Former North Carolina-Asheville associate head coach Frederico Santos, has been hired to head the Barry University volleyball program taking over for Dave Nichols, who left to take over the NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Santos becomes just the fifth head coach in the program’s young history.

A native of Brazil, Santos brings more than 20 years of international playing and coaching experience to the Buccaneer program. At UNCA, where he spent eight seasons and the last three as associate head coach, he assisted in all phases of the Bulldog program including recruiting, on-court coaching, travel and pre-game setup. This is his first college head coaching position.

Santos coached the Biltmore Juniors for more than five years, leading the club to national finishes in each of the past five years, including championships at the Asheville Hi Neighbor tournament in 2003 and 2004.

Santos has been playing volleyball all his life beginning with club teams in Rio de Janeiro. He moved to Reno, Nevada in 1990 and starred for the University of Nevada-Reno club team from 1991-1996 where he was a setter. His club team was ranked fifth nationally by USA Today. In 1998, Santos played for the Reno Volleyball Club team as both a setter and outside hitter, leading the club to the USAV Nationals in Tucson, Arizona.

His coaching experience includes stops in Brazil, Iceland, Poland, Switzerland and Reno. Santos coached the Stjarnan Club team in Reykjavik, Iceland. He led the club to a 7-3 record in 2000 and a first place finish in the fall tournament. The team also finished runner-up in the Icelandic Cup and Icelandic Champships.

Santos has also worked with the men’s and women’s Brazilian national teams which are among the best in the world. He earned his degree in the spring of 2007 from UNC Asheville.

Santos is married to the former Nathalie Steffen. The couple have one son named Gabriel.