Emmanuel University (Ga.)

In Spring 2023, Friddle was given a promotion to Director of Volleyball. In his new role, Friddle oversees all three volleyball programs: Women’s Indoor, Men’s Indoor, and Women’s Beach Volleyball.

James Friddle joined Emmanuel as the Head Men’s Volleyball Coach in May of 2018. His role quickly grew in July of 2018, when he was named the Interim Head Coach for the upcoming women’s volleyball season. His team accumulated a 23-9 record and claimed the Division Championship as well as the Conference Carolinas Championship in their first year of post-season eligibility. The team went on to the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament. After a highly successful year, Friddle was officially named the Head Women’s Coach and his team repeated the 2019 season as Conference Champions with another NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. Since Friddle took over the women’s team the team has won a Conference Title in 2018, 2019, and 2023. The team has won their Division in each year of its existence. The team has achieved AVCA Academic Achievements in each year including Academic Honor Roll multiple times.

Friddle joins the Emmanuel coaching staff after a 5-year stint at Palm Beach Atlantic University where he most recently served as Interim Head Coach of the women's program. Before that, Friddle was a graduate assistant for the Sailfish from 2013-2015 before being named Head Assistant Volleyball Coach from 2015-2017. During his time at Palm Beach Atlantic, the Sailfish have had 5 very successful seasons including 5 NCAA South Region Tournament Appearances, and 2 NCAA National Appearances. Specializing in blocking, Friddle helped take the Sailfish from #111 in the nation in 2013 to #2 in the nation in 2016 for Blocks Per Set.
No stranger to the Conference Carolinas, Friddle is a conference alumnus himself who played on the men's volleyball team for King University from 2008-2012. During his time at King, Friddle established himself as the all-time kills leader for the Tornado men's volleyball program until 2017 while being named twice to the All-Conference team. Not only a standout on the court, Friddle was named as an All-Academic selection by the Conference Carolinas as both a junior and senior. 

Friddle was born in Greenville, South Carolina then later moved to Cartersville, Georgia where he graduated from Cartersville High School. He earned his Bachelors of Art in Finance with a minor in Coaching at King University (2012) and his Master of Business Administration from Palm Beach Atlantic University (2015). He frequently serves on mission trips with Sport X Change and enjoys wearing crazy pants/outfits during coaching. In 2015, Friddle along with the other coaches of Palm Beach Atlantic were nationally recognized for their crazy pants.

Coach Friddle currently resides in Commerce with his wife Andrea, daughter Delilah, and son Duke.