At the 2019 Women's Final Four, I ate lunch with a college coach who was raised and coached outside the United States. The coach lamented the differences in actual coaching experience of college coaches compared to coaches elsewhere. The coach explained that prior to moving to the United States, they coached multiple teams each season. In the United States, we limit offseason workouts and prevent NCAA basketball coaches from coaching other teams. Many coaches graduate from college and move into DoBo or GA positions; they are in the coaching profession, but they are not coaching.
I coached a variety of levels early in my development. I started with youth and AAU. I coached AAU teams, volleyball teams, and Special Olympics while I coached as a HS, NAIA, and JC assistant coach. Like the coach above, when I coached my first European team, I coached the women's senior team and assisted with the u11, u13, and u15 teams.
I wrote previously about accumulating experience, and the importance of experience in coaching development, especially if we view coaching as a skill and not an innate gift. As I spoke with some coaches today, I want to move beyond simply the importance of experience and practice in skill development, and add adaptability.
I know a very good coach, with certain players. They excel with players like them: Motivated, skilled, mature. They struggle with anyone else. Can they be a great coach with this lack of adaptability? At the college level, coaches recruit their own players, and often cut players after a year or two if they make a mistake. Good recruiters, especially those with self-awareness, can avoid players with whom they may struggle.
I am confident in different situations because of the variability of my experience. I have coached men and women (including players older than myself), and boys and girls. I have coached non-English speakers, and I have coached athletes who are deaf. I have coached beginners and NCAA All-Americans. I have coached at public schools, private schools, Catholic schools, and Jewish schools. I have coached Special Olympics.
When athletic directors search for coaches, whether at the high school or college levels, they search for a narrow definition of experience: Generally, they want coaches who have been successful at the same level, and even the same level of the same level. High school athletic directors want a coach who has been a successful varsity coach to fill a varsity coaching position; if it is a Class A school, they prefer a successful varsity coach at a Class A school. A college AD hiring for a mid-major D1 job wants a coach with experience at a mid-major D1. This is a narrow view of experience.
Administrators hire coaches based on track record and potential, like a coach recruiting a player. There is no guarantee that a coach who succeeds at one school will succeed at another school, but we assume that the closer the schools are in competitive level, resources, etc., the more likely that the coach will transfer his or her skills to the new school.
However, is that true? Is a narrow band of experience more likely to transfer to a new school than a coach with a greater band of experience?
