Invoking Plato is not something I do in my spare time. As a matter of fact, it reminds me of undergraduate classes taught by a rather droll professor. I could never top her delivery or wit. The Allegory of the Cave is, however, an apt metaphor for the evolution of my coaching philosophy. I like to think I leave a different cave each time, but in reality I probably am just in a different part of the cave.
St. John Fisher College
My first coaching job was at my alma mater. It's difficult to remember what philosophies I picked up as a coach there. I was relegated to serving/hitting buckets of balls, watching high school matches, dissecting team film, and coaching the B-Side. I think maybe because some of these athletes were my former teammates, it was hard for me to see the power differential, and be objective at times. I did learn lots of drills, and gain technical proficiency in terms of statistics, and how to instruct. I do believe my familiarity with the athletes allowed me to motivate and advise them appropriately.
My first coaching job was at my alma mater. It's difficult to remember what philosophies I picked up as a coach there. I was relegated to serving/hitting buckets of balls, watching high school matches, dissecting team film, and coaching the B-Side. I think maybe because some of these athletes were my former teammates, it was hard for me to see the power differential, and be objective at times. I did learn lots of drills, and gain technical proficiency in terms of statistics, and how to instruct. I do believe my familiarity with the athletes allowed me to motivate and advise them appropriately.
SUNY Geneseo
When I started my first head coaching job, I coached the way I was coached, and that was a complete disaster. I hadn't built emotional capital with the new team, so they all thought I was being different for the sake of being different. The previous staff had made a habit of overusing sarcasm, and funishment. They didn't understand that time in the gym could be better spent building technical proficiency as a bonding moment. I had not taken the time to explain it or speak to them about the benefits of moving away from negative reinforcement. I did a poor job of connecting with them and expected to work through the team captains when I should have had a more hands on approach to guiding them to a better way.
When I started my first head coaching job, I coached the way I was coached, and that was a complete disaster. I hadn't built emotional capital with the new team, so they all thought I was being different for the sake of being different. The previous staff had made a habit of overusing sarcasm, and funishment. They didn't understand that time in the gym could be better spent building technical proficiency as a bonding moment. I had not taken the time to explain it or speak to them about the benefits of moving away from negative reinforcement. I did a poor job of connecting with them and expected to work through the team captains when I should have had a more hands on approach to guiding them to a better way.
Surfacing from the cave for the first time. I understood later the issues the previous staff caused and why my style did not go over so well. A personal connection is required before your proficiency matters to them. I wasn't quite sure how to show them I cared. I thought the time and effort I put into planning, learning, and recruiting was enough, but it wasn't. They wanted to know about my life, and they wanted to share theirs. From this I learned to compartmentalize and create boundaries with the student athletes to connect with them on a personal level but still maintain a level of professionalism our jobs require.
RIT
Growth mindset hasn't become a buzzword yet. I don't think I had to shift my mindset after my first coaching failure. I mean coaches for the most part are teachers, and learning is part of what we do. At least that's how I feel about our profession. So I think I adopted a growth mindset pretty early in the coaching space before it had a name. One of the few ideas that was carried over from the military, if you aren't learning or improving yourself, what exactly are you doing?
Growth mindset hasn't become a buzzword yet. I don't think I had to shift my mindset after my first coaching failure. I mean coaches for the most part are teachers, and learning is part of what we do. At least that's how I feel about our profession. So I think I adopted a growth mindset pretty early in the coaching space before it had a name. One of the few ideas that was carried over from the military, if you aren't learning or improving yourself, what exactly are you doing?
I spent the next few months being humbled by my actual corporate job as a technical writer and consequently rising while learning from one of the best coaches in our area. Roger taught me so much about recruiting, mentoring, problem solving and the other parts of the game that make a program successful. All good things come to an end though. He moved, and I chose to improve my craft as a coach elsewhere. I didn't have the same issues with this team as I did the previous team. There was no familiarity with the exception that they had played against my teams. They were curious about me and I made the effort to get to know them on a human level. I was there for 1.5 seasons. The ties I have to these athletes run a bit deeper than my first stop as head coach.
Emerging from the second cave, I saw teaching the sport to college athletes is actually not the top priority at most programs. Academics, teamwork, and error management are all competing with improving skills on the court. I think getting to know the athletes on and off the court helped me to see the whole picture of what it's like to provide an excellent athletic/academic experience. Honestly social media started to creep into our lives by then and it became clear media literacy and harm reduction was another subject coaches had to address.
Gannon University
I moved to a new city to work with people that only know me on paper. Taking what I learned previously, I had to simultaneously show the new staff that I was competent, and trustworthy while making sure the athletes were comfortable with my presence in the gym. My reception from the student athletes was luke-warm. Who is this short, goofy, and fussy coach? Why is the shortest coach in the gym working with the middles (usually the tallest)? I bonded with the assistant coaching staff easily enough since we were both new and learned the new system together. Matt ran offense differently than I had run myself or taught others and it was really cool to see it in action and the improvement in the student athletes. Of my 18 years coaching, I spent the most time here, six seasons. In that time, I busted out of the cave twice.
I moved to a new city to work with people that only know me on paper. Taking what I learned previously, I had to simultaneously show the new staff that I was competent, and trustworthy while making sure the athletes were comfortable with my presence in the gym. My reception from the student athletes was luke-warm. Who is this short, goofy, and fussy coach? Why is the shortest coach in the gym working with the middles (usually the tallest)? I bonded with the assistant coaching staff easily enough since we were both new and learned the new system together. Matt ran offense differently than I had run myself or taught others and it was really cool to see it in action and the improvement in the student athletes. Of my 18 years coaching, I spent the most time here, six seasons. In that time, I busted out of the cave twice.
After the first two seasons there, I learned how to manage personalities and expectations. And in 2012, we won our first PSAC championship. The athletes on that team were not always the best teammates, but when it mattered they made it happen. Team chemistry is important, but sometimes winning is the best motivator. I remember letting them know not all teams are families and that's okay, we're trying our best to accomplish the same goal.
In 2015, I was selected as D2 Assistant Coach of the Year. Matt Darling, my head coach nominated me. Probably the only part time coach to receive such an honor. I left the cave again. Solutions don't have to be elegant. They just have to work. I remember Matt asking me during a planning session, " How are we going to win Regionals and make it to the next round?" I usually take my time answering questions like this because I am an overthinker, but this time, I blurted out, "Beat Wheeling Jesuit." And it was reflected in our strategies moving forward in recruiting, training, and culture. Happy kids play better. How do we make our gym joyful and express gratitude for what we do? We created practice plans and team activities to give us opportunities to do those things for each other. I left summer 2016 for a full time job at a different school. Matt and Gannon are still doing it, and I'm so proud to be a part of their growth and success years later.
College of Wooster
Sarah likes to collect people. She admitted this much to me when she hired me as an assistant. I didn't know what she meant, but she knows everybody. I swear everywhere she went, she had made a connection with several people there. At this point, I hadn't realized the extent of how important those connections were. Sarah put a lot of trust in me early. I was hired the summer before the season began, and while trying to learn names, faces, personalities gave me some flexibility in how we would train the team. Personal cave moment, I started talking to a therapist. It made me a better coach. I was thinking of the athletes from a trauma informed perspective vs. a position of assumption. I learned how to ask better questions to learn about the driver of behavior and motivation. I think Sarah collected me when I needed it most. Sarah and the team gave me a place to feel a sense of belonging as I learned how to unmask an exist in the coaching space as someone becoming comfortable with their autism.
Sarah likes to collect people. She admitted this much to me when she hired me as an assistant. I didn't know what she meant, but she knows everybody. I swear everywhere she went, she had made a connection with several people there. At this point, I hadn't realized the extent of how important those connections were. Sarah put a lot of trust in me early. I was hired the summer before the season began, and while trying to learn names, faces, personalities gave me some flexibility in how we would train the team. Personal cave moment, I started talking to a therapist. It made me a better coach. I was thinking of the athletes from a trauma informed perspective vs. a position of assumption. I learned how to ask better questions to learn about the driver of behavior and motivation. I think Sarah collected me when I needed it most. Sarah and the team gave me a place to feel a sense of belonging as I learned how to unmask an exist in the coaching space as someone becoming comfortable with their autism.
Salem College
I tried my hand at head coaching once more. I put all of the things I learned previously together. I like to think my first year there, I did an okay job. I helped to heal the collective trauma of my new team from their previous situation, merged some large personalities, and made systematic changes and improvements to the program. Then Covid-19 slammed the brakes on all of that progress and I just couldn't see past it. I did receive validation from several people important to me that, even while unmasked, my compassion for people and ability to solve problems is quite apparent even to strangers. This validation gave me the confidence to apply for D1 jobs.
I tried my hand at head coaching once more. I put all of the things I learned previously together. I like to think my first year there, I did an okay job. I helped to heal the collective trauma of my new team from their previous situation, merged some large personalities, and made systematic changes and improvements to the program. Then Covid-19 slammed the brakes on all of that progress and I just couldn't see past it. I did receive validation from several people important to me that, even while unmasked, my compassion for people and ability to solve problems is quite apparent even to strangers. This validation gave me the confidence to apply for D1 jobs.
Seattle University
I was here for one season. In that season, I witnessed some of the most abhorrent coaching behavior in person that I had ever encountered, fear was the prime motivator in this gym. It was really hard to work with. I've only worked in one place where fear as the motivator was appropriate, the Army. The fear of death is the best motivator in that case. The athletes feared losing scholarships. The other staff feared losing their jobs. The job was so stressful that they confided in me that sometimes talking to a therapist was unhelpful.
I was here for one season. In that season, I witnessed some of the most abhorrent coaching behavior in person that I had ever encountered, fear was the prime motivator in this gym. It was really hard to work with. I've only worked in one place where fear as the motivator was appropriate, the Army. The fear of death is the best motivator in that case. The athletes feared losing scholarships. The other staff feared losing their jobs. The job was so stressful that they confided in me that sometimes talking to a therapist was unhelpful.
As someone that follows procedure and likes to be direct, I took it up with the head coach first. I tried to offer solutions, and was turned down each time. She didn't see a problem with it. Another major incident occurred, I went to administration and they offered to mediate a conversation that lasted hours and went nowhere. It was hopeless. I could not get her out of the cave to see that it was possible to build a decent offense with the personnel we had available to get one or two more wins, and that fear didn't have to rule the gym. It was causing me a great deal of stress to not be able to get the administration or this coach to see the harm that was being done to the student athletes. They weren't soft. If anything, they were just as tough as any team I had coached in the past, and some even tougher judging by their lab and class schedules.
In the end, I couldn't live with myself if I never brought it up with her and the administration. I ran through all the possibilities and scenarios, and each time it ended up with me feeling tremendous guilt for staying quiet or getting fired for backing the student athletes. I'm positive I made the right choice. I have no regrets for trying to protect the mental and physical well-being of student athletes. I may never work in college athletics again (not for lack of applying) but I know I'm a good coach, and my work has had a positive impact on the people I work with.
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