BYU’s Shawn Olmstead made history earlier this month when he picked up his 206th career win in his current role as head coach of the men’s volleyball program.
Despite the significant achievement, Olmstead modestly gave credit to others that helped him reach the career milestone.
“I don’t want to take away from the great players I’ve been able to (coach),” he said. “I’ve just been super blessed and lucky that coaches and players and staff members would just put a little ounce of faith in me. … I don’t want it to ever be about me.”
“The only smart thing I’ve done is … put myself in a position where I’m just surrounded by a bunch of good people. I’ve been able to benefit from that.”
— BYU men's volleyball coach Shawn Olmstead
In reaching win No. 206, the 11th-year head coach passed the late Cougar legend Carl McGown, who helped pioneer the BYU men’s volleyball program and coached and mentored Olmstead while he played at the school. McGown remained BYU’s all-time winningest coach in the sport until his former player passed him in a road sweep of Vanguard on April 3.
“This program … has always just had a very, very special place in my heart for the way it kind of formed my life and the lessons I got to learn and the teammates I had,” Olmstead said. “I’ll always hold onto that forever.”
McGown played a big part in making the current head coach’s experience in Provo so special as a student-athlete. Olmstead continued to pay tribute to his mentor after passing him in the record books, coaching in 46 fewer matches before passing him.
“It’s really hard for me because (of) the pedestal that I have Carl on,” Olmstead said. “It’s because he had to grind through seasons of two wins and tough seasons that this program was built … and I’m (a beneficiary of that). … I don’t see a list where I should ever be above Carl McGown.”
McGown’s tutelage continues to influence BYU’s head coach and the Cougars’ volleyball program as Olmstead implements many of the things he learned from the school’s first coach, including the importance of relationships and building his team’s culture. Olmstead has played an important role in the lives of the players that have come through the program under his leadership.
“He grabs guys that embrace the BYU culture,” Cougar senior setter Tyler Herget said of Olmstead. “He does a great job at building a culture, not (just) of winning … but he builds a culture where guys know what they can get out of the program. And lots of guys can do anything and … go work and are successful at whatever they do, or they go and play pro. And I think that’s something that Shawn does a great job of balancing.”
Olmstead has created great balance during his professional career, remaining humble and taking advantage of opportunities to find great success.
“The only smart thing I’ve done is … put myself in a position where I’m just surrounded by a bunch of good people,” he said. “I’ve been able to benefit from that.”
Olmstead and those around him could potentially add many more wins to the head coach’s record tally, with his love for BYU and his role at the school seeming to grow with time.
“It feels like yesterday that this opportunity was presented to me,” he said. “I have such a strong connection to the program. … I’m either gonna die here or they’re gonna run me out one day. And I hope that I continue to just get to work with great kids that allow me to be successful and stay here because I love it.”
The 11 seasons have flown by for the coach that has now rewritten the record books. Olmstead’s love for the program he leads, coupled with hard work, has garnered him a distinction that no other BYU men’s volleyball coach has ever achieved. He has reached a winning status of his own, and will look to continue building on that remarkable foundation in the days and years ahead.
