Hugh McCutcheon to coach U.S. women’s volleyball team

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

During the Beijing Olympics, one of the most moving stories centered on Hugh McCutcheon, the coach who led the U.S. men’s volleyball team to the gold medal despite having to cope with the trauma of losing his father-in-law to a knife-wielding attacker at a popular tourist site shortly after the opening ceremony. McCutcheon’s mother-in-law was badly wounded but survived.

That gold-medal victory meant McCutcheon could have coached anywhere in the world, but today he chose to coach the U.S. women’s team through the 2012 London Olympics.

McCutcheon’s wife is former UCLA volleyball star and Olympian Elisabeth ‘Wiz’ Bachman, and it was her parents, Todd and Barbara Bachman, who were attacked.

‘It would have been inappropriate for us to go to Europe at this stage,’ McCutcheon told the AP Monday. ‘Clearly, there could have been some big financial returns. This opportunity is a win-win in that it presents me this professional development opportunity while also allowing us to stay in the United States.’

He replaces Jenny Lang Ping, who reportedly did not seek a contract renewal after the U.S. women won the silver.

McCutcheon said his mother-in-law, who eventually returned to her home in Minnesota, is doing better.

‘Physically she’s pretty much healed from all of the trauma,’ said McCutcheon, who lives with his wife in Southern California. ‘Now it’s an issue of just dealing with the emotions and the grieving process.’

-- Debbie Goffa