U.S. Beach Volleyball Duo Fired Its Coach In The Middle Of The Olympics

U.S. beach volleyball duo Andy Benesh and Miles Partain will compete in the Round of 16 on Monday. But they'll have to do it without their coach, Mike Placek — because they decided to fire him in the middle of the Olympics.

The split came after a rough start for Team USA's top pairing. Partain and Benesh began Pool D play with a loss to Cuba in their opening match on July 27. Then, they had to battle to a 28-26 win in the second set of a 2-0 win over a bad Moroccan side on Tuesday. They got the W, but it wasn't pretty.

Miles Partain and Andy Benesh have advanced to the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics.

(Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports)

On Thursday, Partain and Benesh took on a strong Brazilian team and ultimately won, 2-1. But Placek was noticeably absent.

"There was a team meeting and a team decision to not move forward with their coach," Dain Blanton said on the NBC broadcast. "What that means is possibly (assistant coach) Paul Lotman will move into that coaching spot. We do not want to speculate on the details. We will get those answers after the match from the players themselves."

Kevin Wong, who has been a commentator on NBC’s Olympic beach volleyball coverage since the 2012 London Olympics, remarked that "in all the years we’ve been covering the Olympic beach volleyball event, I don’t know if there’s ever been a coaching change within the competition itself. That’d be a first."

But that's exactly what happened. 

Team USA Beach Volleyball Duo Parts Ways With Coach Mike Placek

After keeping quiet about the decision for a few days, Partain and Benesh released a statement via USA Volleyball on Saturday.

"We are very grateful for Mike Placek’s generosity, dedication, and tireless efforts leading up to the Olympics. His commitment and contributions have been unwavering," the statement read. "After careful consideration, we have decided it is best for us to part ways and explore different strategic paths. We remain deeply appreciative of what Mike has done for us and wish him continued success in all his future endeavors.

 "We prefer to keep this decision private. We are releasing this official statement to clarify and address some misleading rumors regarding the situation. We have a great support staff and appreciate their effort and commitment during this transition."

Placek is a former college tennis player who later transitioned to professional volleyball. He had been working with Partain and Benesh since Fall 2022.

Partain and Benesh will take on Italy's Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai on Monday. The other U.S. men's duo — Chase Budinger and Miles Evans — also advanced to the Round of 16 and will face Norway.