“You’ve got to get comfortable making mistakes.”
Matt Buttermore, the head coach of volleyball at the University of Nebraska Omaha, sits down with us in this episode of the 35,000 feet podcast discussing how the past season went for his team, his start in coaching, his favorite travel experiences, where he is heading next, and his advice to future collegiate athletes.
In this episode, we discuss:
How this past season went for University of Nebraska Omaha Volleyball team (0:15)
How Coach Buttermore got into coaching (1:52)
Matt’s favorite travel experience (3:52)
One thing that no one knows about Matt (8:00)
Matt’s advice to athletes wanting to play in college (8:17)
Matt’s next adventure (11:45)
The Past Season for University of Nebraska Omaha’s Volley Ball Team
Morgan: Hi guys. Welcome back. It's Morgan. Today I'm sitting down with Coach Matt Buttermore. Thanks so much for joining us.
Matt Buttermore: Glad to be here.
Morgan: Yes, we're excited to hear from you today and get to know you better. You can tell us about some of the highs and lows of your season.
Matt Buttermore: Highs and lows. We had quite a few. I think one of the highs we finished up with was upsetting South Dakota. They had a great season. Won last season, up until that point, we upset them in the conference semi-finals and were really close match. I think we had a string of matches where we won three or four, four or five matches in a row in straight sets in the heart of our conference season. We beat a power five in Clemson, early in the year, almost beat Kansas State. And so we had some exciting moments there.
Morgan: That's awesome.
Matt Buttermore: Yeah. We had a couple of runs of a couple of losses in conference that were probably our lows. So a little bit of up and down. Some opportunities we took advantage of and others that we missed out on.
Morgan: Well, I don't know, I think that's awesome that you had such a good season because I don't know, it's fun to hear coaches talk about the highs and lows of their season because there's so much behind the record that goes into it. And I can tell that you guys just, you worked hard to get where you're at. And so I don't know, I'm impressed with that. So thank you for sharing.
Matt Buttermore: Yeah, there's a lot that goes into that stuff. Kind of the fun thing about our job is we have all these performance reviews in the fall, which I like, and kind of tell if we're on the right track, but it's only the tip of the iceberg as anybody who's played or coached knows.
Coach Matt Buttermore’s Start
Morgan: Oh no, it's so true. It's so true. There's so much behind the scenes that we don't even see. It's so true. And what's your story of how you got to be a coach?
Matt Buttermore: So I played men's volleyball at the University of Findlay, they used to have a program for about six years, I was in the middle of four. And I coached club one year, did a terrible job and said I would never coach again. And when I got out of college and moved back to Lincoln and there's a couple in Lincoln that basically talked me into coaching for like two or three years. And finally I said, "Yes." A club called High Flyers in Lincoln. And we had a great little fifteens team. I think we got tied for fifth or eight or however they worked that out. Great group of girls and kind of got hooked on it, so really basically by accident, is how I got into coaching. And then was able to coach part-time at Concordia University here in Nebraska, it's a [inaudible 00:03:11] high school and then did a full-time assistant at Bellevue University and then on to Hastings College from there. So really just lucky and was drug into it, kicking and screaming originally.
Morgan: Wow. Hey, look at that. I love it. I love hearing these stories because everyone's story is so different. I love how it started out. You started with that club team and then I don't know, you came back around and now it's like, sounds like an awesome profession you have. So I'm glad that you ended up where you are despite it being what you called an accident.
Matt Buttermore: Oh yeah. If you asked me 20 years ago, if I could see me doing this right now and being where I am, I would probably shutter and not be excited about it. I don't know. But here we are. I just can't imagine doing anything else.
Coach Matt Buttermore’s Most Memorable Travel Experiences
Morgan: Oh no, that's amazing. And I love how you said you can't imagine doing anything else because you love it and you're where you're supposed to be. And so I'm glad that your team has you. And I'm glad that you are a coach and that you guys are doing so well. So I don't know. Thanks for sharing that with us. What's one of your most memorable travel experiences that you've had?
Matt Buttermore: Oh, I've been pretty lucky. So my senior year of high school, we had an exchange student on our juniors team here in Lincoln or there in Lincoln and he was from Brazil. So a couple of years later when we're in college, he's obviously living back in Brazil because he's graduated high school and we went and spent two weeks down there and it was two weeks or 10 days, actually I don't remember. I think it was two weeks actually. Me and a couple other friends went down and stayed with him and his family. He lives in Sao Paulo and got to see a little bit of the country. We didn't go all over the country or anything, but just to experience Sao Paulo and a place called Ubatuba. And that was pretty cool.
Some buddies of mine did a kind of a classic west coast trip. We went and hiked down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and stayed at Lake Havasu Falls and Lake Havasu Reservation. Kind of did a two night stay there and did some other stops all the way to the California with kind of watching the gas and the gas money. And we all had only so much money to go out there on. So that was an interesting trip.
Where else? Volleyball wise one of the more interesting things I've done with when I was at Bellevue, we were at Savannah, Georgia for a tournament and they have a ghost tour or a course car, you're in a horse-drawn carriage and it's like a historical, haunted tour kind of thing. It was really cool. I'd recommend it if you're in town. So it's a great, great city. A couple of Disney trips were fun with different teams taken. So I've been lucky on some of the cool places I've been able to go.
Morgan: Oh, that's amazing. I love hearing travel plans and I don't know, just the places you've been, because there's so much in the world and there's so much to see and it sounds like you've seen a ton of it. So that's lucky for you, especially the sport of volleyball takes us so many places.
Matt Buttermore: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's something that keeps giving whether it's because of your effort or sometimes you just get lucky, but when you're hopefully doing a good job, you get a little reward here and there and one of those can be travel.
Matt Buttermore’s Next Adventure
Morgan: It's true. It's so true. And I guess despite the circumstances we're in right now, I'm curious, what are some of your next travel plans?
Matt Buttermore: Next travel plans? Well, ironically, we were planning on playing and staying pretty regional this next semester. Our family had some travel plans and those got upended, but my wife and I were going to go to Mexico this spring. And then we plan on taking the family to Disney World in the winter, but I don't know if that's going to happen now or not. We are trying to work on a foreign tour for our volleyball program. So we had a kind of a fundraising timeline set up for that. We'll see what, and kind of, we're planning on looking at going to Italy. So obviously that might be changing or maybe a lot of it can stay the same. We'll see what the next six months bring in the world of college athletics and in the world itself. And hopefully for all involved, for the safety of all involved, things can get back to normal. People can start healing up and staying healthy and we can get back to normal.
Something Noone Knows About Coach Matt Buttermore
Morgan: Oh no, I couldn't have said it better myself. It's so true. I hope things heal up quickly, but that's going to be such a fun time for you guys. I don't know. I think that's so fun that you've been so many places and you have fun plans ahead. There's so much to be seen. So that's awesome. And I guess this next question I have for you, it's more of a personal one, but what's something that we don't know about you?
Matt Buttermore: You warned me of this and I still don't have anything. My favorite TV show is Justified, how about that?
Morgan: That is something. Look at that.
Matt Buttermore: Now you know the important thing.
Coach Matt Buttermore’s Advice to Collegiate Athletes
Morgan: For those athletes that are wanting to play for a team or university someday, what would your advice be to them?
Matt Buttermore: I think I always tell athletes to pick five to 10 schools that you could see yourself at and try to get in contact with those coaches. We do a lot of emails and stuff, so if you can stay consistent, if you can send personal emails, not part of your recruiting service or anything like that, it can help stand out a little bit. And obviously training and doing your best. But things I know we look for on our staff are things that are in athlete's control, besides their God given abilities, what can they control on the courts? Are they good teammates? Are they listening to their coach and their coach has given feedback. Obviously grades, not necessarily test score, bu just your GPA and things like that, can you manage your schedule and get good grades in high school? So, those are huge things that I think everybody knows a little bit, but they get wrapped up in some of the other recruiting hustle and bustle that goes on. But really we want solid people that are going to learn and be great teammates for four years. So that's what I would recommend.
Morgan: Oh, no, that's so true. It's like you're describing a well-rounded athlete and I think that's important too. Because they're student athletes, there's a lot more that goes into it than just the talent. They have to be good people and have good work ethic.
Matt Buttermore: For sure. I guess the other thing I would say is we want good learners. So, when you get some feedback in practice, make sure you're trying to try it. Don't just keep doing the same thing over and over again. You got to get comfortable making mistakes and not just ... that doesn't mean to be okay with making mistakes, but you got to make mistakes so you can learn. So when your coach has gave you some feedback or maybe you see something at a camp, give it a try and be intentional about it and learn how to be a good learner. That didn't quite work, where you pay attention to how you moved, how you contacted the ball? I think a lot of players and coaches don't really think about those things very much. So that'll help you accelerate your learning and the best learners over the course of a career are going to are going to push their talent the farthest. So how good of a learner are you?
Morgan: Oh, no, that's so true. Learning, it's so important. And especially for any student athlete wanting to go far and keep learning and keep growing. So no, and that applies to just life because you're only an athlete for what, four years, if you stop playing after your school, but no, it's true. Thank you for sharing those insights with us today.
Matt Buttermore: Yeah. I think that's a good point Morgan, if you can do learn how to do that in volleyball and you can transfer that into what you do after college. We tell our recruits and our players the most important thing for us is our players believe that they can improve their lives and the lives of others when they leave Omaha. And if you can learn how to learn, you're going to be able to do that. So that's really important. That's a good point.
Morgan: Oh no, I know. It's amazing. I don't know. I've loved listening to your insights. And so I guess the last question I have for you is what are you most excited for for this upcoming season?
Matt Buttermore: Just playing volleyball. We're excited to train. We thought we were on a good track this spring with our training, both in the weight room and on the court. So we're just excited to get back at it, as I'm sure the rest of country is.
Morgan: Oh, I know. It'll be so exciting. And like we talked about, I think teams are going to be super motivated to play and get on the court and I'm excited for your guys's upcoming season. So I don't know. Thank you so much for joining us today, Matt. It's been a blast listening to your insights, your travels, your team, and just the things you had to share with us. Thank you so much.
Matt Buttermore: Glad to do it. Thank you Morgan.
University of Nebraska Omaha Volleyball
Podcast made in partnership with Acanela Expeditions
Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle