By DAVID FORSTROM
forstrom@du2.byu.edu
There's just something to be said about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right combination of guys and the right coach.
Such is the case for BYU men's volleyball head coach Carl McGown and his team in 1999.
To top off a historic national championship, McGown has been named the 1999 Tachikara/American Volleyball Coaches Association Men's National Coach of the Year.
Some call it fate, some luck, others refer to it as part of the plan, and yet there are those who consider what McGown and BYU have accomplished as nothing short of a miracle. Even McGown himself tends to favor the latter category.
'There's still times I just shake my head thinking this couldn't have happened,' McGown said. 'It's just been next to impossible for BYU to win any national championship, let alone to win a volleyball championship as a school outside of California. When you consider what we began with in the shadow of Title IX and the fact that I'm a coach at this stage in my life, it just defies all the laws of probability.'
While McGown may err on the side of miraculous to describe the Cougars' phenomenal season, his vision and persistent work ethic played at least a minor role.
Consider the facts.
Until this season, only one non-California school had ever won the national championship. For most, this was an intimidating statistic, but to McGown it was a challenge he readily accepted.
In 1990, McGown gave up the comforts of full professorship to take a few club players and several recruits from a nothing program and begin a long climb toward dismantling California's volleyball empire.
The experience McGown brought to the court was remarkable. He played on 11 national championship teams, was a USVBA All-American seven times and a collegiate All-American as a graduate student in 1964. He coached in six World Championships ('70, '74, '82, '86, '90, '94), four Olympic Games (including Atlanta in 1996), the University Games and the Pan American Games.
Just four years into the program, the Cougars were ranked second nationally, then fifth in 1995, fourth in 1997 and seventh in 1998. This year marked the Cougar's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
Miraculous or not, BYU appeared to have the right man for the job.
In a risky recruiting move, McGown brought on several freshmen three years ago, including All-Americans Ossie Antonetti and Ryan Millar, to begin building what he hoped would become his championship lineup.
On May 8, as Antonetti put down the last kill against Long Beach State in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, McGown's dream became a reality. In its tenth season, BYU had become the national champions and McGown was central to making it happen.
Antonetti reflected on his years at BYU and the efforts of McGown.
'Coach wanted to win more than anything, and he pushed us so hard to get the best that he could,' Antonetti said. 'He is the purest example of persistence and made sure that we gave our all.'
After the national championship, Millar attributed the team's success to McGown.
'He is a man of vision,' Millar said. 'He knew what he wanted and he helped us achieve it.'
At first glance, McGown appears cold and calculating, showing little emotion on the court. But to label him with this personality would be a sad mistake.
His reaction after the national championship speaks volumes about his true character. McGown stood to the side of his team's celebration almost motionless as he took in what had happened. There was no jumping and shouting -- just a silent expression of satisfaction.
Chris McGown, former Cougar and the coach's son, commented on his father's reactions.
'That was a special moment for him,' Chris McGown said. 'Winning that championship was as important to him as it was to anyone, but I think he wanted the attention to go to his players and the accolades to be on Ossie and Ryan and Steve.'
It was that compassion and humility that won the heart of his wife Susan back in his graduate years at BYU. She saw in him a passion and commitment that was unwavering.
'I wasn't interested in marrying someone that wasn't on the ball,' Susan McGown said. 'Underneath all that intensity and passion, I saw someone that is sentimental and cares a lot. As much as he loved to win, it will be just as tough on him to lose some of those guys.'
In the wake of BYU's national championship and the Coach of the Year award, McGown continues to blink in disbelief. He finds it tough to believe it all happened, but even harder to know it all has come to an end.
'This team was a family and I'll definitely miss that,' McGown said. 'People will look back for years to come on this incredible year and our run, and it will make for great memories. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I plan to ride it out as long as I can.'
Former BYU assistant coach Tom Peterson considered McGown's impact on his life and at BYU.
'Carl was my mentor and I owe all I've achieved in my coaching career to him,' Peterson said. 'The one factor that made all the difference at BYU was that with Carl they had the right combination to win a championship. It's about time.'
According to McGown, Peterson played a vital role in bridging the gap between club ball and a NCAA volleyball program at BYU. Peterson was also the head coach at Penn State -- the first team outside of California to win a national championship -- in 1994.
McGown's ride isn't completely through yet. The formal presentation of the Coach of the Year award will be made Dec. 18 in Honolulu at the AVCA national convention, in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball National Championship.
Next season the combination of players may change, but the place is the same, the coach still remains and BYU hopes the time is right once again.