FORTVILLE — Two Mt. Vernon programs coming off successful seasons will be led by new coaches for the 2023 season.
Graham McMullen is the new head coach of the boys tennis team that won the Hancock County title and the Mt. Vernon Sectional, and Madison Roeder is taking over the girls cross country team that won the county, Hoosier Heritage Conference, and advanced as a team all the way to semi-state.
McMullen replaces long-time head coach Gabe Muterspaugh, who will move into the assistant position with the boys team while remaining as head coach of the girls team. Roeder is taking the spot left by Brian Williams.
Familiarity with Mt. Vernon is something that each brings into their new role and something that has helped make the transition smooth.
McMullen served as the assistant coach on both the girls and boys teams for four seasons, and Roeder coached the Mt. Vernon Middle School girls cross country team last season.
For McMullen, the change to head coach is more of a formality and title change than a change in what he has been doing as a coach.
“Truthfully, there’s really not much difference here at Mt. Vernon between being the assistant and head coach. We’re a very open program, and everyone has full autonomy when it comes to going out there and coaching. We work with what’s best for the program and team,” McMullen said. “I was ready to step into the role, but the only big change is on the administrative side, having to deal with emails, meetings, and stuff like that.”
McMullen got his coaching start helping out with the Butler University team while still attending school there, but it was Muterspaugh that gave him the chance once he left college. A Pendleton Heights graduate, McMullen knew he wanted to come back to this area, and Mt. Vernon made that happen.
“I knew that I wanted to stay involved with tennis,” McMullen said. “I knew I was moving back to this area, so I started reaching out to some coaches, and coach Muterspaugh was one of them that reached back out to me, and the rest is history.”
Along with his time spent as an assistant coach for Muterspaugh, McMullen got the opportunity last season to coach the Hamilton Southeastern boys tennis team. The team finished the season ranked No. 7 in the state, but he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to Mt. Vernon.
“There were a lot of competitive matches, and I enjoyed being over there, but I got my start coaching here at Mt. Vernon. The community here is fantastic, it still has a small-town mentality, even though it’s starting to grow drastically. That was something that was a big draw,” McMullen said. “I’ve been working with these kids for four years now. I know all the families, and me and coach Muterspaugh work really well together, so it was kind of a no-brainer coming back here.”
While Hamilton Southeastern was McMullen’s prior stop to Mt. Vernon, it’s where Roeder got his start running cross country.
He graduated from the school in 2007 before continuing his career at Butler University.
He began coaching immediately after leaving college, taking a volunteer position at IUPUI before transitioning to the high school level.
“I was definitely interested in being around the sport in some way right after college because I had a great experience with it all. I was working some smaller jobs and running a lot of races in my free time, but eventually it was time to focus on my career rather than chasing my personal stuff,” Roeder said. “On the college side, you have to be fully submerged and make your way up the ranks, and I just learned that the high school level and developmental-type coaching was the best thing for me.”
After his stop at IUPUI, Roeder was the head coach at Park Tudor High School for two seasons and then back at his alma mater, Hamilton Southeastern, for four years. He took a year off before taking over the Mt. Vernon Middle School program last season.
“I had no plans of jumping up to the high school after just one year at the middle school, just because I know coach Kendall has been there for so long, and I was teaching with [Brian Williams], the old coach, and I assumed that he was going to keep coaching,” Roeder said. “He ended up taking a job in the corporation where his wife teaches, and once that happened, I kind of put a bug in [Brandon Ecker] the athletic director’s ear. I just told him, ‘I’m right across the street, and I’d love to be back at the high school level’.”
While it was just one season, that time spent as the head coach of the middle school team has made the transition to the high school team that much easier. Seven of the 22 girls on the roster are freshmen that he coached last season.
“It’s helped me tremendously. Just having me as their coach takes away some of those freshman questions that they may have because they know my personality and coaching style,” Roeder said. “I don’t feel like my training and coaching philosophy is drastically different from what the team experienced last year, but it helps that nearly half the team has already had me as a coach and knows my style on things.”
