McCutcheon rebuilding U.S. women's volleyball team, his life

Hugh McCutcheon grieved, his heart shattered over the brutal murder of his father-in-law. Then he put volleyball on the back burner, intent on finding comfort with his family.

When he contemplated his future in a sport that has defined him, he couldn't imagine another four years with the Olympic gold medal-winning men's team.

"We've already done this," he said. "Now we've got to do it again?"

The New Zealander longed to step in when "Jenny" Lang Ping left as women's coach, figuring change would help him cope with the most sorrowful moment of his life and provide the spark needed for a path back to the podium's top spot.

Two months after Colorado Springs-based USA Volleyball approved a rare switch, McCutcheon, 39, got the first taste of his next rebuilding project Friday in a 161-person women's national team tryout that runs through Sunday at the Olympic Training Center.

It's a major step in determining rosters for the Pan American Cup in Miami in June and the World Grand Prix in Tokyo in August. And it marks the start of the player pool for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Returning to the court takes McCutcheon's mind off an unexplained attack during the Beijing Games in which his father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was stabbed to death and his mother-in-law, Barbara Bachman, suffered multiple lacerations.

The day after the Opening Ceremony, a Chinese man ambushed the Bachmans while they visited a tourist site. Todd died on the scene. Barbara underwent 8 hours of surgery.

Barbara Bachman can walk normal distances and drive her car. She's "fully functional," McCutcheon said.

"If anything we can learn from Todd, it's you never know what could happen," McCutcheon said. "Life is not only unfair, it's random. You've got to make the most of every situation you've got."

Only one coach has led men's and women's teams to Olympic golds. Jose Roberto Guimaraes did it with Brazil - the men in 1992 and the women in Beijing, where the U.S. lost in the final.

McCutcheon said coaching women instead of men creates a "set of challenges. I'm not going into this thinking it's going to be a train wreck. It's going to be a new adventure."

"I'm excited by the challenge, but I'm not scared of the challenge," he added. "You're trying to be the best in the world, and very few people get a chance to climb that mountaintop. You're in the moment all the time."