Episode 19

An Olympic Winning Mindset, with Hugh McCutcheon

Team USA has only ever won four Olympic Gold medals in volleyball. One of those Golds belongs to coach Hugh McCutcheon. He led the men’s team to Gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Hugh then switched over to coach the U.S. Women’s National team to a Silver medal finish at the London Olympics in 2012. Now serving as the Assistant Athletics Director for the University of Minnesota, Hugh talks with Janice about his keys to success, and the differences between winning on a national stage versus winning on a global stage at the Olympics. 

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Janice Kruger

Janice coached college volleyball for thirty years. She began coaching at the Community College level for one year, then spent nine years at the University of Nebraska at Omaha NCAA Division II level and finished her collegiate coaching career as the head coach of the University of Maryland Terrapins Division I program for 20 years. She led four teams into the NCAA Division II National Championship, won 10 career conference titles, and was recognized 6 times both for Conference and Region Coach of the Year honors. In 2023, Janice was inducted in to the Omaha University (formerly University of Nebraska-Omaha) Athletic Hall of Fame.
Her peers honored her success in coaching by voting her twice as the NCAA Division II American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Coach of the Year (1983 and 1986.)