Before Washington, he spent seven seasons as the men's head coach at USC, where he won the 1990 national championship and finished as runner-up in 1991, followed by a four-year run in the Big 12 Conference leading the women's program at Kansas State.

McLaughlin spent four seasons building the Kansas State women's program into a national power; he compiled an 82-43 (.656) record and took the Wildcats to four consecutive NCAA tournaments.

During his tenure in Manhattan, two Wildcats earned All-America honors, seven were named to the All-Big 12 first team and 15 garnered first-team academic all-conference accolades.

[4] In 2004, the Huskies won their first-ever Pac-10 title, and McLaughlin earned his first AVCA National Coach of the Year honor.

[6] McLaughlin was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, and made history as the first coach in NCAA history to win a national championship in both men and women's volleyball, having led the USC men's team to a national title in 1990.

The Huskies, led by AVCA National Player of the Year and Honda Award Winner Krista Vansant, won the Pac-12 title and reached the Final Four, but fell in straight sets in the semifinals to eventual national champion Penn State.

[12] McLaughlin was named the women's volleyball head coach at the University of Notre Dame on January 17, 2015.

[13] Jim is married to the former Margaret Jarc, a four-year soccer monogram winner at the University of Notre Dame.