In the words of Malcolm Gladwell “the powerful and strong are not always what they seem”, how a small time program went on an incredible NCAA Tournament journey. Notes from The Coaching U Podcast and The Dynamic Leadership Podcast, both terrific resources.
The Coaching Journey
- Rebuilding takes time in college, 4 years.
- Sometimes you have to fight your ego as a head coach and ask where will I learn the most?
Rick Majerus
After being fired at Illinois State went from being a head coach to an assistant with Rick Majerus, nobody taught me more than that man.
- Took me on a competitive reinvention.
- Lesson = there are no shortcuts to any place worth going. You can’t skip steps.
- Majerus = love and trust factor, if you have this with your players you can demand another level of expectation.
- Amazing teacher, best with catchy phrases that resonated with players. A fantastic way to learn.
- Attention to detail, aimed for no slippage between practice and games.
- Practice was his sanctuary, a teacher at heart.
- Teach slow, but always achieve what you emphasise.
- I took daily notes on EVERYTHING he did.
- “When you get your next job, take it slow and do it the right way.”
Loyola-Chicago
- Started ‘the wall of culture’ with all the great phrases in our language, many from Coach Majerus.
- Examples: eyes to the rim, the ball moves you move, value the ball, low and leveraged, reach for the lights etc.
- “If you want culture, you’ve got to recruit culture.”
- When you get a job, never forget be who you are not who you’ve watched.
- Wanted my team to be obsessed with getting better.
- It’s important to get guys that have won before, they’re wired to lift others up.
- Coach your assistants the hardest, create a development opportunity for them to become a head coach.
- Preparation = covered our scout room walls with opposition X’s and O’s.
Team Rules
1. Protect the team
2. Be Early
3. No complaining, no excuses, no entitlement
- Skill work 20 minutes every single day, sold it to our players as ‘your time’.
- All the way up until the final four, 20 minutes this never shortened because we valued skill.
- Consistency of emphasis, cannot be everything.
- Film sessions we called “Get Better Tapes”
- Not criticism, how can we constantly be improving.
- Finish film with our greatest intangible plays: loose balls, charges etc.
- Big on the hockey assist, we charted passes every game.
- Never be afraid to show them what they did right, reinforcement is a critical part of learning.
NCAA Tournament
- I preached to my players every single day, focus on what is right in front of us.
- All about the process we never looked too far ahead.
- Enjoy the attention and embrace the moment, this is what we have wanted to so don’t shy away from it.
- Win or Loss = put it in the bank
- We are entitled to nothing, we are the ones chasing every single night.
It’s not about buy in but believe in, their investment is yours.