Legendary Pennsylvania State University women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose announced his retirement on Thursday after 43 years of service to the Penn State Nittany Lions. However, while Rose will step down from active coaching, he will retain an advisory role with the athletics department.

Announcing his retirement, the 68-year-old said, “While I have decided to step into retirement, it has been my pleasure to serve as the head coach of the Penn State women’s volleyball program over the last 43 seasons. My time here has provided my family and me many memories and relationships that we will carry with us. I would like to thank the many players, managers and support staff for their dedication, in addition to all of the assistants who helped shape the culture and success of the program.”

Rose’s heartfelt and modest statement cannot do justice to his illustrious career, and he will go down in history as one of the greatest coaches in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball. In his time with the team, Rose led the Nittany Lions to seven NCAA championships, winning four in a row between 2007 and 2010. Rose’s seven titles is the second-highest ever, behind Stanford’s nine. Rose also led his team to 25 conference championships, including 17 Big Ten and 8 Atlantic 10 titles.

The legendary 68-year-old is also one of the five coaches in NCAA Division I to have over 1,000 victories, and sits at the top of the list with a whopping 1,330 career wins. On top of these achievements, Rose is renowned for leading the Nittany Lions to a mind-boggling 109 consecutive match wins and 111 straight-set wins.

“It’s difficult to appropriately capture our appreciation for Russ Rose and his service to our students, Penn State and our women’s volleyball program. We send our heartfelt congratulations to Russ Rose on a phenomenal career at Penn State, and decades of tremendous impact on students, staff and community. He has been a mainstay of our community for more than four decades and will long be remembered for raising the profile of women’s volleyball, not just at Penn State but nationally. His legacy will live on through the hundreds of student-athletes who recount what a positive influence he has been on their lives, long after graduation. The all-time winningest coach in NCAA history, Russ was the architect of one of the most successful dynasties in college sports, leading his team to seven NCAA Championships, including four consecutive NCAA Championships, and 109-straight wins from 2007-10,” said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour, bidding farewell to the legendary coach.