Currently serving CVOA (Colorado Volleyball Officials Association) as an official for CHSAA matches in and around the Vail valley, Karl has had 30+ years of involvement in the sport of volleyball as a player, official, and coach.

Karl and his wife, Lisa, coached on the staff of Battle Mountain High School with Brian Doyon during their dominant run to a Colorado State Championship title, with the Huskies going 30-1 in matches, and winning every game they played against 4A opponents, a 90-0 game record.  4 players from that team are now playing at the collegiate level:  Colorado State, Northeastern, James Madison, and Washington University(MO).

Prior to joining Doyon on the bench at BMHS, Talcott was the head coach at Eagle Valley High School from 2001-2004, where he coached the Devils to 4 consecutive 20-win seasons, 2 District titles(’02, ’03), a Regional title(’02) and a State Tournament appearance(’03).  He also presided over the career of Kenzie Shreeve, who led all Colorado 3A players in Kills and Aces in ’02 and ’03, and was 3^rd in Kills when EVHS was bumped up to 4A in ’04.  (Kenzie now stars for Northern Colorado, who are leading the Mountain West Conference)  Karl was selected to coach at the CCGS All-State games in ’04. 

In July of 2000, when Lisa Talcott was asked to be a 1^st Assistant at the University of Central Arkansas, Karl became the 1^st Assistant across town at Hendrix College(DIII) in Conway, AR; where he was in charge of recruiting, volleyball operations, player and practice development, and strength and conditioning.  He also became the Director of Coaching at the Conway Spirit Volleyball Club, while coaching their 14-1 team to their first winning season and a 2^nd place Regional finish.

Karl and Lisa spent 1998 and 1999 as English teachers in Osaka, Japan, and upon their return in January of 2000 to their hometown of  Madison, Wisconsin, Karl was asked by Pete Waite (University of Wisconsin), to help out as a coach for a club he was advising called Wisconsin Power, and Coach Talcott finished that season as the 15-1’s coach.

Prior to leaving for Japan, Karl had coached year-round for numerous schools and clubs:

In the spring of 1997, he was 1^st Assistant for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (NCAA DI) Men’s program, while also coaching the 16-1’s girls team at North Shore Milwaukee Volleyball Club; a group that took 3^rd place overall in the club division of the USAV Northern Lights(MN) National Qualifier.  Players from that team went on to play for Marquette University (NCAA D-I), Haverford College, and Northland College. 

Karl also coached at Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee for 4 seasons from 1993-1996, where he led the small college to their only winning seasons before or since then.  In his tenure at this NAIA school, he was able to find and develop Sarah Smith, a state champion OH he converted to a dominant MB who became Player of the Year in the Lake Michigan Conference in 1996, when they finished 2^nd in the league.  In her last match for Coach Talcott, a 5-game thriller, Smith pounded 44 kills, and all-time league and school record. Karl also recruited and guided Chicagoland setter Christina Nagel to 4 straight first-team all-league honors for Stritch.

Karl was the Head Boys Volleyball coach at Shorewood High School in suburban Milwaukee from 1989-1992, where he led them to a State Tournament berth in 1990. 

It was also 1990 that Coach Talcott and 3 other high school coaches (2 UW alums, Ball State, and Arizona State) banded together to form the North Shore Milwaukee Volleyball Club.  North Shore was started as a boys club, and expanded to include girls teams in 1992. North Shore still enjoys a national reputation on the boys side that has built on the success of those founding seasons:  Not including a U-19 AAU National Championship in 1992, NSMVC has had 24 top-10 finishes at USAV Nationals since 1995, and 24 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections.  Boys from the era that Talcott coached there (1990-97) went on to play at UCLA, Ohio State, Hawaii, Stanford, UC-Irvine, Long Beach State, Princeton, Ball State, Pacific, UW-Milwaukee, Loyola of Chicago, Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne, George Mason, San Diego State, and Lewis College.  Girls from NSMVC played college ball at Marquette, Indiana State, UW-Milwaukee, University of Pugeot Sound, Eastern Kentucky, Towson, Haverford, Northland College, UW-LaCrosse, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Whitewater.   Karl also coached at numerous volleyball camps throughout Wisconsin from 1990-97, including at the UW, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Green Bay, as well as conducting dozens of high school camps and clinics, coaching thousands of athletes.

Talcott began his coaching career while still a student and a club player at the University of Wisconsin, when in 1987 he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Madison Memorial High School.  His Wisconsin Badger team, during his senior 1987-88 season finished the season ranked 8^th in the country. 

Wisconsin has always had boys volleyball at the high school level, and Karl played at Madison West High School, where in his senior year, after barely making the Varsity team, he earned a starting spot and Most Improved Player honors.

He went on to become the only player from his high school team to continue a career in volleyball, playing on numerous adult USAV teams, winning the Badger State Games(6’s) in 1990, ’91 and ’92;  in grass triples tournaments, winning the Wisconsin Grass Triples Championship in 1993; in beach doubles tournaments, taking 3^rd at AVP Qualifier events in Milwaukee in 1993 and Chicago in 1994, and runner-up in the 1996 Cuervo Amatuer Open in Milwaukee.