This might hurt some coaches/admins feelings, sorry if this is you. Please try to read this for what it is. You need to remember that yes you might be in a different room full of suits, but is that who you REALLY are? Are you really loving being in those meetings and not working with the athletes? If so, you should stop being a S&C coach. Get rid of the dual roll because you will not coach the athletes they way they should, nor will you work with your colleagues the same.
I have seen this happen in my experience. Someone gets a promotion (if they deserve it or not is besides the point) and they change who they are and how they act. They forget who helped them along the way in their journey into S&C and quickly turn into a politician. Yes, what got you here will not take you where you want to be. But the question you must ask yourself is how can you evolve without changing to the core who you are?
This is the main point of this article. How to evolve without changing your core self. This all starts by making sure you know what your true north and reasoning is for working in athletics. If it is to change the lives of athletes for the better, chances are you will be fine. But if you have a picture of yourself standing on the sidelines posted above your desk - chances are your ego is why you want to work in athletics. A quick side note - if you have to tell people you are a servant leader, you are not one ;)
So, how do you handle these dual roles. While I was not the Assistant AD and head S&C when I was at Towson - I was in the primary sport of head football S&C. So on paper I wasn’t in charge, but when people needed things done in football or needed budget from football - who do you think they came to? So I have seen how these roles operate. What you need to understand first is that the primary team you have is those S&C coaches directly underneath you, Without them you have nothing. Let me say that again WITHOUT THEM YOU HAVE NOTHING.
If you think I am going overboard, as the director count how many teams you have on campus. Now close your eyes and imagine training ALL of them alone. See why your subordinates are so important? Now that you have that square let's explain even more why this is the case. Not only do they train the rest of the athletes on campus - they interact with the athletes and are directly responsible for the experience the athletes have. Does this mean they need to make it all sunshine and rainbows for the athlete? No, no one can do that. But, if you take care of your staff and they feel valued - chances are they will train and treat their teams better.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN GIVE THE STAFF A PIZZA PARTY
IT ALSO DOES NOT MEAN USE THE DEPARTMENT MONEY TO BUY THEM UNIVERSITY GEAR.
If you do those 2 things what you actually do is treat them like children. They will see you spending money on things that don’t matter, in an attempt to make things looks great. No one needs more gear - they get plenty from their teams. And chances are, they don’t want to think about work when they are away from it - so your cooler bag or coffee cup is not necessary. Save the budget and get more equipment, cont ed money, or pay for a cert. The worst thing you can do is buy the gear or pizza, and then tell them you did it to show they appreciation. Again, if you appreciate someone - they know it. They don’t need a coffee mug with the school logo on it.
Does this mean doing nice things should never happen? NO! Just make it authentic. You know your staff better than I do. Have conversations with them, interact with them. You have the budget, you know where the finances are. If you are talking with a subordinate and hear they like the equipment X or want to travel to X school - right there offer the school to pay for it. And don’t make it where the rest of the staff knows about what you did - again that is fake. Sure if your subordinate wants to tell people what you did, that is fine. But don’t let it come from you.
Your reputation as a leader is on the line here. If people leave your school and have bad things to say about the experience, is it not their fault. It is yours. You’re a bad leader. Think about this, if someone left a restaurant saying the food was not cooked well, the staff was rude, and the floors were dirty. You wouldn’t say “well did you give them a chance”. You would say, thanks for the heads up, I wont go eat there. The same will be said by your staff when they leave. On the flip side, if you treat them well they will gush about the experience. And much like a restaurant that has a good reputation - there will be a line for reservations and people will be willing to pay premium to go there.
The world needs more strength coaches. Remember you are a strength coach first, and you just pretend to be an administrator. Think about it, who really wants to wear a suit and dress shoes all day? Sounds terrible huh?
For more help on how to program and be a S&C coach check out our YouTube video library by clicking here.
