So, You Want To Be A Coach

                                                         So, You Want To Be A Coach
                                                                                    by
                                                                Don Shields, Former Head Coach
                                                                            PBL Girls Basketball

         So, you have decided that you want to be a head coach.  Not just any head coach, you want to win championships!  Where do you start?  Defense?  Offense?  How do you plan a practice?  What is your philosophy?  Who can you trust?  How do you win parents?  Handle irate parents.  Keep from getting fired?  All these question, I bet, are running through your mind.  My goal is to give you some tips on how to shape yourself and your program into a winner.
         What does this goof know about coaching?  You might ask.  I was a high school coach for 30 years in five different sports.  I was an assistant for most of those year, but my varsity girls program produced three regional titles in Illinois and two conference championships in the six years I was the head guy.  In all the years I was a coach, in all the sports I was involved in, I had contact with many people who were excellent both as coaches and people.  From them I learned a great deal.  So, my first piece of advice is, “Don’t think you know everything.”
         If this is the only piece you read on coaching and handling players and personnel, you are in trouble.  To be a good coach, you not only have to know the Xs and Os, but you also have to know the sport and its history, how to put together personnel, psychology, sales, and strategy.  Things are ever changing in the sport you wish to coach, and you have to keep up.  You have to have a vision and foresight.  Without these, you may not get off the ground. 
         When I took over my first head coaching job, it was in volleyball.  I had been an assistant for six years.  Our school was consolidating and it was to be the last year for the program.  I knew the players and I knew that our season would not be that strong.  But, I had a vision that if we worked hard, then developed, then when we consolidated, my players would have a leg up on the other school.  I would be the head coach of the new team.  Little did I know that this was not to be.  But, we worked hard, my staff and I handled it as if we were going to be there forever.  We moved underclassmen up, we took our lumps.  We went 1-19 that year.  We won our first game, then lost the next 19.  Our final loss was in Regionals to the school we were going to consolidate with.  They had two girls who would play college ball, one Division I NCAA.  We took them to three games and made them work for every point.  When my girls were seniors on the new team, they were the starters, and the team won a championship.  We had a vision.  Always keep that vision in your sights and believe in the future. 
         Choose good assistants.  I really think this is key.  I always tried to surround myself with people who were upbeat, who knew their stuff, and were possibly more knowledgeable than I was.  I could trust them and know that they had my back and shared my vision.  My assistants became my friends off the court.  You want someone who is hungry, but not so hungry that they are willing to throw you under the bus.  Give your assistants something important to do.  One assistant was in charge of defensive suggestions, one offensive suggestions.  At practice, they were responsible for drills that went along with their expertise.  Give them responsibility then let them go and trust them.  Give them guidance and let them know if the team is not working up to what you want.  During the games, let them talk.  At pregame and half time, let them talk.  You will be amazed at how this will affect the morale of the team if they think that the assistants are more than window dressing.
         Don’t be afraid to change.    By this, I mean, have a philosophy that you want to do.  Do you walk the ball up?  Run?  How about motion offense?  Set plays?  Decide what you want, then do it, but don’t be afraid to change if things are not working.  The team has to buy in to what you want them to do, or they will not be comfortable running the offense.  One time, we were struggling on offense.  They just could not get what I wanted.  I had it too complicated for them.  So, I told them that the offense had to have one cutter, and they had to reverse the ball, any other pattern was up to them.  They had half an hour to design an offense.  Then  I and my assistants left the gym and had a soft drink.  When we came back, they had it figured out.  Not exactly what I wanted, but it was good enough that we adopted the offense for the next two years.  They could not complain that it was too hard, they had designed it! They bought into it.  I was willing to let them have a say, and I was trusted them.  Once they got that, then we took off. 
         When I first became a head coach, I was a screamer.  I yelled at everything and pointed out every little mistake.  About half way through the year at practice I asked my point guard what was wrong with the team, why were we not performing like I knew we were capable?  She said the problem was ME!  I had the team so tight that they could not do anything for fear of getting yelled at.  I went home, took her comments to heart, and changed.  From then on,  I was more positive and I tried to make practices fun.  We played music during drills, I made sure I got to everyone of my players at some time during practice and talked to them.  I even changed my substitution strategy.  Things began to go well when I changed and loosened up.
         Parents.  You have got to love parents.  They want what is best for their child.  There are few who see beyond their kid, because their player comes home and the parents only see them. They get only one perspective.  Either you are not playing their kid enough, or you are picking on him or her and “do not like” the kid.  You, however, have to balance 12-15 personalities and that means 12-30 parents.  Not everyone is going to agree with you, and not everyone is going to like you.  But you do have to make sure that the lines of communication are always open.  Have a meeting and tell your parents what your philosophy is.  Invite them to a practice and show them how you want things run.  What you expect patterns to look like, how your defense is supposed to run.  What inbounds plays look like.  Tell them that you are always willing to talk, but NOT right after a game.  Even a win.  Let things settle, let you get away and look at film, let them get emotions under control.  Ask them not to call your home, but rather the school and make an appointment.  I had one guy who wanted to talk to me after every game and give me his opinion on how I should do things.  One day, I saw him working at his job.  I stopped and started talking to him about his work.  Then I started to give him advice on how to do his job.  He asked, “ How long have you been a carpenter?”  I answered, “As long as you have been a basketball coach.”  He looked at me, nodded, and I never heard an opinion from him again.  The more you can get the parents to buy into your philosophy and show them that you are treating their child like your own, the better off you will be.
         Administration and Faculty. How you handle your administration and faculty will have a big effect on how you are perceived and backed up by them.  Be sure to let them know that they are welcome to any practice that you have.  Send them an email about how the team is doing and encourage them to come to games.  Also, let them know that you back them up.  When a kid gets into trouble in the classroom either through behavior or grades, make the kid accountable.  If you host a tournament, be sure to give your administration something to show your appreciation for the time they will spend there.  Go to the principal, the AD, the assistant principal and ask advice about kids, situations, etc.  This shows them that you are interested in more than the wins and losses.  This won’t necessarily keep you from getting fired as a coach, but it will open lines of communication where they feel they can talk things over with you and vice versa.
         Media.  All your kids and parents want to read their names in the paper.  Try to establish a relationship with a member of a local paper or radio station.  If possible, try to get your own radio show.  But, one word of caution here, DO NOT TAKE CALLS on your show.  Take this time to talk about the kids, the games, and be positive at all times.  You can express things that need work, but always be sure that your descriptions of kids effort is in a positive light.  When talking about games to a newspaper, try to let the reporter know that it was a team effort, and mention kids who did well.  When talking to the media, always use plural pronouns…Our, We, etc.  This emphasizes that you are thinking about the team.  If you say, “I have a girl…” the strength I the statement sounds like ownership, not team work.
         Xs and Os    Everyone can do these.  You have to know yours inside and out.  If you were coaching against you, how would you beat you?  Where are the weaknesses of your system? Once you know these, then you can train to team to guard against them.  Does your system fit your players, or do your players fit your system?  This where your evaluation of your team comes in.  If you have a slow team, or one that does not play defense well in the open court, you might not want to fast break and full court press.  Conversely, if you have a strong running team who is unselfish and loves pressure, then give them the basics and let them have their heads. 
         Fundamentals and Lower levels.    You have to stress to your lower level coaches that they must teach fundamentals.  Kids have to come to your varsity program with the ability to shoot the ball properly, make layups properly, and play basic man to man defense.  If you want your coaches in the junior to run the same offense, then tell them so.  If you want to let your lower coaches and younger experiment with offenses, then let them know it is ok.  Be sure, though, that they have an understanding of what the varsity does.  When it comes to the high school programs, though, your teams all have to have to have the same system.  That way, if you need a younger player, terminology and plays will be the same.  Your coaches under the high school program should be good at fundamentals and they should not worry about winning, but rather about training talent for the future.  When I left head coaching for the girls program, and went to the boys program as a freshman boys coach, I did not worry about winning, I worried about making sure the guys under me could dribble, shoot, rebound, and play defense. We had a losing season.  But, when they were juniors and seniors, they lost only six games total, and were ranked in the state.  They played better defense than other teams, and they were more fundamentally sound than other teams.  I was really proud of that.
         Getting Fired.  My last subject is one that you will worry about.  I will tell you one thing---DON’T WORRY!  Although you are expected to create a winner, you might not, especially if you cannot recruit. (And most  high school coaches cannot).  You must play with the hand you are dealt.  Give yourself time to create an attitude of winning in your program.  That attitude has to permeate your entire program from the lowest level to the varsity.  Winning is an attitude.  If you are too worried about getting fired, you might not take that risk you need to take to get over the hump into an elite program.  Remember this line, you were “Hired to be Fired.”  During the year, you have to evaluate what you are doing and how you are doing it.  The bottom line is, “Did you do all there was to do? Are you satisfied with the results?”  The parents may not be, the administration may not be, but are you?  Besides the sport you are coaching, did you teach your team more?  Remember that sports are reflection of life.  Players that learn to face adversity and come through in the clutch and be successful are what you are really striving for.  Not everybody will get a trophy, not everybody will be a state champion, but everyone can learn that wanting to win and working to win is the goal. 
         I had many good years as a coach.  I miss the competition, the camaraderie, the growth that I saw in young people.  When I walked away after 32 years of coaching something from drama to basketball, I felt good.  I hope you do to.  And remember the old axiom, “Competition does not build character, it reveals it.”