Kress finished his Fairfield coaching career with a record of 283-119 (.704) and 517-314 (.622) in 27 seasons as a Division I head coach. He led the Stags to another MAAC regular-season championship after finishing 17-1 in league play, but fell to Quinnipiac in the championship match to end the season 25-7.
Kress, who is Fairfield’s all-time leader in wins (283) and matches coached (402), also ranks second in program history with a .704 winning percentage. His 283 wins make him the MAAC's all-time winningest volleyball coach. Kress has also led the volleyball programs at Northern Illinois, Florida State and Buffalo.
In the fall of 2021, the Stags returned to the top of the MAAC with a 16-2 conference record to lock up the 20th MAAC regular-season championship in program history (his ninth). The 2021 conference crown was Fairfield’s record 12th MAAC Championship (his seventh) and 20th regular season title (his ninth) since 1996. For his efforts this fall, Kress was named MAAC Coach of the Year for a conference-record eighth time and for the fifth time in seven years. The Stags’ 12th NCAA postseason trip brought them to #14 UCLA, where they put a scare in the host Bruins before falling to end the campaign at 24-9.
Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Fairfield played a truncated season in the spring of 2021 in place of a typical fall of 2020 campaign. In the 10-match, conference-only slate, the Stags went 9-1 – winning their first nine matches to seal the regular season title. The 9-1 league record marked Kress's seventh season with one or no MAAC losses. Fairfield did not compete in the MAAC Championship postseason tournament due to Covid-19 protocols.
The 2019 Stags started the MAAC slate with 16 consecutive wins, sewing up the top seed and regular season title before ultimately dropping just one match en route to a 17-1 league slate. In the postseason, Fairfield rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Marist in the semifinals, then topped the upstart sixth-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in four sets to claim the MAAC title. In addition to being the top team in the conference at 17-1, the Stags were also the league’s most improved club with a six-win increase on their tally from the prior campaign.
The Stags reached the MAAC Championship semifinals in 2018, marking the squad’s 10th straight season with a postseason victory. The campaign saw the end of Fairfield’s winning streak of 58 consecutive wins over MAAC competition (including postseason and non-conference meetings). At its peak, the run was longest active stretch against conference opponents in the nation and eclipsed the 1997-2001 Stags’ run of 49 straight MAAC wins, a streak that was also started by Kress-coached teams.
In addition to winning the 2017 MAAC Championship, Kress’s squad completed its second consecutive 18-0 MAAC regular season. After becoming the first team since 2003 (Manhattan) not to drop a set in the MAAC Championship, the Stags carried 21-match winning streak into the NCAA postseason, where they met #2 Texas for the second time in three seasons, ending the year at 25-7.
The 2016 Stags were just the second team to ever finish 18-0 in the MAAC regular season and the first to cap that feat by winning the MAAC Championship. That 20-match run through the conference was a part of a 22-match winning streak – the longest streak in the nation during the 2016 season. Fairfield’s season ended at #15 Michigan State in the NCAA Championship First Round with a record of 28-6.
Kress also led Fairfield to the MAAC Championship in 2015, advancing to the NCAA Championship First Round to challenge eventual NCAA Finalist Texas at Gregory Gym. Fairfield finished the year at 21-10. That squad was one of the youngest in the nation – and undoubtedly the youngest in the NCAA postseason field – boasting an active roster featuring nine freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and no seniors. In his return to Fairfield in 2014, Kress guided the Stags to a 19-12 final record and a trip to the semifinal round of the MAAC Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
Kress’ second stint at Fairfield marks a return to his first head coaching stop. Kress took the reins of Fairfield volleyball from 1995-98 and led the Stags to one of the most successful four-year stretches in program history.
After an 11-21 season to begin his tenure in 1995, Kress guided the Stags to a 23-12 mark and a MAAC regular season championship in 1996. The turnaround did not go unnoticed, as Kress was recognized by his peers as the MAAC Coach of the Year. He would earn the honor again in both 1997 and 1998 after leading the Stags to the first two MAAC Championships and NCAA postseason appearances in program history. Fairfield went unbeaten (9-0) in MAAC play in both campaigns.
In 1998, Kress was also named the AVCA District II Coach of the Year on the heels of the Stags’ 35-2 final record – a program standard for wins and winning percentage (.946) that remains intact today.
Kress then took the head coaching position at Northern Illinois, once again engineering a nationally-recognized turnaround. The Huskies went 24-9 in 2000 – a 14-win improvement from the previous fall – and went 24-6 in 2001 en route to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. Kress was named the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year.
Kress moved on to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2002 as the head coach at Florida State. In his first season at the helm, the Seminoles won 21 matches and reached the ACC Championship match. Despite falling to Georgia Tech in the final round, Florida State’s body of work merited an at-large berth to the NCAA postseason – ending the Seminoles’ three-year absence from the national stage.
In six seasons on the sidelines in Tallahassee, Kress picked up 103 victories. He guided Florida State to four winning seasons overall and finished with a record of .500 or better in ACC play in five campaigns. Kress also mentored the program’s first three AVCA All-America honorees and five First Team All-ACC selections.
Kress headed north to the University at Buffalo in 2009 to begin a five-year stay with the Bulls. During his tenure, Buffalo posted its first two winning seasons since 1996. Kress notched 73 victories with the Bulls, departing as one of the program’s most successful coaches since joining the Division I ranks in 1991.
Originally from Sidney, Ohio, Kress is a 1992 graduate of the University of Cincinnati. He has two sons: Trevor and Trajan.
Todd Kress Year-by-Year Records
1995 Fairfield 11-21 1-6
1996 Fairfield 23-12 6-1 MAAC Regular Season Champ.
1997 Fairfield 25-10 9-0 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
1998 Fairfield 35-2 9-0 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
Totals Fairfield – 4 yrs. 94-45 25-7
1999 Northern Illinois 10-15
2000 Northern Illinois 24-9
2001 Northern Illinois 24-6 NCAA Tournament
Totals Northern Illinois – 3 yrs. 58-30
2002 Florida State 21-13 NCAA Tournament
2003 Florida State 16-17
2004 Florida State 18-11
2005 Florida State 13-17
2006 Florida State 19-12
2007 Florida State 16-14
Totals Florida State – 6 yrs. 103-84
2009 Buffalo 16-16
2010 Buffalo 18-16
2011 Buffalo 11-19
2012 Buffalo 10-18
2013 Buffalo 18-12
Totals Buffalo – 5 yrs. 73-81
2014 Fairfield 19-12 13-5
2015 Fairfield 21-10 14-4 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
2016 Fairfield 28-6 18-0 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
2017 Fairfield 25-7 18-0 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
2018 Fairfield 14-16 11-7
2019 Fairfield 24-6 17-1 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
2020 Fairfield 9-1 9-1 MAAC Regular Season Champ.
2021 Fairfield 24-9 16-2 MAAC Reg. & Tourn. Champ/NCAA Tournament
2022 Fairfield 25-7 17-1 MAAC Regular Season Champ.
Totals Fairfield – 9 yrs. 189-74 133-21
Combined Fairfield 283-119 158-28 13 years
Overall Coaching Record 517-314 27 years