The First Year Coach
As a first year Head Coach I was 26 years old and knew I had much to learn but I was confident in my knowledge of the game since I had recently ended my short professional career. However there are things that I had to learn as a first year coach that had very little to do with the game of basketball and that is when the real education began. This is a brief example of one single game road trip to central Colorado that has had a lasting impact on what I felt like I knew about basketball and coaching.
Due to a scheduling mishap, the Mighty Spartans, with first year head coach were set to take on our cross state non-conference rivals. The scheduling mishap was due to a rookie head coach mistake were I agreed (contractually) to play at their place without a return game at our gym. The scheduled date was cancelled due to severe weather, very common in this part of the country and the game was rescheduled to a date in middle of our conference game schedule. The conference schedule was very brutal, comprised of 15 games competing against the top community college talent in the nation. Needless to say, we just did not want to play this rescheduled game for many reasons:
We were having a very bad season at this point and my team is all but checked out for the season (2 total wins)
Our team was comprised of a diverse group of undisciplined, less-talented,” knuckleheads”.
The weather, despite rescheduling, was still extremely severe.
Our Team numberwas also depleted due to injuries, poor grades, and attrition.
Now, first year coach was trying to get out of game and informed by the Athletic Director that because of the contractual obligation, the game must be played. So we packed up the vans and drove across the frozen State. The Men’s and Women’s basketball teams, 3 10-passenger vans, 2 rookie head coaches, 1 rookie assistant, with 2 of the 3 vans drivers with little winterweather driving experience. Buckle up!
With the experience of this trip under our belt there was a chance to relax and I felt like the Spartans were ready to make the most of this trip. As we arrived at the gym the intensity peaked immediately for several reasons:
We were locked out of the locker rooms and we did not get in until minutes before game time, with little time for team prep (I thought I smelled some “home cooking”).
We were not fond of the rival’s athletic department for pressing to make the games happen in the weather conditions.
Many of our athletes knew one anotherfrom high school and the trashing talking began long before we loaded the vans.
Did I mention they are our cross state rivals and we drove 9 hoursin a WHITEOUT!
The women’s basketball game was very exciting and came down to the wire. The women’s team had a 1 point lead with short time on the clock. However a foul was called on what I think was a very questionable call on a 3-point shot attempt, at the buzzer! This sent the player to the line where she made 2 of 3 free throws and won the game. The missed shot, foul call and made basketball with no time left, sent the rivals’ fans into a frenzy, setting the stage for the men’s game. The intensity grew with each tick of the clock. The men’s games started as a back and forth battle throughout the first half with few points scored. The intensity continued to grow as did indignant behaviorin the gym. At some point during the game one of our better players noticed a fan trash talking to his mother. This particular player was hot-head with a quick temper (poor self-control, mid-level talent and a knucklehead) and he wasted no time running from the bench rightinto the stands to confront the fan. Right behind him was my assistant coach going to retrieve him before punches were thrown. The assistant, being very loyal and knew he had to act jumped up to chase him but he struggled to find traction on the court with his very stylish dress shoesso he wassliding across the floor(organic comedy at its best). It was in this moment I thought, what the heck is this and what am I into? The game was out of reach at this point and not only did I have to except defeat, I had to except it knowing that my team looked and behaved in an extremely low class manner and appeared accustomed to being bush league. Afterthe dust settled, the technical fouls distributed and ejections were completed, there was a long across State return trip. It was then I knew exactly what to do, REBUILD by ridding ourselves of knuckleheads, losing attitude, poor citizenship and build a new team culture of Student-Athletes. First year coaches assess these things early when working with your team as to avoid potential future headaches. Understand and assess the environment to include scheduling, dates, weather and driver safety. The most important job that you have is not to win basketball games, maintaining the safety control and growth of your student athletes.
