At 23 years old, a career in coaching was not what Mindy McCord had envisioned.

After a stint playing for one of the top field hockey teams in Australia following a successful college playing career, she returned to America.

McCord was on track to earn a master’s degree in counseling at Virginia Tech while coaching the school’s club lacrosse team on the side.

Until her mentor, legendary field hockey coach Enza Steele, set her on a new path.

“I’m going to be a middle high school guidance counselor and coach at the high school level,” McCord said. “And [Steele’s] like, ‘No, no, no. You’re going to be a college coach.’”

In May 2021, USF tabbed McCord to be the Bulls’ first head women’s lacrosse coach. 

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McCord, 52, has a history of building programs from the ground up.

She has almost 20 years of coaching experience and spent 12 years as the head of Jacksonville lacrosse, bringing the program from a start-up into a national powerhouse.

During her time at the helm from 2010-2022, she won 170 games and eight Atlantic Sun conference tournament titles.

The Dolphins were dominant in the ASUN under McCord,winning 53 games while losing just once in conference from 2013 to 2022.

Under her tutelage, 13 JU players were named ASUN Player of the Year along with 81 all-conference selections.

McCord’s best season at Jacksonville came in 2021 when the team went 12-2 and 3-0 in the ASUN.

The Dolphins won their seventh conference tournament title en route to a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament, where they would lose to UF.

An inspiration to her players

Pyper Vaughn, a former player for McCord, helped USF connect with her old coach when the school reached out.

The pair met when Vaughn was a high school freshman looking to start playing lacrosse.

Years later, they met again at a lacrosse camp, but with Vaughn in a coaching role.

“I did not know a thing about lacrosse, and my dad signed me up and I went to a JU lacrosse camp,” Vaughn said. “[Next time I saw McCord] I was like, ‘You guys actually saved my life and you’re the whole reason I play in college.’ From then on, we just had a connection.”

Vaughn was honored to help connect McCord with USF, telling the school she “couldn’t imagine anybody else” starting the program.

She was also amazed by McCord’s confidence in leaving Jacksonville after building it from scratch.

“They started JU from the ground up,” Vaughn said. “So the fact that she’s doing this again, 10 years later, restarting a whole new team… she is one of the most inspirational coaches that I will forever want to be.”

McCord says inspiring that love of the game is her ultimate purpose for coaching and being a mentor for young people. 

“I value relationships… I know how people feel, think, and when you know that, then you can make sure your values and your mission are living out,” she said. “I feel my mission and purpose is to be God’s love to my team and those around me.”

Coaching as a “benevolent dictator”

Although McCord left a career as a counselor behind to coach, she continues to use her knowledge to help lead and shape young women.

She teaches her players to visualize making plays during training and meditation, a concept she wishes more coaches would implement. 

“It’s still not a trend to focus on your mental game,” McCord said. “When you visualize yourself doing something, you see your success, it’s almost as good as a physical rep. I’m a recipient of that from when I was in college, my coach introduced us to it and it transformed my game.”

On the field, McCord describes herself as a “benevolent dictator” and commands respect and effort from her players.

“There’s some things you decide, there’s some things I decide, there’s some things we decide together,” she said. “My style is very much trying to develop players to drive and lead the team… to have player-driven teams.”

Tactically, McCord utilizes a fast-paced offense similar to “the system,” an attack popularized by Loyola Marymount’s men’s basketball in the late 1980s.

The basics of “the system” are for players to run as fast as they can for as long as they can, and take the first shot they see.

“My heart’s in the transition game,” McCord said. “So we really like to have that run-and-gun style of play.”

Off the field though, she’s built a reputation as someone her players can come to for support.

McCord emphasizes “listening to the heartbeat” of her team, making sure everyone is organized and confident both on and off the field.

“She is very, very determined for her girls,” Vaughn said. “She wants to make sure that everybody is taken care of and that they’re students first and athletes second, but she’ll forever be a person that you can count on.”

Above all else, McCord wants her athletes to enjoy their time in school and leave with memories that last a lifetime.

“We’re striving to win games, but what I found over the years is a process,” she said. “And if you get people to buy into your process, your people, your product, then they’re gonna have a great experience.”