Hinterstocker hired: Former Bison coach lands with Gophers

FARGO — The University of Minnesota hired former North Dakota State head volleyball coach Erich Hinterstocker as an assistant on Friday, with Gophers head coach Hugh McCutcheon confident any previous issues with Hinterstocker have been addressed.

At NDSU, Hinterstocker was a winner, with a 95-38 record in five years after taking over a program that was 5-31 in the beginning stages of a Division I reclassification.

He also resigned before the 2010 season was finished after being warned by NDSU administration that his job may be in jeopardy due to inappropriate behavior, in records obtained by The Forum.

“To the best of my ability, we turned over every stone and tried to talk to as many people as we could with his departure,” McCutcheon said Friday. “Did we do our due diligence? Without question, yes.”

NDSU women’s athletic director Lynn Dorn wrote in a letter dated July 16, 2009, that Hinterstocker was “over aggressively grabbing an athlete by the uniform/warm up.” Hinterstocker was also warned in 2008 with inappropriate language.

That’s all behind him now, with McCutcheon saying, “I’m convinced he’s the best person for our job.”

Mainly, that would be recruiting. The Gophers sports information office said Hinterstocker was out recruiting Friday and unavailable for comment.

“I did not know him and she had no idea he would be interested in getting back into coaching,” McCutcheon said. “We cold-called him.”

McCutcheon said Hinterstocker’s history of success and his people skills in recruiting made him a good fit for the position.

“And for me personally, the largest space in my skill set is recruiting,” he said. “My life was in international volleyball. He’ll help us find different ways to add value to that (recruiting) area.”

Tags: college sports, sports, volleyball