Heather Olmstead moves into BYU volleyball spotlight
On her first official function as the new BYU women’s volleyball coach, Heather Olmstead went largely unnoticed.
Olmstead’s new duties were announced on June 22, and on that same day she boarded a flight bound for Florida to watch an AAU volleyball tournament. This is an observation-only period of recruiting, so she couldn’t talk to any of the athletes she hopes will become Cougars. A few coaches offered their congratulations, but many didn’t even know about her promotion.
“I prefer it that way,” Olmstead said. “I like to fly under the radar.”
That will become increasingly difficult as Olmstead follows the legacy others have left at BYU: Legendary coach Elaine Michaelis, of course, and Olmstead’s own brother, Shawn, among them. He has moved over to the Cougar men’s program after leading the women to a 103-25 record in four seasons and their first-ever NCAA title match in 2014.
“I’m so honored that they considered me to take over,” Heather said. “BYU is such a special place. There’s no place like it in the world. For the kids that come here and have an opportunity to play, it’s life changing.”
It’s life changing for Olmstead as well. She didn’t play at BYU – she was an Aggie at Utah State and was an assistant for Utah before Shawn convinced her to come to Provo in 2011.
“I got into coaching because of the people who believed in me,” Heather said. “The biggest thing for me is my ability to affect young women’s lives. It’s the opportunity to get degrees and compete at the highest level, because I was given that opportunity.”
After spending four years as Shawn’s assistant, she said she’ll continue to follow the path they’ve been on.
“I think we share a love for the game and a love for the student-athlete,” Heather said. “We want the players to develop as people through all the ups and downs. We both came from a blue-collar background, and that’s going to continue in both the men’s and women’s programs.”
When Shawn indicated he was going to apply for the men’s job, Heather said she had to take some time to consider her next move.
“Our basic conversation was if this is what you want to do, I support you, go for it,” she said. “From there things just sort of fell into place. I kind of let him do his thing and he let me do my thing.”
It wasn’t a hard sell to BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe and Senior Associate Athletic Directors Brian Santiago and Janie Penfield Rasmussen.
“They already had a pretty good understanding about me, who I am and what I’m about,” Heather said. “They knew my coaching philosophy because we’ve gone over that through the years I’ve been here. I expressed my vision, but the nice thing about this is not much is going to change. Shawn and I are on the same page. We’re different people but we believe in the same things.”
The BYU women officially get started Aug. 10 but most of the athletes are already in Provo preparing for the season.
“There was some shock and then there was some comfort knowing I was going to take over,” Heather said. “They know me. They know they can trust me and not much is going to change.”
The busy summer continues. Before Aug. 10, Heather will need to hire an assistant coach and finish out the summer camp schedule.
She says she’s ready for the biggest move of her coaching career.
“I’ve had other opportunities,” Heather said. “There have been jobs I’ve looked at or not gotten, head coaching jobs. So I really just take it day by day and live my life in the moment. This was the moment. So here I am.”