U.S. women’s volleyball national team coach has opted for Gophers
The U.S. women’s national volleyball team coach, Hugh McCutcheon, was recently offered the job of Head Coach at University of Minnesota, which he accepted without further ado.
McCutcheon will now perform his duties as the mentor of the women’s volleyball team at University of Minnesota. Formerly, Mike Hebert was attached with Gophers but he retired from his position last December.
McCutcheon, in a recorded a telephone interview with Associated Press on Thursday, February 10, said that it is unclear if he will remain with the U.S. women’s team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
McCutcheon is originally from New Zealand. He was attached with the U.S. men’s national volleyball team and led them to a gold medal victory at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
He took charge of the U.S. women’s national team shortly after the former coach, Jenny Lang Ping, resigned.
Hugh McCutcheon successfully replaced Lang Ping and defined a new course of success for the women’s team. He guided the U.S. women’s squad to a gold medal at the 2010 FIVB Grand Prix in China. Meanwhile, Alan Knipe became the new head coach of the men’s national team.
Now, that McCutcheon has decided to coach a new team, it is believed that he has opted for the Minnesota job for personal reasons. His wife, Elisabeth Bachman, belongs to the Minneapolis area, which can be another temptation for McCutcheon to move to Minnesota.
Nonetheless, he confirmed that his decision to coach the Gophers is both personal and professional. He stated:
“The idea of getting involved with a school that I think was really in line with what we believe are our core values, we just thought it was a really good fit. Clearly it's been a successful program and we hope we can continue that. It wasn't just about the personal side of things. I think professionally what Minnesota afforded us was pretty unique and good for us.”
The director of Minnesota athletics, Joel Maturi, said that after the retirement of Mike, they were looking for the right person to take over the influential position of coach. Joel said that they have accomplished their goal by hiring Hugh for the head coach’s position.
The student setter, Mia Tabberson, was simply head over heels to know that Hugh McCutcheon has joined their team. She expressed her views that it is always a little nerve-wracking to work with a new coach but Hugh will really fit in the position. Other Gopher players were also excited to play under the supervision of their new coach.
The Gophers made their way to the “final four stage” of the NCAA three times under the command of their previous coach. Let’s see how Hugh McCutcheon leads the team. He spoke to team members via Skype on Wednesday.
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