Silvano Prandi, affectionately known throughout the volleyball world as “Il Professore” (“The Professor”), is one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of volleyball.
Across a career spanning half a century, he has built a remarkable legacy defined by innovation, consistency and an extraordinary ability to develop winning teams.
On 13 November, he will turn 79. Seventy-nine—and with no intention of slowing down. The latest chapter of his extraordinary journey was written today, with the announcement that he will become the new head coach of Paris Volley for the 2026/27 season.
The appointment comes only months after the conclusion of his long and successful spell with Chaumont VB 52, which began in 2015 and officially ended last January. Yet retirement was never truly part of the equation for a man whose life has always revolved around the court.
Preparation for the new season will begin in August, with Paris Volley set to compete not only in the domestic championship but also in the CEV Cup. As for objectives, his philosophy remains unchanged: to win every match. After all, he has never stepped onto the bench expecting to lose!
Prandi first rose to prominence with CUS Torino, guiding the club to four Italian league titles between 1979 and 1984. In 1980, he led the team to victory in the European Champions Cup, making CUS Torino the first Italian men’s club ever to conquer Europe’s most prestigious competition. He later added another continental trophy with the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1984.
His success continued with Alpitour Cuneo, where he enjoyed one of the most prolific periods of his career. Between 1995 and 1999, Prandi won the Italian Cup, the CEV Cup, two Cup Winners’ Cups and two European Super Cups, helping establish Cuneo among the elite clubs of European volleyball. He later added further domestic and international honours with Lube Macerata before returning to Cuneo to claim another Italian Cup title.
Even in the later stages of his career, Prandi’s passion for the game remained unchanged. At the helm of Chaumont VB 52 in France, he guided the club to its first national championship in 2017, followed by the French Super Cup, the French Cup and another appearance in the French league final in 2022, further enriching an already extraordinary list of achievements.
In total, Silvano Prandi has won 20 official club trophies as a head coach. Beyond those titles, he also left his mark on the international stage, leading Italy to the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games—the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in men’s volleyball—and later guiding Bulgaria to a bronze medal at the 2009 European Championship.
His achievements have been recognised far beyond the sidelines. In 2021, he received the CONI Golden Palm, one of the highest honours in Italian sport. Two years later, in 2023, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts, becoming the first Italian professional coach ever to receive that distinction.
More than the trophies themselves, Prandi’s enduring influence lies in the generations of players he inspired and the tactical vision that helped shape modern volleyball. Few coaches have left such a profound imprint on the sport, earning him a place among the true legends of the game.
Now, after fifty years on the bench, that legendary story gains yet another chapter. At 79, Silvano Prandi is not returning to the game. As he put it himself, he never really left it.
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