Loran Smith: New UGA volleyball coach set for success

While sitting in Lizzy Stemke’s office at the University of Georgia’s Ramsey Center, a flood of reflections came rushing to the forefront. The affiliations in her life and career with familiar sports figures stimulate confidence that she has the foundation for preeminent success as the school’s volleyball coach, a position she took over this past December.

Friendships and affiliations don’t guarantee victories or championships, but it is clear that she and her husband, Kevin, who played football at Wisconsin, have always been linked with successful coaches and winning traditions — and at least one Bulldog she never knew.

Immediately, there was a flashback to the time of Bernie Ramsey, a small-town matriculate at Georgia who took his business degree, shrewd financial judgment, investment savvy and opportune timing to Wall Street. There, he amassed a small fortune, part of which he shared with his alma mater. If Lizzy had known the late Bernard Ramsey — the Ramsey Center is named for his wife — it is likely that they would have immediately formed a mutual admiration society.

They would have bonded with a handclasp of affection and a high-fiving respect toward making a great university even greater. I thought of Bernie Ramsey, a remarkable alumnus, as Lizzy and I reminisced about mutual friends and liaisons, along with her enthusiasm for taking Bulldog volleyball to the top.

She is the daughter of Billy Fitzgerald, who coached basketball and baseball at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans, where a trio of kids named Manning — Cooper, Peyton and Eli — came under his tutelage.

“Lizzy was a fine athlete whose father has influenced a lot of kids, including ours,” Archie Manning said. “Our kids were crazy about Billy Fitzgerald. She will do well as a head coach.”

Lizzy’s older brother, Edmond, played basketball at Ole Miss; younger brother, Robert, played baseball at Tennessee; and sister, Meg, volleyball at Florida. Any casual observer would say her DNA makes her a good fit for life as a coach.

“We grew up in gyms,” she said with an appreciative smile.

Lizzy made All-America in volleyball at Wisconsin, the only Fitzgerald to leave the Southland, but a highlight of her life was to come about from that change of address.

It was in Madison that she met her husband, Kevin, the inaugural winner of the Ray Guy Award, something of a Georgia tie for the Stemkes. He played for Barry Alvarez, who gave the Badgers a Rose Bowl comeback after a 31-year drought, convincing folks in Madison that their team could compete against the dominant teams in the Big Ten — Michigan and Ohio State — and reminding everybody there were two teams in the state of Wisconsin that could win football championships. (Not everybody in the state waves Packers green and gold.)

Lizzy came to Athens from Nebraska, where she was an assistant volleyball coach on teams that made four NCAA appearances and won a national championship. Prior to her stay in Lincoln, she was an assistant at North Carolina. Her resumé reveals that at Nebraska she was multifaceted, handling everything from recruiting to academics to clinics and video management.

“I thought Lizzy related well to her players, was a very hard worker, and obviously knows volleyball,” Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne praised in an e-mail.

Interestingly, Lizzy the recruiter became the recruited.

“Greg McGarity set the tone in the interview process and was so persuasive,” she said. “I kept hearing what I wanted to hear. That he wants to be a pacesetter in all sports and that he will give us the resources to do our job. What more can you ask for?”

“We know we will love the outdoor opportunities here, and we are great football fans. We are enthralled with sports on a college campus — the environment, camaraderie and excited crowds at an athletic contest. We hope to stay in college athletics for a lifetime. It is such a great way of life.”

Loran Smith is a contributing columnist for The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at loransmith@sports.uga.edu.

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