By Logan Jones ’18

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The hardware in Manny Martins’ office is impressive. Three Mountain West championship trophies sit on a shelf above his desktop — matching conference title rings are over by the window. Player-signed soccer balls from every team he’s coached since his 2021 hiring take up significant desk space.

A few blocks over, Keith Smith’s corner of the Wayne Estes building tells a similar story. Smith, named USU’s new head volleyball coach just four months ago, inherits a program fresh off an undefeated conference season, which included both Mountain West tournament and regular season titles, as well as the Aggies’ first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2001.

Just across the parking lot, on the third floor of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, is gymnastic coach Kristin White’s office. However, she doesn’t keep the trophies from the Aggies’ back-to-back conference titles — a first in the program’s history — there, they’re housed in the team’s locker room.

These Aggies coach different sports, but in at least one sense their goals are the same: convert their respective programs’ hard-earned momentum into the kind of investment due to make Utah State a premier women’s sports institution.

To be clear, investment is exactly what each of these programs — and others — have earned.

“I don’t think money or investment wins games,” Martins says. “But it helps.”

The Aggies’ recent $3 million turf-and-lighting overhaul helped establish USU as last year’s highest-spending team in all of women’s soccer. Junior defender Kaeda Wilson says the investment “has been huge on every side — the university’s giving us the tools we need to be successful.”

Hardware and coaching contracts are merely byproducts, though. The real catalyst for Utah State’s women’s athletics renaissance is found in a shared recruiting map that bypasses the national ‘blue-chip’ factories in favor of a region-specific work ethic.

SOCCER’S NOT-SO-SECRET PIPELINE

Martins’ tenure has seen the Aggies evolve into something of a national force. Since his arrival in 2021, Martins has guided 20 players to All-Mountain West honors, 10 players to all-region accolades and shattered nearly every offensive record in school history, capped by an 18-win 2024 campaign that saw the team outscore opponents by a staggering 48 goals.

His 2025 squad boasted similar success — offensively, the team’s 44 goals were the second-most in program history (the high mark is 62, from the year prior). Defensively, they posted nine shutouts last year and tallied a second-straight unbeaten season on their home turf.

“We’ve had success before me,” Martins reflects. “But I feel a deep responsibility to make sure we not only sustain it but continue to push it forward.”

The engine behind it all appears to be, at least in part, a local talent pool that Martins once tried to keep under wraps.

“Utah has the most kids per capita playing soccer out of any state in the country … there’s something in the water,” Martins explains. “And Cache County has the most kids per capita in the state. Put those together, and it makes sense why we have seven kids from this local area helping us compete on a national stage. I used to say I wanted to keep it a secret — I don’t think it’s much of a secret anymore.”

Wilson likewise views the large local presence on the roster as a living recruiting brochure.

“We have a lot of hometown people who are examples for younger kids who live in Logan,” Wilson says. “We’re super fortunate that within Logan and Utah, we have so many girls who are such good quality and want to come to Utah State.”

In an era where the transfer portal perpetually scrambles college rosters between seasons, Martins’ squad remains remarkably stable thanks to this bevy of local talent. Between Martins’ freshman and sophomore classes, seven local contributors make up the backbone of his fall roster.

“They all play a lot. They all contribute,” Martins says. “They’re not just kids from the valley that don’t play. They’re big contributors for us. Hopefully, we can keep some of this talent home going forward.”

VOLLEYBALL’S NEW STANDARD

While Martins is years into building his Death Star, Smith is among the newest athletic architects on campus.

“It’s been a very big change, obviously,” says 2025 conference player of the year Kaylie Kofe who entered the transfer portal after this interview and shortly before this issue was sent to print. “We got a new coaching staff all of a sudden, but [Coach Smith] has been so great, getting us comfortable and making sure we’re doing OK.”

Kofe cites the hands-on approach of Athletic Director Cameron Walker as a major benefit both during the season and throughout the search for a replacement for former head coach Rob Neilson.

“Cam jumped in right away,” Kofe says. “It was just like, ‘What do you guys need? What can I do? What needs to change?’”

Despite Smith’s short tenure, the former TCU and Auburn assistant has quickly identified a quality he terms the “Logan Factor” — a combination of high expectations and a dedicated fandom that treats volleyball as a marquee event.

“I think the impression is that this is just a place that wins,” Smith says. “That’s the type of program I took over too — one that expects to win. Girls come here to win. People are interested because we win.”

“Interested” may be a bit of an understatement; the volleyball program shattered its attendance record last September when 4,932 fans packed the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum to watch the Aggies take on ranked BYU.

“It’s a different energy,” Smith says. “The student section isn’t just there to be loud, they’re there because they know the players, they know the stats, and they expect us to dominate.”

Smith’s approach to building a roster in the transfer era hinges on a general belief in a psychological 10-80-10 rule for team culture.

“Ten percent of people are just elite teammates, no matter what environment you put them in,” Smith says. “And about 10% are going to be terrible teammates, no matter what environment you put them in — you have to avoid them at all costs. Eighty percent is where most people live. The goal is always to find however many people are near the top of that 10%.”

“Honestly, I think what gets people to come here is our team vibe, our connection, and how they see us interact with each other,” Kofe adds.

Smith has been clear about his arrival not signaling a “rebuild” for the program, but rather a retooling of the machine that has won five conference titles in five seasons and finished a perfect 18–0 in Mountain West play last year.

THE PRO PIVOT

Retooling takes an eye for talent, but the potential for success beyond the collegiate level may prove to be a significant factor in the caliber of recruits available to Utah State both now and in the future.

A decade ago, graduation marked the end of the road for most female Aggies’ athletic careers. Today, that road extends into the professional ranks. Post-collegiate success for athletes like Olympic track star Chari Hawkins and recent Chicago Stars signee Taylor Rath has changed the internal dialogue of USU’s women’s programs — a development coach Smith is watching closely.

“We’re not just preparing these athletes for the Mountain West anymore,” Smith says. “With the PVF and LOVB leagues taking root in the U.S., our girls can look at a career path that keeps them in the states.”

League One Volleyball — or LOVB, pronounced “love” — launched its inaugural professional season in 2025, building on its own unique model which includes league-owned and operated youth programs. The pro league consists of teams in six U.S. cities — including Salt Lake City. Its local presence means that Aggie standouts no longer must look to Europe or Asia to extend their careers.

“For the girls who want to go to the next level, it’s nice to have that option so close to stay here,” Kofe says.

“Having a pro team in Salt Lake is a game-changer for our recruiting,” Smith adds. “It makes the dream tangible.”

Smith himself has experience on the international stage, serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s U21 National Team at the NORCECA Pan American Cup last summer where Team USA dominated, sweeping all five matches in Costa Rica to capture a gold medal.

It’s that same standard — one with an eye toward the national and even the world stage — which Smith is now tasked with translating to the Estes Center.

GYMNASTICS’ OWN SPECTRUM MAGIC

While soccer and volleyball grab the fall headlines, the winter months belong to White’s gymnastics squad. The Aggies have turned the Spectrum into a fortress under her leadership, sporting a perfect 8–0 home record this winter and the most wins in a season (19) since 1986.

The Aggies’ back-to-back Mountain West Championships earned White a contract extension through the 2030 season and have already put USU in the conversation as a potential conference juggernaut heading into the Pac-12.

“I am so proud to be able to represent a school where winning has become the standard,” says junior gymnast Isabella Vater. “You can see the momentum building from team to team and it’s exciting to get to be a part of it. A lot of what we are able to achieve comes from the support of the community and that’s what makes women’s sports at Utah State so special.”

While gymnastics doesn’t have a traditional domestic league in the same vein as the LOVB, the rise of post-collegiate tours and the expansion of the NCAA’s media footprint have given Aggie gymnasts a platform that didn’t exist 10 years ago. For White, the goal is to ensure her athletes are prepared for that spotlight.

“When I arrived almost four years ago, I believed deeply in what this program could become,” White said in a March presser announcing her extension. “The support from this community has meant everything — not just to me, but to my entire family and team.”

THE PAC-12 FRONTIER

Though the move to the Pac-12 in July looms large, the internal temperature of the programs remains focused on the immediate standard.

“It makes you super excited for the future,” Wilson says. “I don’t think there’s a different level of intensity or motivation just because we’re going to the Pac-12 — I think it’s a constant. Pressure is always a privilege, and that pressure is exciting.”

For Wilson and her teammates, that mental constant is now matched with a physical one — the university’s investments have effectively moved the ceiling, transforming standard practice into a professional-grade rehearsal. In fact, when it comes to simulating game-like intensity Martins notes the new lighting and surface allow for night training that closely mimics the conditions of professional and postseason play.

“When you’re preparing for a Thursday night match in Los Angeles or Seattle, you can’t be practicing on a field that doesn’t mirror that environment,” Martins says.

The move to the Pac-12 promises added national exposure and a bump in revenue, but Utah State isn’t changing its soul. The Aggies remain committed to a model where NIL is a reward for excellence, not a signing bonus.

“We want to be less about paying players to play and more like, when you come here and start for us or are all-conference, you earn some money,” Smith says.

As USU’s teams prepare for their inaugural Pac-12 season, the sentiment in Logan is one of responsibility. They are effectively stewards of a 30-year legacy finally getting its due.

“We are so fortunate to not only be a high-competing team, but to be surrounded by so many other female athletes just as high-achieving,” Wilson reflects. “We’ve earned the opportunity, but we are super blessed for all the investment the athletics department puts into us.”

“The investment and the support has been real,” Martins says. “I feel that, and our student-athletes feel that.”