Keith Betts will enter his fourth year as an assistant coach with the Norfolk State volleyball program in 2019 and the first under head coach Kathy Bullock.
During his first season with the Spartans in 2016, NSU advanced back to the MEAC tournament after missing out during the previous two seasons. Jessica Johnson earned second-team All-MEAC honors along the way.
Betts joined the Spartans under previous head coach Dave Albaugh after achieving success at the high school and juniors levels in the Hampton Roads area.
Prior to joining NSU, Betts served as the head boys coach at Great Bridge High School in 2014 and ’15. He led the program to the state 4A semifinals and a third-place finish in 2015, the first state tournament appearance for Great Bridge since 2009 under former coach Albaugh.
Betts earned both the Conference 17 and Virginia High School League (VHSL) East Region Coach of the Year awards and mentored the conference and region players of the year, all in 2015. He coached five all-conference players during his two years while compiling a 30-11 overall record.
He served as the head coach of the girls’ varsity program at Portsmouth Christian School from 2012-13. Betts led the team to a third-place finish at the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division III state tournament in ’13, the best in school history. He coached two all-state players, six all-conference honorees and one conference player of the year while compiling a 40-17 overall record in two seasons.
From 2008-12, he was the girls’ JV head coach at Portsmouth Christian School. The team went from 2-18 the year before he arrived to 12-4 and a second-place conference finish in his last season in 2012.
Betts has also been active in the local juniors volleyball scene. In 2011, he coached the U-14 Coastal Virginia Volleyball Club team to a pair of tournament championships. Then from 2012-15, he was the head coach of the U-16 team, at one point compiling 14 top-5 finishes in 22 tournaments during a two-year period from 2012-13.
He served as the head coach of the U-16 Outbreak Volleyball Club team from 2014-17. In ’15, he became the owner and the director of operations for the club, a position he still holds.
A former member of the Navy, Betts was as a head coach and player on three different Captain’s Cup teams while serving. In 1995, his team won the All-Navy Ashore East Coast Tournament hosted on Dam Neck Naval Base, and Betts was awarded the Tournament MVP award.
Since 1999, he has worked for Leidos as a systems engineer, serving as a project lead of training for the United Kingdom’s Cruise Missile Support Activity.
Betts is taking classes toward a bachelor’s degree at Saint Leo University.
Betts and his wife Terri have been married for more than 25 years, and the couple has three children: Meagan (25), Tanner (21) and Jacob (17).
