Two of my favorite people in the world of coaching (and two of the people in my coaching circle of influence) are Felicia Hall Allen and Greg Brown. Felicia has been a game changer for our profession with the development of A Step Up Assistant Coaching Symposium for men and women's basketball coaches. She also is an amazing motivational speaker and excellent team builder. We utilized her at LSU and she made such an impact in our program that we annually voted her a recipient of our Final Four rings. Greg Brown is someone I have know for years in large part because of my relationship with Don Meyer who Greg worked for. In fact, I often tell people that Greg worked for Coach Meyer and Pat Summitt when they were the winningest coaches in all of college basketball. Greg is an excellent teacher and continual learner.
The two of them combined for this post this morning. Greg had sent this list from an article he read to Felicia and she then emailed out to her contact list. It is an outstanding list and I wanted to share it on our blog:
TIPS FOR ASSISTANT COACHES
1. Ultimately, your job is to make your head coach
look good. Being a head coach is much more about being a CEO than an Xs and Os
strategist. Yes, the head coach will get most of the credit, but they will also
get all of the blame. Their job is to win, have a detailed vision and to be the
leader. Your job is to help them execute their vision. It’s not your show, it’s
the head coach’s show.
2. Understand and teach the game inside and out.
Know how to attack opponent weaknesses, win with the players you’ve got, teach
fundamentals and research and teach the best drills to prepare your position
group.
3. Traits head coaches are looking for in
assistant coaches: loyal, hard-working, reliable and trust-worthy. Being a
great recruiter can help you get and keep a job.
4. Not everyone on the staff will get along—there
will always be jealousy, personal differences, age differences but in order to
win you must be able to put that aside to work with each other!
5. Coaching is a family—build your network.
Outside of your head-to-head competitions, consider other coaches as your
co-workers, not enemies. Build a strong network. You will rely on them heavily
throughout career.
6. Best way to move up from where you are today
into a new position? Be the best at your current position! Treat your role and
current school as your dream job, and work like it’s where you’ve always
dreamed to be.
7. Assistant coaches on your staff (or your
opponents) can be in the position to hire you one day—you are building a track
record with not just your head coach, but assistant coaches and opponents. Keep
it professional and courteous.
8. Always bring a great attitude to work, even if
you are having down days. Keep your personal issues to yourself, the team would
never accomplish anything if every coach and player brought their personal
issues to the facility or complained about all of their problems. Manage your
personal life, address problems, get counseling if you need to!
9. Your players will mirror you. You want them to
do it right and pay attention to detail—you must take the lead and see that you
take the little details serious, too. Do what you say you will do. Follow
through!
10. It’s never “I,” “me” or “mine,” instead use
“we,” “us,” and “our.”
11. No detail is too minor for the head coach. If
they want to be kept up-to-date on an issue, keep them in constant
communication with a quick text, call or email.
12. Your position group, recruiting efforts and
off-field responsibilities need to be your top priority. Do not get distracted
by the fluff that goes along with the job. Focus on what you are being paid to
do: develop players, graduate players, win games, represent the university and
sign new players. If you feel like you can handle it, ask to take on additional
responsibilities or create a new job responsibility that falls into one of
those categories that will ultimately help your team win.
13. Become a great evaluator of talent—you need to
learn how to find the hidden gems who aren’t gracing every recruiting Top 100
list. You need to be able to “find” great players before every other coach.
Find the players who fit your needs, who have raw talent, who can be developed
reasonably quickly, and who have great attitudes and toughness.
14. Remember—you are ALWAYS representing your boss
and university.
15. Understand and value that EVERYONE in program
has a role. Everyone has different strengths, everyone can contribute something
different and critical: coaches, players, trainers, doctors, academic
counselors, marketing staff, interns, students, boosters, maintenance staff,
housing.
16. Think ahead, anticipate what’s next. What will
your head coach need today/this week?
17. Self-evaluate and scout your team and position
group. What weaknesses are returning? Evaluate top teams at those skills—how
and why are they successful? What do they do exceptionally better? What drills
can you use to help your players improve?
18. When evaluating players it’s critical you rule
out players who will be a waste of time in terms of leading you on a wild goose
hunt. Don’t spend all of your time recruiting players who will never get
enrolled into your university, who won’t finish, who won’t be happy too far
away from home, etc. If you know problems will arise down the road, it’s best
to find other players who have less off-field issues. The risk isn’t often
worth the reward.
19. Nothing is beneath you—all hands on deck. Be
wise with your time and put most urgent priorities first! Develop players,
graduate players, win games, sign new players.
20. Appearance is important—never know who you
will run into. Your days will be long, the stress will be high—being in shape
will help you fight the mental and physical battles. Be well groomed, well
dressed and energetic.
21. How can you separate yourself—what value can
you add to a staff? What can you become indispensible at? Scouting, recruiting,
relationships with prep coaches, developing players, leadership?
22. Scout opponents as if your job depends on
it—at some point, it will! The smallest of details can make the biggest of
difference when it comes to game planning and having your players prepared.
23. Keep a daily to-do list with the same key
areas that need your daily attention: situations to monitor (class attendance/study
hall/grades of your players), things to do, people to call. Repeat, repeat,
repeat with the attention that you expect of your players with their
fundamentals.
24. Be organized—organization brings direction to
chaos! A prepared player never flinches, nor do prepared coaches!
25. If needed, help communicate for your head
coach. You may have to return calls for them, take on delegated
responsibilities. Remember—your job is to make their job easier and to make
them look good.
26. With recruiting—it’s not about what YOU want
in a player, it’s about what your boss wants in a player. Can the recruit play
for and be successful under this head coach? Will they clash or flourish?
Recruit players who will fit your head coach’s personality and style.
27. If you lack experience or talent, you can
overcome your weaknesses by being hardest worker who brings relentless
energy—in the same way that you teach your players that “Hard work beats talent
when talent doesn’t work hard.”
28. Be who you are and believe in who you work
for.
29. Never doubt the head coach in front of players
or other members of the staff. When the negative talk begins internally
everyone’s job is in trouble. If there is an issue with the head coach,
approach them directly.
30. Most head coaches are excellent in three
areas—on-field teaching, off-field preparations and recruiting. Most assistant
coaches are only good at one or two of these areas, sometimes just masters of
one. You must develop strong skills in all three areas to become a successful
head coach.
31. Help your players do something that’s never
been done before, even if it’s a small accomplishment. Bigger accomplishments
will come after you begin achieving smaller, more manageable goals.
32. Develop a good relationship with your player’s
parents—communicate! They need to be your allies, not your enemies! Deal with
issues before they become unmanageable.
33. Have a ‘no gossip’ policy with your
spouse—they shouldn’t be the town gossip about team issues. Like you tell your
players, ‘What happens in the lockerroom stays in the lockerroom.’ If they
can’t keep issues quiet, limit what you share with them.
34. No money talk amongst other coaches—your
salary is what you have agreed to and signed for. It is a cancer to constantly
discuss money with other coaches on staff.
35. What would a scouting report on your own
team/unit look like? Be brutally honest with yourself on which weaknesses your
players need to improve on. Build on what they are really good at, show them
how to get better!
36. Get to know your Athletic Director and
Associate/Assistant Athletic Directors, they could be in position to hire you
one day or give you a key recommendation.
37. Get to know athletic department staff—at some
point you will need their help, they are ambassadors for your program! Their
jobs are important, get to know everyone and let them know you appreciate them.
