by Tyler Brandt, National Recruiting Coordinator
Recently a coach whom I have done camps with and known for a long time just got his walking papers. When you look at the success he’s had it doesn’t really make sense – OR DOES IT? This is not an uncommon thing in sports, all of us that have coached at the collegiate level know it is more of a business than an extracurricular activity. The expectations of our results as coaches are absolutely explicit. Unfortunately, too many coaches feel that because they were great athletes they automatically are great coaches.
The intricacies of being a professional coach (this doesn’t mean a coach in the NFL or NBA, it’s a coach who gets paid to coach for his/her livelihood) are so far beyond the scope of learning a technique or strategy it’s mind boggling. The job description includes, but is not limited to, administrative duties, psychology of sport, mental training, athletic training, strength and conditioning, rules compliance in recruiting, budget management, transportation and logistics, academic monitoring, academic advisement and I am sure I am missing some.
As the National Director of Recruiting for Tudor Collegiate Strategies I have reached out to many colleagues to discuss working with them using our recruiting service. Although many have taken advantage and are seeing phenomenal results in their programs, others have said they are good to go and know what they’re doing. This marks the THIRD time that a coach has been fired from their job in part because of recruiting issues that said they KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING!
What sense does it make to know that you are having challenges, have an opportunity to make a change to rectify it and you make a conscious decision not to? Sounds a lot like why many of us coaches get frustrated with our athletes! We see a problem with their technique, try to get them to adjust it and they continuously do the same thing over and over making the same mistakes again and again.
YES – Using TCS costs money, but so does anything of value!
YES – You will get information from someone else on how to change your recruiting practices and NO that doesn’t make you a worse coach (it actually makes you way smarter)
YES – You will start filling your rosters with better athletes
YES – You will have better retention – persistence & completion rates (big issue for the HLC)
YES – You will have better work-life-balance
The list is long regarding the benefits of using TCS in your program but the list is really short for why you don’t:
– Ego
I know programs have budget challenges, I did, but I made a few changes and made it happen. Don’t lose your job because you think you know everything. You would be surprised at the coaches in your sport using TCS. Using TCS is part of the reason why they are successful and are keeping their jobs!
I know this blog is a little harsh, but you and I both know that sometimes you have to rub off the skin to clean the wound! Do me a favor – if you haven’t won a conference championship, if you didn’t have a winning season last year, if you got beat IN the championship game, if you just got a new coaching opportunity, shoot me an email – tyler@dantudor.com – so we can talk about how TCS can help your program.
It’s too late to fix it after the administration has made up their mind that you aren’t the coach that can get the job done! Don’t wait, let’s talk NOW! Don’t be the FOURTH coach in this list!