Winder back at Pepperdine, set to carry on men’s tradition established by mentor Dunphy

Heading into the 2005 men’s volleyball season, Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy knew he had a special squad, spearheaded by three-time — eventually four-time — All-American Sean Rooney. But Dunphy, already the owner of three national titles and an Olympic gold medal (1988) by this time, knew he needed one final ingredient.

He needed a setter.

Jonathan Winder entered the program that year, and Dunphy could tell immediately that the kid would be the one. Even then he could see qualities in Winder that said “leader.”

“When he came here, he was pretty mature for an incoming freshman,” said Dunphy, who remains involved with the Waves program as head coach emeritus. “I saw some qualities in him that I didn’t really see in a lot of first-year types.”

At one point, Dunphy said, he asked Winder who would lead the 2005 team to a national championship. Naturally, Winder responded, “Sean Rooney.”

“I said, ‘No. He’s just going to flip the coin,’ ” Dunphy continued. “ ‘You are.’ ”

Dunphy turned out to be prophetic. The Waves won their fourth — and final — national title under his watch (Pepperdine also won a title in 1986 while Dunphy was on sabbatical working with the USA men’s national team).

That wasn’t the end of Dunphy’s prodding of Winder. The veteran coach often dropped hints about Winder one day becoming a coach himself. Now he’s the Pepperdine men’s coach.

Winder played pro in France, Germany, Greece and Romania, and he was also a member of the USA national Team from 2007-12 and a 2012 Olympic alternate.

After his international playing career ended, Winder returned to the sidelines, first as a men’s assistant in 2013-14 under Dunphy. He then was an assistant with the women’s team at Washington under Keegan Cook and also the head coach of the Fresno State women from 2018-21.

Now, Winder — the 2007 national player of the year — is back at his alma mater and ready to uphold the tradition of the Pepperdine men. When David Hunt left after five seasons to be an assistant women’s coach at Texas, Winder was named Pepperdine’s men’s coach May 20.

Winder said coaching the team he played for became his dream job. He didn’t necessarily feel that way at first, but, he said, he learned what made the job the stuff of dreams.

“I think it has evolved over the years. When I was at Pepperdine, it was a dream school,” he said. “Seeing Marv and how much respect I…