As an assistant coach in college, you must bring value to your head coach and making their job easier. First off there are very few paid positions in basketball and you should feel grateful for being there and never take that for granted. Being a college assistant is one thing, being one that can make your head coach’s job easier is a completely different level.

Players are the lifeblood of any level of basketball. You can be Popovich, Jackson, Auerbach, Pitino, and Calipari put together as a coach, but if you don’t have talent sustaining a winning program is impossible. Recruiting new talent into your program must be something that you take seriously and do with a purpose. Don’t just follow the rest of the people in your business and keep the same standard, be different and do something that sets you a part from the rest.

I’ve been around college coaches for 20 years and I’ve met every type of coach there is. The majority of assistants that I speak to about players that they see give me a lot of the standard answers of “he can play”, “he can really score the ball”, or my personal favorite “he’s a baller”. My answer always to those standard answers is what the hell does that mean? Coaches should understand what players do to help their teams win. I cant stand coaches/scouts that flood their sentences with terminology. If a coach/scout can’t tell me in Layman’s terms why a player can or can’t play they are a fraud to me.The test that I give coaches is I get them out of their comfort zone and start asking basketball questions about the player. I know the assistant is legit if he answers back , but if he looks at me like he ate a snowcone too fast I know that he is just a used car salesman and really doesn’t know what he is looking at.

When you bring players into your program it is a gamble just like they are gambling on you to get them better as people and players. Bringing in multiple mistakes basketball/attitude wise can put your head coach in a tough spot. You must get every piece of information that you can acquire about the players that you are recruiting before you pull the trigger on a commitment/ scholarship. As an assistant it is up to you to acquire as many assets for your head coach to have on his roster as possible. Making sure that you can properly evaluate the players that you are serious about in your recruiting should take precedent.

We all know that the game is in a different stage than it was 15 years ago. Very few players separate themselves as players than they did back n that time. Identifying players is something that should be taken seriously and studied a little bit more than usual. Anyone can go to high school games and talk to HS coaches or summer coaches to get information about players. Everyone in your business does that and as it can be good information that you are getting going in other directions can help as well.

First of all as far as the basketball is concerned does that player that you are recruiting have a skill that can get him in a game for your coach? Can they shoot, pass, get in the lane, guard people, etc. Just because they can dribble around 25 times hunting their shot time in and time out for their summer team doesn’t mean they can play for your coach. Identifying how they fit in with your team is very important, don’t just bring in players because they can score they need to be able to play a role.

Don’t be afraid of taking players that are under the radar or less talented as long as they have a definitive skill. Every player has warts in their game that we can discuss, but as long as they can do 1 thing really well those other warts seem to be smaller in retrospect. There are too many stories that haunt coaches because they chose not to take players because of lack of height/athletic ability but ended up being great players. I remember a player that I coached in AAU 17 years ago named Pat Bradley. He was a 6’0 guard that wasn’t quick or athletic, but was one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen. Everytime I spoke to a Big East assistant about him they gave me a laundry list of excuses why he couldn’t play at their level. Well after having nothing but Division two and low division 1 offers he had a tremendous summer and got offered by Nolan Richardson and Arkansas and was one of the best three point shooters in the history of the SEC.

Like I previously stated any coach can watch games and evaluate if a player can play. You have to do a little more digging into what kind of player they are. I think what can help your networks is if you talk to all the coaches in that player’s league. Ask them about them and how hard was it to get ready for that player. I think talking to coaches that aren’t connected to the player can give you good insight into if that player can play or not. Also what that does is develops your relationships with more coaches that may go on to other jobs and give you access to more players down the road.

Don’t just sign off on a player because they play well and put up numbers for their high school or summer team. Make that next step and really gather as much intel on them as possible. Character is a big deal and if they are selfish players that don’t compete when things get hard they will be a long shot to help your team win. You have to bring in high character to your program, taking too many questionable attitudes is like playing Russian roulette for your team in your locker room.

If you are in a position to subscribe to scouting services make sure you have them give you background on the kids. Anyone can be a scout and tell you who can play or who cant. If they are true scouts they should be able to give you intelligence on the players in their area. If they only give you rankings and reports that is not enough. If you are doing your job, most of the players that they give you reports on are players

that you already know about. Who cares if player x can only go right and has length, you should want to know if that kid is a winning player or someone that has character issues. If they can’t come up with that info then you should drop them and subscribe to the people who know that information.

You should always evaluate yourself and push to get better in all aspects of your job. Keep notes on your players that you recruit even the ones that you didn’t get. Go back to your notes and keep tabs on those players and find out why they made it or failed. Continue to try not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. Everyone in the business will make mistakes on evaluating players that is a way of life. The ones that repeat those mistakes are the ones that will be phased out of coaching because of this.

Another thing is your coach is counting on your and trusts you to do the job that you get paid to do. Not many people can say they get paid to be in basketball. As important as you think you are, you are totally replaceable make no mistakes about it. Don’t get to the point where your head coach is talking to himself about how his assistants are brining in players that are bad kids or just aren’t good enough to compete at their level. Because it only takes a bad class two to get them thinking. Believe me as important as you think you are and how your coach can live without you there is nothing further than the truth.

Anyone can work hard in this game as it is the standard I get business cards and email from people all day every day telling me how hard they work. I don’t care about hard work, I care about people who bring me results and get the job done. Don’t pat yourself on the back about how good you are because there is someone right behind you ready to slit your throat to get an opportunity to get it better.

Good Luck

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Securing an interview can be difficult. In the business of basketball today, in order to advance in your career the individual must learn to successfully navigate the game of networking, social media, and technology. You must learn how to professionally package yourself so that you can be multi-dimensional. You must be able to promote yourself without being a “Self-promoter”.

First and foremost an interview is a two-way street. The candidate is being interviewed by the employer at the same time the employer is being interviewed by the candidate. As the candidate you should have a series of questions (10-12) that you are prepared to ask of the employer.

Researching becomes a very important part of your action plan. With the easy access to information via the internet today, it is imperative that you learn as much about the position you are interviewing for, the head coach you are going to work for and the university you are going to work at as possible.
This information can and should help you make an intelligent non emotional decision after you have interviewed and have been offered the job.

Some of the strategies that can be used to help you secure the interview and help you prepare for the interview are:

* Read the head coaches biography on the university’s website to learn his background.
* Learn who is in the coaches “circle of influence”. Try to make a connection to your “circle of influence”.
* Research if the head coach has written any articles or lectured to gain understanding of their thinking.
* Do a statistical analysis of their teams for the last 4 years to determine what stats are important to the success of their program.
* Prepare a scouting report of their team to learn more about their system. This also shows you can effectively prepare a scouting report.
* Anticipate questions
* Practice your answers
* Dress the part
* Look at tape of the team
* Learn as much as you can about the culture of the program.
* Learn the dynamics of the staff and they roles they play.

There is so much more that you can do to best prepare yourself for the interview. Once again, the interview should be a dialogue. It is about “seizing the moment” and more importantly being prepared for “the moment”, so that you can be “special in the moment”.

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Here are some ways to improve and force communication within your program off the court, which will lead to your team communicating more on the court.

• BIO NIGHT –Assign each player a partner carefully so you can get two certain players to connect and get to know each other better. Each partner has to present to the team their partner’s bio in a power-point presentation. It will not have an impact unless they sit down together and get to know each other’s background, siblings, family history, interests, and goals. During the recruiting process, we spend a lot of time talking about our current school and know a lot about the recruits, but this event will reveal a lot of new information about your players for the coaches too. In the end, there will be a lot of laughter and possibly even some tears.

• AMAZING RACE –Awesome for foreign tours, but can even be done around your own campus. Divide up into teams and give each team a checklist of things they must do, people to see, even take pictures just like the show “Amazing Race.” There is no clear order to complete all of the tasks so the teams will start in different directions, but what will be guaranteed is each team will be communicating and problem solving. Inadvertently, a leader will emerge from each group, but most importantly your team will be learning to think fast and adapt quickly together, just like a game.

• ACADEMIC CHALLENGE –Have your seniors or captains conduct a draft to make three or four academic teams. Each team will graded on random class checks, location of seat in class, turning progress reports in, office hours with professors, and penalized for lack of communication, tardiness, location of seat in class, and overall grade performance. The team that wins can get out of some sprints or conditioning workout, reduced study hall hours, etc., but once again a leader will emerge and the forced communication will create peer pressure along with accountability.

• CELL PHONES AT DINNERS AND ROOM CHECKS –We have all found ourselves on road trips with our team at restaurants looking around and everyone’s heads are down. Everyone is looking at their phone and no one is talking. Every player has had their roommate texting and arguing with their girlfriend at 1am the night before a big road game. Who does a player need to talk to from 11pm to 9am the night before a game besides their roommate? There will be a difference and forced communication at dinners and in the hotels if the cell phone is removed from the equation.

• TEAM MEALS DURING WINTER BREAK –We all experience the winter months when the cafeteria is closed and we give our players money to eat on their own. If you once again divide the team up into small groups and for a few different nights, those small teams get the entire group’s meal money to organize a team meal. They might have it catered, delivered, or even go buy food and cook it for the team. Whatever occurs, that team will be forced to communicate and feel the pressure to provide a nice meal to their teammates and will be a fun experience.

• OFF-SEASON READING ASSIGNMENT –Reading is a habit of many coaches and it helps us learn and makes us think. Players rarely read, but a reading assignment can help a team bond and communicate about a particular topic. Three to four meetings after the assigned reading can really create healthy and open discussions within a team.

Lastly, I would like to thank Coach Raveling for the invitation to write and share some thoughts. Coach Raveling is a mentor, friend, and coach to me. His moral compass is great for the game of basketball.

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A couple of points before getting started: one, this guest column speaks in generalities, and by no means applies to all college coaches. Also, it is meant to be constructive criticism, with the hope that at least one college coach who reads this will benefit from it. It is not meant to offend any individual person, and it’s certainly not meant to denigrate a profession that I love. Furthermore, when I coached in college, I was guilty at times of nearly every topic covered below, so I’m not trying to get on a soapbox and pretend that I’m holier than thou. I’m not. Finally, I wrote this primarily with NCAA Division I coaches in mind, and some of these criticisms are less applicable to coaches outside of D1, at least that’s been my experiences (largely confirmed by my conversations with experienced people in the basketball industry).

Authenticity
College coaches regularly burn the bridge with a high school or grassroots coach by building a relationship on an inauthentic basis. To attach specificity to that general comment, many college coaches will unceremoniously end a relationship with a high school or grassroots coach after that one kid’s recruitment is over. In life, sometimes the right thing and the smart thing aren’t the same thing, but in this case, building and maintaining genuine relationships with high school and grassroots coaches is both the right thing to do (phony not generally being an admirable character trait) and the smart thing to do (given that a high school or grassroots coach might have another kid you intend to recruit down the road, and given that a perceived slight can motivate a high school or grassroots coach to carve up your reputation and poison the waters with other coaches in that area); and yet far too many college coaches continue to approach relationships with high school and grassroots coaches from a position of short-term expedience rather than long-term authenticity. To the college coaches who feel they need to work on this area, try spending 10 minutes each day sending personal texts to high school and grassroots coaches who don’t currently have a kid you’re actively recruiting.

Communication
Communication is the essence of college coaching, and yet many college coaches do a poor job communicating in several key areas. For example, when practice is over, do you talk to the kid on your team who isn’t getting it done, or do you talk about him with the other coaches? It’s always amazing how many college basketball players who aren’t getting much playing time profess to have no idea why they aren’t playing more. As a coach, you may be thinking that a kid who doesn’t know why he isn’t playing has a classic case of “doesn’t get it,” and you may very well be right. However, Lafayette College head coach Fran O’Hanlon is fond of pointing out that “without learning, there is no teaching.” In other words, if a kid doesn’t get it, that’s because you didn’t teach it well enough for him to understand. As simple as it sounds, it’s important that all kids who aren’t playing know exactly why they’re not playing and exactly what they can do to change their situations; and until the kid makes the positive changes you’ve specifically prescribed, you have to keep communicating your message (and possibly changing the delivery, building an accountability structure, etc) until it resonates. I coached a kid for 2 years who was the biggest, strongest, and most athletic kid in our league, and he never peed a drop. And I will go to my grave believing that the reason he so fantastically underperformed is that I coached him badly and was never able to communicate my message with efficacy. As a coach, it’s important to accept responsibility when things don’t go well, and to strive to improve your communication skills and tactics, because without learning, there is no teaching.

Another common example where coaches fail to communicate involves tying up the loose ends once the decision has been made to no longer pursue a given prospect. Unfortunately, it’s all too frequent for a college coach to just quit calling and leave the kid and his family and his high school and grassroots coaches dangling in the wind. And when college coaches drop the ball and become non- communicative ghosts, they leave hurt feelings and ill will in their wakes. The old adage “a stitch in time save nine” is very applicable here. Having the common courtesy to communicate that you’re no longer interested might produce short-term angst, but not bothering to give anyone a head’s up at all produces long-term grudges. A case can be made that it’s easier and better to just pick up the phone and have a candid conversation with the kid or his parents or his coach, as having the courage to do the right thing and face the awkward moment now will prevent potential problems in the future.

Along the same lines, if a kid on your team is having problems, it’s 100% critical to keep that kid’s parents and/or high school coach and/or grassroots coach in the loop (not a daily regiment of snitching about a single missed class and the like, because then the kid won’t trust you, but it’s important to make the kid’s family and coaches back home aware of a developing pattern of behavior that is leading toward the kid’s possible self-destruction or dismissal from the team). First of all, if things aren’t going well, the people back home may be able to help you get the kid moving back in the right direction, and they clearly can’t help you solve a problem they don’t know exists. But additionally, a phone call that blindsides a kid’s family or coaches back home with awful and irreversible news will not generally be particularly well received. Not enough college coaches keep an organized schedule of updates that go out to each student-athlete’s family and coaches back home. Even something as easy to execute as a planned monthly update is tremendously appreciated, and it avoids all kinds of problems down the road if circumstances dictate a parting of the ways.

Loyalty
If a kid isn’t good enough as a basketball player, that means that you as a staff blew either the evaluation or the player development. That isn’t the kid’s fault, that is your fault. However, there are way too many college coaches engaging in the practice known inside the industry as “clearing cap space,” which is the process of convincing a kid you don’t want anymore to “voluntarily” decide to leave so the coaching staff doesn’t seem like they took the kid’s scholarship.

It goes like this, “Son, first of all, we are not pulling your scholarship, because we made a promise to your mother and we are good and honorable people and we would never do that, BUT, son, you’ll NEVER play here. I mean, NEVER, EVER, NEVER!! Do you understand? The kids we’re bringing in are better than you, and I just can’t see you playing here, EVER. Well, OK, good talk, son. Sleep on it, pray on it, and let me know what you decide.”

Of course, most kids take the hint and “decide” to transfer, and college coaches who clear cap space get to believe they didn’t do anything wrong. Well, guess what, it is wrong. And, of course, some kids fail out of school, some kids get kicked out of school where the kid’s fate was out of the coach’s hands, and sometimes, a kid behaves so badly that a coach can and in some cases should feel well justified in getting rid of him. But we’re not talking about that here. We’re talking about a good kid who isn’t a good enough basketball player who for all practical purposes gets his scholarship yanked. To reiterate, kids can’t offer themselves scholarships, and kids don’t coach themselves, so the coaches should accept at least some of the responsibility. And “clearing cap space” shows a lack of loyalty, and I would even go so far as to say a lack of an understanding of what this profession is supposed to be about.
P.S. When an incoming coach convinces players to leave who were recruited by the previous staff and who have not yet played for the incoming coach, that should not call into question the incoming coach’s loyalty.

Humility
College coaches speak at coaching clinics all the time, but most don’t attend coaching clinics, and the ones who attend do so primarily for networking purposes rather than to improve themselves as coaches. Indeed, it’s rare to see NCAA Division I college coaches sitting in the first 3 rows taking detailed notes at coaching clinics (they do take detailed notes at the various networking/job attaining seminars, though). And while high school coaches attending college practices regularly take notes in order to improve themselves as coaches, the reverse is seldom true. In short, there’s a consensus of informed opinions that way too many college coaches display their arrogance and their insecurity by preferring monologues to dialogues. It’s important to understand the difference between confidence and arrogance: confident people believe in themselves enough to seek and value input from others, whereas arrogant people’s insecurity causes them to take all suggestions as personal criticisms and all questions as attacks. Confident people see the value in lifetime learning, and arrogant people never seem to know what they don’t know. Too many college coaches, while outwardly confident, allow arrogance to dominate their characters, but the best kind of leader adopts the spirit of a humble servant and lifetime learner. If there’s a college coach with whom this passage resonates, make a point moving forward to spend 10 minutes after a high school practice listening to the coach share his coaching philosophy with you. Not only are these spontaneous mini-clinics a chance for meaningful professional growth, but you might make a friend out of that high school coach, and there’s no such thing as too many friends.

Diligence
If a group of folks knowledgeable about recruiting came together and wrote a book called The Top 100 Rules of Recruiting, following up on every lead and leaving no stone unturned would be pretty high on the list. And yet, college coaches are, on average, just plain miserable about returning phone calls and answering emails from people they don’t know. Of course, college coaches are legitimately very busy, and the volumes of emails and phone calls can become overwhelming. Additionally, there is no question that the higher the level of play, the less likely that random emails and phone calls are likely to produce leads that can actually help your program. And, it goes without saying that nobody is perfect, in this area or any other area. But that is a reasonable excuse to be a little or even a lot slow replying to inquiries, not to ignore the inquiries permanently. With all of that having been said, though, let’s speak the plain truth: if you are a college coach who habitually ignores messages and emails, you are unprofessional and irresponsible, and your lack of diligence hurts your program in more ways than you know, because you’re not currently bothering to discover the lost benefits. And, there’s a simple solution, if you are too busy or if you’ve made a strategic time management decision to focus on leads with established reliability or whatever the case may be- delegate the responsibility of processing and summarizing your office voice mail and your work email to a GA or a manager or a secretary or a volunteer (having a small staff at the D1 level is a choice, not an excuse, since there’s a waiting army of surprisingly competent volunteers who would jump at a chance to join any D1 staff, in any position, on a completely unpaid basis).

I hope those thoughts are helpful to someone… thanks very much to Coach Raveling for the invitation to share some ideas, and thanks very much to Coach Raveling’s audience for reading…

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Walking the walk, practicing what you preach, exemplifying the very things you want those you are leading to do is a critical part of leadership. Verbal leadership can help you lead, but on its own, it doesn’t pass the test of time.

Verbal leadership on its own can help but it’s not mandatory. In my mind, example leadership IS mandatory. People are always observing and reading their leaders. They expect more than words before they buy into what the leader wants. They are looking for examples of the leader doing exactly what he or she is asking them to do.

We have some experienced leaders on our team. All are considered to be our hardest workers. Not a day goes by that you don’t see them working on their games or their bodies — and most days, on both. When they place demands on their teammates, their teammates know they aren’t asking them to do anything that they themselves are not willing to do! They have seen them walk the walk. They have seen them working out every day. They have seen these leaders do exactly what they are asking them to do.

For our staff, we have a great leader in Doc Rivers. You will consistently see Doc watching film until the late hours of the night or in the very early hours of the morning. He is never, ever going to ask us to give more to the team than he himself is willing to give. How can’t you work your tail off for a leader like this?

The best leaders don’t just talk a good game. Those leaders are eventually going to be found out, eventually going to lose the trust of their staff. The best leaders are willing to not only “tell” but “show” how to get things done. They live the life of their requests. Simply put, the best leaders ask those they lead to help them reach the team’s goals, not just instruct them to do all the work.

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My friend Dave Telep, ESPN’s recruiting analyst, wrote a thought-provoking piece on “The entitlement culture of elite HS hoops.” I don’t agree with some of his generalizations, but that’s okay. The important thing is we’re talking about these issues. The question is, What can we do to improve basketball at all levels and, at the same time, improve the experience for players?

Telep believes there is an entitlement culture. Telep used the Elite 24, which takes place at Venice Beach, California, to highlight the problems:
“Most of the guys loafed around the bench, feigned injury and couldn’t have been more disinterested.”

“But the behavior off the court may have been even worse. One player said of the buffet at the Ritz Carlton, ‘They should have just gotten us pizza.’”

“In today’s grassroots basketball culture, there’s always another game, another camp, another event. Forget that. Winning matters. A return to that simple maxim could go a long way toward reclaiming our values and culture — and game — on and off the court.”

It’s easy to cherry pick examples that paint young players as coddled, lazy and unappreciative. But, more context is needed.

The following is not intended as a criticism or even a rebuttal. If anything, Telep does a great job putting important issues on the table, which are worthy of further discussion.

First, the Elite 24 is an all-star event. Do NBA players, the best, most competitive players around, play as hard as they possibly can at NBA AllStar? No, the emphasis is on entertainment and on not getting injured. Certainly NBA players have earned the right to coast. They have made it; high school guys have not.

Second, we’ve turned summer basketball into a “silly season.” It’s endless travel and games that really don’t mean anything. Instead of emphasizing skill development, summer basketball is about showcasing talent for college recruiters. If we want young players to perform at a higher, more intense level, we need to reduce the number of games they play and emphasize skill development. In recent years, both Nike and Adidas have responded with more focused programs, the EBYL and Adidas Nations.

By the end of the summer, most players are burnt out from travel and games. That’s no excuse. But the reality is, by the end of summer, the level of play declines. And players, naturally, get tired of the travel. Is this entitlement? If you want to call that, fine. I call them young teenagers who are probably bored and a bit jaded by our basketball culture. Telep and others lament the poor play and poor attitudes, but that does not tell the whole story.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve been fortunate to spend a lot of time with players at all levels, from high school to the pros. It was not only an opportunity for me to share my insights on the business of college and professional basketball, but also a chance for me to watch players working on their fundamentals and to hear their views on the game and the worlds they inhabit. My de Tocqueville-like journeys has given me a unique look at the weird, crazy world of basketball and also an increased respect for the players.

For all those who think the players are a significant part of the problem, I wish they could see the other side: intense workouts, genuine camaraderie, thoughtful discussions and an overall interest in self and team improvement. Are there selfish, arrogant, law-breaking basketball players? Absolutely. And they will always garner the bulk of the media coverage.

Let’s turn the focus to what elite players are doing to improve their games—and their knowledge – during the summer. As former North Carolina coach Dean Smith used to say about the offseason: “We have one rule here: We do what’s best for the player out of season and what’s best for the team in season.”

Summer used to be time for players to get away, relax and recharge their batteries. Today, players work out year-round and endure hours and hours of daily practice, exercise and physical therapy. Many pro athletes hire personal trainers, message therapists and chefs. Anything to get the slightest edge.

It’s not hard to see what separates those who are decent high school or college players from NBA players. With rare exceptions, those who make it are professional in every way, from their work ethic to their off-the-chart competitiveness to their passion. Yes, they have tremendous raw ability, but these days, that is not nearly enough to make hoop dreams become reality.

High-school players work hard, too, despite the somewhat dysfunctional environment they operate under. They understand that even though they are not compensated, there is still a lot at stake, including college scholarships and, ultimately, pro contracts.
But, as Michael Jordan once said, “You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way.”

Despite the common refrains that the younger generation doesn’t read, they are reading my book, Money Players.They’re also listening and asking questions. And they are talking about issues that affect their lives, whether it is the economy or politics. Players want to make the right decisions. And, above all, they want to avoid the common or even subtle mistakes players who have become before them have made. The powers who control basketball—the NCAA and its members, shoe companies, AAU, coaches and agents—all need to set a better example. If—and it’s a huge if—they do, young players will follow.

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It wasn’t always that way. I’ve had many opportunities in my life that have molded me into the best assistant coach I can be for my program, and I don’t take these life lessons for granted. In fact, I believe that my stint in Corporate America and in the Military forged my current life path, and allows me to have a unique perspective working in collegiate athletics.

While I do coach in women’s volleyball, I believe that these five traits I found that helped me in the corner office now helps me in my athletic program, and I hope it helps you as well.

The Buck Stops With Me
Accountability is such a buzz word, that I didn’t want to really use it in this article, but it’s very important. Everyone is accountable in Corporate America, from the CEO of the company to its stockholders to the night shift security guard at a factory. In a world when dollars and cents are counted, people want to draw responsibility to someone, something. It’s an inescapable reality, and a lot of young executives make the mistake of not recognizing accountability when they see it.

As an assistant coach, it would be easy for me to say that losing a match “happens”. Accountability won’t let me say that. It reminds me that something happened that cause us to lose. Maybe our scouting was off, we didn’t prepare our athletes for the tasks at hand, we didn’t encourage our players to make the right decisions. Or the monkey in the room, putting the blame on the player. In the end of the day, the coaching staff picked that player to be a part of the organization, so the “buck” stops with the coaching staff. Once this reality can set in, getting down to the business of making the player better can be efficient.

When to Say Yes, and When to Say No
The one thing I could never stand in Corporate America was “yes” men. These are employees that simply are there to not cause problems and will agree when they feel like it will steer them away from trouble. They are toxic to corporations, as shown by the recent financial distress in companies. Have the courage to look people, especially authoritative figures, in the eyes and tell them the whole truth, without fear on consequences.

One of the biggest things I do for my head coach is to really avoid being a “yes” man. Now, do not get that confused with not being loyal. In the end of the day, recognizing that the head coach of the program is the deciding factor in all decisions is key; however my job is to ensure that he has all the options laid out in front of him before making a decision. I also know that he will make the right decisions, because I do not fear the consequences of putting my opinion out there. If I am morally and ethically correct, I shouldn’t have to fear my opinion. If I do, it’s time to find another program.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
One of the biggest things I have to do in my coaching profession is work with other organizations. Whether its internal departments like facilities or junior club coaches in recruiting their players, being a people-person is a must. I learned this early on as an officer in the USAF. When I graduated college, I was anxious to “lead”, but I didn’t know what that meant.

For the longest time I thought everyone had to know I was the leader, when by treating them as teammates, I found that more got accomplished, and they didn’t need me to tell them I was their leader, it was their job. As I got into corporate America, I really tried not to lead by title, but by example. I made sure that everyone felt like they were part of the team, actually INTEGRAL to the team.

Here in college athletics, I think it’s extremely important to make everyone feel as part of the team. So many times, organizations that support the coaches feel like they aren’t important, just a cog in the wheel. Make them part of the team, get them excited about the sport, and you will be surprised at what they will do for you.

Always Know What They Are Thinking
Going to a military academy for college is definitely an interesting experience to say the least! Graduating from high school, I was top of the class, excelled in sports, and had all the friends I wanted. But once I got to the Air Force Academy, I was just one of 1000 cadets that had the exact same story as me. In fact, most of them had BETTER stories than me, and I found myself fighting to stay up top.

Situation Awareness is the ability to know what’s going on around you at all times. The Air Force uses this principle to talk about their fighter pilots, and how they must maintain an awareness around their aircraft at all times in order to understand how their own actions will affect the environment around them, either letting them succeed or fail at their mission.

In collegiate athletics, it’s knowing how others perceive them, or more importantly, how they affect others. This is especially true in coaching interactions with student athletes. Most of us over-estimate our abilities, and we must be careful not to mis-represent ourselves in front of the players. This can mean disaster in corporate America, and can be hurtful in sports. Practicing self-awareness constantly, by having a mentor and/or identifying strengths and weaknesses is critical to being successful in coaching (and in life).

Moving With Purpose
It’s fitting that this is the last trait. While all of these traits are important, the culprit of inefficiency in corporate America is the lack of decisive decision making. I cannot tell you the number of meetings I have attended when senior leaders waivered and could not come to a resolution on a certain issue. We’re all afraid of being held liable for a bad decision, but failing to make a timely decision can be disastrous as well!

Now, I am not saying that being decisive should be confused with being not a team player. It’s important to hear all the opinions, and make the right decision; however we should all be aware of the costs of not doing something, and the costs of going back and forth on a decision. The concept of “Moving with purpose” allows us to be confident in our decisions and allows us to get back to doing the important things for the program.

Would love your feedback! You can reach me at twitter @NickiHolmesUCF and/or nickiholmes@gmail.com!

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