On April 4, in a matchup against Vanguard, BYU coach Shawn Olmstead surpassed his former coach and mentor’s record. He recorded his 206th win in just 290 matches.
Up until that point, Carl McGown held the record for most wins in program history. He finished his career with 205 wins in 336 matches.
When asked about breaking the record, Olmstead’s first thought was simple — Carl McGown.
“I don't see a list where I should ever be above Carl McGown,” Olmstead said.
Rather than focusing on his own accomplishment, Olmstead pointed back to the foundation McGown built.
The BYU men’s volleyball program stretches far beyond recent seasons. Its foundation was built more than two decades ago with legend, teacher and coach Carl McGown.
In a press conference, former BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe called McGown a “coaching icon in the volleyball community.”
McGown served as head coach of the men’s volleyball program from 1990 to 2002. He took over the program as it reached NCAA Division I status in 1990. Prior to that, the team was recognized as a club program.
“He guided our fledgling men’s program from a club team to national prominence in the NCAA,” Holmoe said. “Along the way he had a profound impact on the lives of many student-athletes.”
McGown coached a wide variety of athletes during his 12 years at BYU. Today, many of those student-athletes look back fondly on their time with him and describe him as a coach, mentor, friend and teacher.
Former BYU men’s volleyball player Luka Slabe, who played from 2000 to 2003 and is now head coach of the U.S. men’s national volleyball team, emphasized McGown’s identity as a teacher.
“He was a teacher,” Slabe said. “Let’s not forget about that. He was a teacher. He was one of the brightest minds in the game of volleyball.”
McGown graduated from BYU with a degree in physical education in 1963. After earning a master’s degree, he attended the University of Oregon, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1971. He briefly taught there before returning to his alma mater and joining the faculty in 1972.
“He was not a coach, he was a teacher,” Slabe continued. “He understood our sport, how our sport should evolve and how you should teach. He understood that every learner learns at a different pace. You have to approach every learner differently.”
Slabe said that was McGown’s greatest strength. He understood how each player developed and learned and helped them reach their potential.
“He had the most impact on how I see volleyball philosophically, how I teach and how I coach,” Slabe said. “He was a huge impact.”
McGown also knew each individual he worked with and left them a little different — a little better.
“Carl personally invested in me,” said Rob Holley, a former colleague of McGown and current staffing coordinator at Gold Medal Squared. “He pushed me beyond what I thought was possible through a combination of tough love, sincere encouragement and genuine belief.”
Throughout his career, McGown coached many players and gave them a foundation to coach athletes of their own. He founded Gold Medal Squared in 1985.
Gold Medal Squared is a science-based volleyball training system and coaching education program. The program provides on-site team camps, clinics and online education designed to improve skills and team performance from high school to elite levels.
Many coaches with Gold Medal Squared either played under McGown or worked closely with him. These coaches continue to apply the principles they learned from McGown to help younger athletes and coaches.
Speaking on McGown’s impact professionally and in his coaching career, Holley said McGown set the framework for his coaching methods that enabled his players to grow more effectively.
“By utilizing motor learning, statistical analysis and a principle-driven approach, he provided a foundation that allows me to focus on building meaningful relationships rather than worrying about instructional methods,” he said.
McGown’s influence extended far beyond Gold Medal Squared, but some of his most lasting impact remained within the BYU program itself.
One of the many athletes shaped by McGown was current BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead. After playing under McGown, Olmstead carried those lessons into his own coaching career.
Olmstead played at BYU from 2001 to 2004, giving him the opportunity to experience McGown’s coaching firsthand.
“I came here and I played for him,” Olmstead said. “He meant the world to me when I played for him, and all my teammates too. He helped me through my years here at BYU as a student-athlete.”
During Olmstead’s first season in 2001, McGown led the Cougars to an NCAA national championship. It marked McGown’s second national title after winning in 1999. The road to success, however, was not easy.
During McGown’s first two seasons, the Cougars were still finding their rhythm after transitioning to NCAA competition, winning just seven matches combined.
However, those early struggles did not last long. By the end of the 1999 season, the Cougars finished 30-1. That same year, McGown was named National Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
McGown was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2010 and the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
“Because of Carl,” Olmstead said. “I didn't have to go through a lot of the struggles that he had to go through, which was starting a program from nothing. I was able to come into a program with history, tradition, success, notoriety and the name.”
More than two decades after McGown first took over the program, his influence remains woven into every part of BYU men’s volleyball.
It lives in the standards he set, the players he coached and the coaches he helped shape — including Olmstead, who now carries the program forward. While records may change hands, McGown’s impact endures in the culture he built and the people who continue to build upon it.