Developing Our Roles As Coaches

Players that know their role thrive and contribute greatly towards the success of the team.  How about you, coach?  Do you know your role?  Do you know how to keep growing in your role?

Although we are not perfect or anywhere near perfect, I believe that our staff at Bob Jones University does a tremendous job of working together and performing our individual roles.  I recently had a discussion with another assistant on our staff and he asked me, "When you're around me, how much effort do I give?  A percentage."  I really appreciated his question as it showed his desire to learn and grow, but it also challenged me to assess my effort in my current role.  As we carried on our conversation we both determined that we could give more to the team and keep encouraging each other's growth to position our program in the best way possible.  You see, no matter how good we think we are doing or how well our program is portrayed, there is ALWAYS room to get better.  

We all know the various responsibilities you need to carry out as a college basketball coach such as scouting, film breakdown, & recruiting.  But I wanted to give you a few leadership skills that we often overlook that can help you perform your role at an elite level.  These are all aspects of my development as a coach that I am working on currently.

EFFORT

When you work a million hours a week (or so it seems sometimes) it's hard to imagine that you aren't giving your best effort.  As I had my conversation with Coach Miller, he challenged me with the fact that we can give so much more effort in many ways.  But how do we give more effort?  What does that look like?  The following traits will all contribute to giving our maximum effort on a daily basis.

ATTITUDE

Come to the office every day with a positive mindset.  Be determined to impact those around you by making them better.  Smile more, complain less.  Be interested in other's lives and ask questions about them.  If you can go in to every day with the ability to make someone else better you will be setting yourself up for success.  

ENTHUSIASM

Many people mistake enthusiasm for "Rah Rah" type of talk and shy away from being enthusiastic.  However, enthusiasm is defined by dictionary.com as:

1. absorbing or controlling possession of the mind by any interest or pursuit; lively interest:

2. an occupation, activity, or pursuit in which such interest is shown:

Being enthusiastic as a college basketball coach simply means giving your best when your best is required.  It means taking your passion to another level and using your gift to impact others.  You can show your effort by being more enthusiastic even when you don't feel like it.

FOCUS

Focusing on a task for long periods of time is always a struggle for many, including myself.  I don't know why, but it's definitely an attribute that people need to improve!  Your effort is directly impacted by the focus you put forth in anything you're doing.  As coaches, we owe it to our staff and our players to commit our focus to things that will make us better.  Make yourself a quiet place to concentrate for a little bit.  Find some music that will keep your mind focused on what you're doing.  Whatever you need to do to focus better, do it!

Although there are so many more character traits that we can develop to be more successful in our roles, I believe that these are all things that we can control and get better in.  They are basic, but they are powerful.  Let's continue to hold each other accountable and keep growing and learning together as coaches to impact the lives of those around us!

Win The Campus Visit

It's a beautiful day outside and you have one of your top recruits coming to visit campus today.  You've had great talks with him and his family over the last few months and things are going great.  You were at every single tournament he played in last summer and took time out of your busy schedule during the season to make it to some of his high school games as well.  You've built a relationship with the family and really enjoy talking to them.  The recruit has even told you that your school is one of his top 3 and he's going to be making a decision after the visits.  But as he steps on campus, the first thing he notices is an overflowing trash can just outside of your office building...

Whether it's a full trash can or something else, it doesn't take much to negatively influence a recruit's visit.  Your job as the coach and coordinator for this particular visit is to ensure this never happens.  The goal of the campus visit is to win the recruit and his family and give them the confidence that your school is where they want to be.  Here are a few important aspects of the campus visit that could be the difference between signing your top priority and losing him.

FIRST IMPRESSION

There are really two parts to the first impression: The visual impression & the personal impression.  Sometimes the first one is out of your control, but you should make every effort to make this positive.  The second part is fully in your control and you better make it work. 

The visual impression: As a recruit and his family drive onto campus, they naturally begin to form an opinion of the school.  Is the grass cut?  Is the landscaping nice?  Are the buildings kept up?  These are just a few of the things they look at, but they are important.  I'm lucky enough to be at a school that does a fantastic job with their grounds.  You will never drive onto our campus and feel like it's a mess.  The landscaping is beautiful, the fountains are always flowing, and the trash cans are always empty.  Because of the grounds crew at Bob Jones University, my job as a coach has already been made easier.

The personal impression: This is where coaches typically win or lose the visit.  We want to win, so here is how we do it.  Psychologists have performed studies that say you have seven seconds to make a first impression.  When I go to meet a recruit in our Welcome Center or by their car, I always want to be the first person that they interact with.  Why? Because it's my responsibility as a coach to make them feel welcomed and I don't want to risk someone else impacting that.  Remember, I only have seven seconds to make this "first impression" the best that they have ever seen!  Do I have a positive attitude?  Is my posture conveying confidence?  Do I have a bright smile and welcoming eye contact?  Is my handshake firm?  Am I genuinely interested in them?  I know it sounds silly, but when we have a recruit coming on campus the "first impression" is where I spend most of my time preparing.  By making a great first impression we have now set the tone for a positive visit.

ARE YOU READY FOR US?

When recruits and their families come on a visit, it is oftentimes their first experience on your campus.  They have a sense of insecurity and may have a lot of questions.  You've already earned their trust and respect by making a great first impression, but now you need to build their confidence in you and your university.  One way we can do this is to have many of their questions answered before they are even asked.    

As the recruiting coordinator, I maintain constant communication with all of our departments on campus.  When we are planning a visit, I will coordinate with our Welcome Center to prepare every aspect of that visit.  As I introduce the family to our Welcome Center personnel, they are handed a packet that contains an itinerary, meal passes, and information about the university and their intended area of study.  Inside they will find meetings with admissions counselors, class schedules, tours, etc.  We always appeal to the recruits needs and make sure we accomplish everything their family wants to accomplish during their visit.  Being prepared answers several questions right away that the family may have been wanting to ask.  Again, by doing this we are building confidence in the recruit and his family that we will be ready to take care of them.  

BE A PART OF OUR FAMILY

Once we get the prerequisites of the visit completed, we want to make our recruit feel like he is a part of our family.  Every team says that they are a family, but very few actually live it out.  In everything we do, we want to be sincere and genuine.

One way that we begin to integrate them into our family is by making introductions to everyone we possibly can.  Our support staff, coaches from other sports, administration, students, etc.  No one is too small or too big to talk to our recruit and their family.  By allowing them to build relationships with people outside of basketball, they will begin to feel like a part of something bigger than themselves.  

We also involve our current players a lot in the process.  Whether its a workout, a meal or a campus tour, we want as much interaction between the recruit and our players.  We find this to be very beneficial because our players can give a first hand perspective of what it is truly like to be a part of our family.  They tell it how it is and give an honest answer to the questions being asked.  

NO PRESSURE

It's always fantastic when a recruit wants to sign on the spot after his visit.  However, we never pressure a recruit to sign before he leaves.  Our staff always sits down with the recruit and his family prior to their departure and have a very transparent conversation.  We want them to be honest with us and let us know what we can do to make us the best fit for their son.  We have the utmost confidence that we did everything we could to make this a special visit for them, so we want to let the process play out.  There is no doubt in our minds that if a recruit is meant to be here, he will be here.  

Campus visits will be different for everyone, but one thing will always be the same.  Recruits and their families want to have confidence not only in your program and your staff, but in the university as a whole.  Can you give them that confidence?  If so, you are going to have a successful future for you and your program!

---

Photo credit: Derek Eckenroth; Bob Jones University