Hugh McCutcheon’s 4-year-old son, Andrew, woke up Thursday morning intent on playing a game of balloon volleyball with his father.
“We were hitting it around,” said the third-year University of Minnesota women’s volleyball coach. “He was Minnesota. I got to be Wisconsin. We were going back and forth. He thought it was pretty fun. Minnesota won, by the way.”
McCutcheon, who is married to former Olympian and Minnesota native Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman, knows it probably won’t be long before that balloon turns into a volleyball for his son.
Being able to spend more time with his wife and two children was a reason he decided to leave the U.S. women’s national indoor volleyball team to take over the Gophers after winning the silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics.
During an interview with the Pioneer Press last week, McCutcheon talked about his family, the different challenges of college volleyball and expectations he brings to the program.
Q: How rewarding is it to be around your family more often?
A: My family is very happy here. It’s been great for the kids. The big goal for this move, on my end, was to try to honor my commitment as a father and a husband. In that part of my life, it was about being better in those phases. Not that I think I sucked, but my job was hard. There were some constraints that made it very challenging.
Q: How involved is your family in the Gophers? Do they come around often to practices and games?
A: Wiz stops by practice from time to time. Our kids are still young; they’re 2 and 4. When they come to practice it’s like herding kittens. But when you’re with the national team, you’re playing in Russia or you’re playing in Japan. Your family doesn’t get to be a part of it. You’re operating in this little vacuum and bubble. This way, they come to the home games. They sing the fight song. They do all the stuff. They’re into it. It’s fun that they get to experience it.
Q: What has the transition been like from coaching the U.S. national team to the college level?
A: It’s been a very interesting first 21 months. The initial thing, coming from London right here, was that I was pretty spent. We were packing up a house and moving and all the stuff that goes with that. I think we did about as well as we could. My wife gets a large credit for that, I have to admit. On the volleyball side of things, coming in obviously we had a strong core (that had reached the NCAA Elite Eight). The next year, I thought the (Sweet 16) team had a chance to be a little bit better, and maybe in some ways it was. It was just a very tough regional draw running into Penn State and Stanford.
Q: How much has the fact that you won a silver medal with the Olympic women’s volleyball team, and coached at that level, helped recruiting?
A: We get to talk to the athletes that we want to talk to, but at the end of the day, this is the Minnesota volleyball team. There are so many good players in this area that we’re going to have to continue to rely on and try to attract the best local talent. Certainly, we want other people to come, too; but it turns out not everything about the college experience is about volleyball. It’s going to be academic stuff and extracurricular stuff. As much as we want people to understand that the weather is just the weather, it seems to come up from time to time. We can’t change that. I don’t know if it’s a game-changer on the recruiting front. We can offer some unique things here.
Q: Can Minnesota rely mostly on local talent and become a Big Ten title contender?
A: We try to attract the best players in the state because you need people who understand we’re not just trying to do something not just for our institution and program but for the state, as well. It’s such a huge sport here. It’s not that way everywhere in the country. It would be great to bring a national championship here. Is it going to happen overnight? No. These things take time, especially establishing the right cultural piece. At the end of the day, we can’t get all the studs, so you can’t just rely on talent. You have to have some intangibles. That’s going to be the big deal. So how do you go from being a very good team to a perennial contender?
Q: When do you think the Gophers can realistically win a Big Ten title or make it to the Final Four?
A: Generally, when you look at our team the last two years, we’ve had a lot of talent. But there have been lots of little things that we could have controlled that we didn’t take ownership of. I think it’s those little plays that differentiate perennial powerhouses. If we can develop a culture that embraces the effort and work that it takes to consistently make those plays, and on top of that have that talent and resources that we need to be successful, I think we can become a contending program. We’re in a conference and a sport where the depth and the level is increasing so much and so quickly that it’s going to be tough. But that’s OK.
Q: How much does the cold weather hurt recruiting the best volleyball players in the country?
A: All you ever hear about is Minnesota in the winter. You come here with the expectation that it’s going to be apocalyptic or something, but it’s not. I’ve lived in Colorado. I’ve lived in Utah. It’s cold. And it goes a few weeks longer than some other places, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. But I think that’s one of the things that’s important about this facilities drive. If people want to make a deal about the weather, that’s fine; but if we have the facilities that the athletic department is putting in place, all of a sudden, I don’t think the weather is such a big deal.
Q: You had four All-Americans in your first two seasons, including first-team selections Katherine Harms in 2012 and Tori Dixon in 2013. How tough will it be to replace that talent?
A: The nature of college athletics is that the teams kind of re-invent themselves every year. We’ll be young this year. Who knows? Maybe we won’t take many lumps. But if we get beat up a little bit, it’ll be better for 2015 and certainly 2016. This group has the chance to be quite good. You just have to go out there and battle.
Q: What do you think Hannah and Paige Tapp and Adrianna Nora can get out of competing with the U.S. Collegiate National team this summer?
A: Experience. They’ve got to go play. There’s no substitute for those matches and the opportunity to get out there and battle. We’ll be young. The focus this spring was how we could increase our capacity for work and to make us more mindful of the opportunity to improve. That’s the important part for any athlete, but especially the younger athletes; they have to understand talent isn’t enough. You have to learn and get better.
Q: How do you replace All-Americans Ashley Wittman and Dixon?
A: We won’t have another Tori. We won’t have another Ashley. But that’s OK. We will have Hannah. We will have Daly (Santana). We will have Sarah (Wilhite), Paige and Adrianna. There will be some people who develop their own identity. Over time, the team will figure out who they are and what they stand for.
Q: Are you still involved with USA Volleyball?
A: I’m on a couple different coaches commissions. I did a little work with the guys (men’s senior national team) last summer. I’m looking to do a little more with the guys again. As much as I want the women to be successful for lots of reasons, I think it’s healthier for me to keep professional distance from that. (U.S. national team coach) Karch (Kiraly) and (assistant) Jamie (Morrison) are there. They obviously worked with me in the last (Olympics). I have to give them room to do their thing. That’s fine.
Q: What are your expectations for incoming freshman outside hitter Alyssa Goehner, who was an All-American at Lakeville North?
A: I think Alyssa has a chance to come in and make an immediate impact, especially with a couple things. First, she’s a great all-around volleyball player. It’s nice to have someone like that in your gym because you know they’re going to raise your overall level. But I also think she possesses some intangibles that are pretty significant. She knows how to compete. She has a strong history of success. So you could say she knows how to win. I know we’re excited that she’s coming.
Follow Marcus R. Fuller at twitter.com/GophersNow.
