Bio

Clay Timmons begins his ninth season in a head coach role at College of the Canyons, and his 20th season overall with the women’s volleyball program.

Prior to taking over head coach responsibilities in 2016, Timmons served as an assistant for 11 seasons under longtime head coach Lisa Hooper. During that span he helped guide the Lady Cougars to three straight Western State Conference (WSC), South titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In 2022, Timmons and Hooper joined forces as co-head coaches and helped lead the Lady Cougars to a 20-9 overall record, along with a conference title and trip to the CCCAA State Championship tourney, the program's second in as many years. Those efforts were rewarded with conference Coach of the Year honors, alongside Hooper.

In 2021, COC began the season with a 2-8 record before assuming the role of Cinderella and advancing all the way to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Championship Tournament for the fourth time in program history. After rattling off seven straight wins to conclude the regular season schedule, Canyons began the postseason with a home victory over No. 18 Mt. San Jacinto in the play-in round of the SoCal regional playoffs. The Cougars then went on the road to sweep No. 2 Pasadena City College and return with the upset victory. Timmons and his squad then punched their ticket to the state championship tourney with a come-from-behind 3-2 road win over No. 10 Ventura College. Though Canyons would be eliminated in the opening round of the state championships, the squad finished the season as the No. 8 ranked team in the state.

Timmons also led the Cougars to a co-WSC championship and state championship tourney appearance in 2017 after finishing the regular season tied with Bakersfield College in the conference standings. Canyons then won its first two postseason matches to advance to the state championships for just the third time in program history. Timmons was also an assistant coach during the Cougars' state tourney appearances in 2007 and 2015. That year, Canyons swept Feather River College 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-20) in its opening match. However, COC finished just short of reaching its first state tourney championship game when the Cougars lost to the eventual state champs Irvine Valley College in a heartbreaking 3-2 (19-25, 25-13, 26-28, 25-23, 14-16) final result.

His overall record as a head coach sits at 124-61 entering the 2024 season.

Timmons also coaches club volleyball with the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy (LAVA), North division in Santa Clarita. His team, which competes in the 18’s age division both regionally and nationally, has also enjoyed tremendous success in recent years, including a fifth place finish at the Junior National Championships in 2015.

A graduate of Valencia High School, Timmons was a member of the school’s first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Championship men’s volleyball team in 2003.

Timmons later played on the men’s volleyball team at Santa Monica College, helping his team reach the state semi-finals in 2006.

He then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from California State University, Northridge in 2009.

Timmons is also an adjunct faculty member in the college’s kinesiology & physical education department.

In his free time, Timmons enjoys playing tennis and beach volleyball, eating sushi, hiking, going to the beach and being outdoors.

He resides in Valencia.

—Bio current as of Aug. 2024