Serious College Coaching Question

What do you consider a successful coaching career, and if so, why are you motivated to leave your current coaching situation for a school that does not care?

Yes I am trying to follow this also.

Simple. I care deeply about the program and want to build something there. Like I said, we weren't great when I was there, but at least we were moving in the right direction. My teammates and I always dreamt of building something and I've not yet given up on that dream.

As far as credentials, I don't wanna say too much, but more qualified than the clowns they currently have in place.

Determination about the allocation of resources is developed by the AD to their direct report to the head of the university/college.

There are exceptions to the rule, but on the whole, the availability of resources have a direct relationship to the outcome of any given sport... In other words, you may be an empirically better coach than the people currently employed, but it'd be hard to tell if you had the same resources (or lack thereof) to the current coaches.

Basically, support is difficult to untangle from overall success. A successful coach won't take a job at a crap situation because they can tell they won't get the support they need to continue being successful.

You are making no sense. You graduated from college and then became more successful than the current coach, somewhere else. You have no loyalty at all if you are still worrying about your old school. I wouldn't hire you in a million years.

Based on your responses you and I could not be more different. Have you no sense of loyalty or affiliation to your hometown or teams you've been on in the past? If not, I feel bad for you. I'd rather build this program for free than make 100k a year somewhere else.

And to Pogo, you're right to an extent. The results of this team is running clearly shows no effort in recruiting and training. Like, it's not even about the X's and O's as much as just getting someone in there who cares, even if it's not me

Are they a fully funded program for both the men's and women's teams? Do they use their full allotment of scholarships? What about the facilities? A good outdoor and indoor track? Locker rooms?

wait for the coach to leave then apply for the job. duh.

It's not really your call who coaches them or how. Probably just let it go, unless you have a ton of college coaching experience elsewhere, the job opens up, and you can apply for the job someday.

OP sounds like a HS assistant who whose team won a state title that he didn’t contribute anything to, but now thinks he is the next great American coach

Dirk Digg wrote:

As far as credentials, I more qualified than the clowns they currently have in place.

Do you understand that pretty much EVERY person feels this way about pretty much EVERY position. Read many of the posts on the coaching thread. There is a vocal faction that criticize every hire and blather on and on about how unqualified the hired coaches are. It is somewhat normal for people to think they are "more qualified than the clowns" in every situation.

Most people see things from inside their own bubble and fail to see the bigger picture and/or the positives of other coaches and what they bring to the position in question.

This is not to say that the coach in question is doing a great job, just that you don't know the criteria in which the AD and supporters (if any) are viewing the situation.

Why not talk to the coach letting him know that you have an interest "some day" and learn about what he sees as positives & negatives of the job as well as how long he sees himself in that position?

If you question the coach to the AD, you will never be hired for the position, and should not be hired.

just a District Division 4 Class AAA Title at the Middle School level actually, don't give me that much credit

I think my point is being misinterpreted. While yes I said I have interest one day, that's not my main point. My main point is just looking for some sort of change to occur within the program without looking like a prick. I don't care at this point who the coach is as long as the program gets moving in the right direction.

And yes, I understand the school is content to let this go on and that's half the problem. There's no criteria or no standard. Results don't seem to matter. Participation trophies for everyone at the D-1 level!

Dirk Digg wrote:

Simple. I care deeply about the program and want to build something there. Like I said, we weren't great when I was there, but at least we were moving in the right direction. My teammates and I always dreamt of building something and I've not yet given up on that dream.

As far as credentials, I don't wanna say too much, but more qualified than the clowns they currently have in place.

I advise against actively seeking this position. It is clear your alma mater doesn't care. You would likely be greatly tethered and unable to build the program you would hope to build. For all you know, the AD is glad that the program is greatly failing, because it may be the ultimate goal to cut it.

If the person there now leaves and the university is looking for a replacement, you can put your hat in the ring and make your demands then and see if they want to support them.

As you have presented the situation though it seems a bit risky and a bit altruistic on your part.

I hope you get the job for $40k per year. Oh wait. You aren't willing to take it for that? Now you know why the coach is crappy. And then they have no scholarships while other teams in the area have 12. Good luck with that. And then the AD plans to cut the entire program in 2 years which the coach knows while he is applying elsewhere and just checking the block in the mean time.

To be fair, that isn’t the type of experience an administration is looking for. If what you’ve said regarding your commitment to this program is true (ie willing to work for free), then reach out to the coach and ask to volunteer. As a head coach, I wasn’t actively seeking volunteers, but a former teammate of mine reached out about joining and I was thrilled.

Along with our paid assistants, I let her dip her toes into recruiting, scheduling, training, orders, etc., even if it’s simply showing her the process. But guess what, now she has the kind of experience an athletics department is interested in. I wish it were just about the running and results, but if your alma mater is content with their current status, then clearly that’s not the case.

And eventually, volunteer to assistant to head coach. It’s not a glamorous path, but it’s the most reliable one.

No. It sounds like you have no loyalty. You claimed to be a successful coach but you continue stalking your Alma mater. Do you know the coaches at UNC or Stanford or UW or Oregon? How long have they been with those programs? They get paid $200k per year to coach schools that they didn't attend and you think loyalty is for them to spend time focusing on a former team? They should be fired if they spend any time doing that. They are paid to live and breathe their current school colors and mascot.

aztec the moronic wrote:

wait for the coach to leave then apply for the job. duh.

Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner here!

Sounds like Sacramento State?

Dirk Digg wrote:

And yes, I understand the school is content to let this go on and that's half the problem. There's no criteria or no standard. Results don't seem to matter. Participation trophies for everyone at the D-1 level!

Repeat this in your head a couple more times to let it sink in…that’s this position’s job description. As other posters have hinted at, if the team is this bad, has been for a while, and the current coach is seemingly comfortable (coaches at these types of schools rarely have multiple year contracts), then he (right?) is doing the job his boss wants him to do. The last thing these types of schools/administrators want is someone rocking the boat, pissing kids off, driving down numbers & ultimately creating a lot more work for them. Competitive success isn’t in the job description per this guy’s boss. Say you are successful in taking his job…you really want that to be your boss? For every time you hold a kid accountable and they go straight to your admin or compliance to make trouble, your boss tells you “just let them do whatever they want.” I’ve been in this exact situation, and my job description was “get 5 men and 5 women across 6 finish lines - we don’t care how slow. We just need to “sponsor” the sport and hit Title IX numbers so nothing negatively impacts basketball/football. Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt if they are happy with their ‘student-athlete experience’ and keep good grades. If you improve, that’s fine. Just don’t upset ANYONE in the process.” So my job was to lose, and lose bad. Just like all the other non-revenue sports coaches I didn’t have respect for there. The coach that lasted the longest at this school so far? It was the one who cared the least (despite having lots of baggage). You really want a job like that?