insanely stressed and busy.”

Lamb, 51, has made volleyball popular at WSU. He has a 356-146 career record, 13 straight seasons of 20 or more victories and five Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles. Before Lamb arrived like a Kansas thunderstorm, Wichita State volleyball was mostly a drizzle with only five 20-win seasons.

Lamb is a West Coast, Pac-12 kind of guy who has transformed into a Midwesterner before our very eyes.

If he had a nickel for every time he’s been asked why he stays at Wichita State when his success would undoubtedly make him appealing to many bigger schools, he could retire and go live in that childhood home.

And it’s not like Lamb hasn’t been approached.

“People have thrown out feelers,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll get you on the phone because they want to ask about other candidates, but they’re really taking your temperature. That happens all the time, actually.”

Lamb and his wife, Shannon, whom he met on the recruiting trail when he was at Arizona and she was at Washington State in the late 1990s, got married in Wichita. They have two daughters, Sydney (9) and Gracie (11). Shannon is the team’s director of operations.

Sydney is into all kinds of sports; Gracie prefers theater and dance.

Chris Lamb loves restoring old cars and is currently working on a 1967 Barracuda Fastback.

“Working on cars and coaching volleyball don’t necessarily go together,” he said. “I think I’ve only met one other college coach who is a gearhead. But I grew up with cars. My cousins and uncles were all into racing and I’ve been rebuilding lawnmowers since I was in junior high. My grandfather was a machinist, so I was into welding as a kid.

“I’m old enough now to make an evaluation of my own brain. I like projects and I like puzzles and I think coaching is probably wrapped up in some of that.”

Lamb and the Shockers have a big weekend of volleyball coming up, especially Friday night’s match against Southern Illinois at Koch Arena. Wichita State (14-2) leads the Salukis by one game in the Valley standings and lost to the Salukis in Carbondale on Nov. 2 in a five-game match.

Lamb is an advocate of MVC volleyball, calling it underrated and insisting that the top six or seven teams in the conference are capable of beating each other. But he really has a thing for Wichita State, which probably explains better than anything else why he stays.

His success allows him freedom. He long ago overcame the popular theory that recruiting volleyball players to Kansas was impossible and if you need more evidence, just look at the success of Kansas and Kansas State. Lamb likes his players, his assistants, his trainers and managers, his strength coach, his academic adviser — the list goes on and on.

“I have a lot of friends in coaching and we talk about what it’s like on our own campuses,” Lamb said. “Trust me, Wichita State’s athletic department is doing a lot of things right. Every time I hear President (John) Bardo talk, I’m so interested in what he says. He has such a vision and there’s so much to be excited about.”

Even so, Lamb is still pestered by those who wonder when he’s leaving. Surely there’s greener grass. Definitely the money would be greener elsewhere, or at least there would be more of it.

Lamb, though, doesn’t chase money. He chases contentment and he’s found it in Wichita.

“Everybody’s always asking me about the next job,” Lamb said. “I just feel like what I learned from my dad is hard work and picking up a shovel. You’re going to work hard wherever you go. Maybe winning could come easier somewhere else but it’s still hard work. I don’t know how responsible it would be to start bouncing around. I have a good situation, why would you put that at risk?”

Well, maybe because we’re brainwashed to think good situations can become better. If you took a poll, most Kansans would probably think Arizona or California would be a better place to live than where they live.

Yet here’s Lamb, who comes from one of the most beautiful and bountiful areas in the United States, telling us that Kansas and Wichita perfect suit his needs. He’s happy here. So are his wife and kids.

“I have a good thing here and I’m not afraid of hard work,” Lamb said. “We raise money here and probably have to do a little more of that to keep WuShock moving forward. But I’m OK with that. The Shockers have been great to me. So I wonder why people feel like they’re supposed to ask that question about me being interested in other jobs. I don’t know why there’s such a stepping-stone mentality with everyone.”

Lamb has come to think that leaving for home when he’s finished coaching would be selfish to his family, especially his daughters. They’re from Wichita — it’s their hometown just like Sebastopol is his. He’s a fervent fan of the Warriors, 49ers and baseball Giants. But would he be any more of a fan if he was in closer proximity?

“I get why people outside of Wichita kind of wonder why I stay,” Lamb said. “But people here ask me like I’m supposed to leave. ‘What’s taking so long? What’s the problem?’”

No problem, Lamb says. Everything, in fact, is peachy.

“My former boss, John Price, was the head coach at Cal State Bakersfield when I was there,” Lamb said. “And he always told me that if loyalty hadn’t been invented, I would have invented it.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Why does Chris Lamb stay at WSU? Because he’s happy, that’s why."