An Underutilized Campus Interview Strategy: The Area Tour

SPECIAL GUEST POST FROM DAN CHRISTENSEN 

In the high-stakes world of athletics hiring, we often treat the on-campus interview like a deposition. We put candidates in front of search committees, donors, and school presidents to see if they can handle the heat. But we often forget a fundamental truth: The candidate is interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them.

If your interview process begins and ends within the campus gates, you are leaving out a critical component. To land a top-tier coach, especially when your salary pool might not be the highest in the conference, you must sell the life, not just the job.

Here is why the Area Tour is a non-negotiable component of a modern search.

1. Control the Narrative

If you don’t show the candidate the area, they will find it themselves. They’ll open Zillow, look at a random Yelp review, or drive around aimlessly after the interview. Without your “insider” context, they may draw inaccurate or negative conclusions about the community.

By taking the wheel, you highlight the “bright spots”, the quiet neighborhood where coaches live, the best local coffee shop, or the park where their kids will play. If there are challenges in the area, being the one to point them out builds immediate trust. Honesty is a recruitment strategy. Deception is a retention disaster.

2. The “Sunday Afternoon” Factor

A coach isn’t just moving their whistle, they are moving their life. For a candidate relocating from several hours away or across the country, the “unknown” is their biggest source of anxiety.

Use the drive to show them the reality of their daily existence:

• The Commute: Show them the 10-minute drive from the most popular residential area to campus.
• The Lifestyle: Point out the go-to Sunday afternoon spots.
• The Specifics: If you know they love a specific cuisine or are a “coffee shop” person, make a stop at the best local spot that reflects their personality.

3. High-Value Connection Time

The boardroom is formal and guarded. The car is where the real conversation happens. This one-on-one time allows you to step out of the “AD” role and into the “Partner” role. You aren’t just evaluating their X’s and O’s anymore, you are building the foundation of a working relationship. This personal connection is often the tipping point that convinces a candidate to say “yes” to your offer over a higher-paying one elsewhere.

4. Preventing “Buyer’s Remorse”

The goal isn’t just to hire a coach, it’s to keep one. When a coach feels “tricked” by the environment after they arrive, they immediately start thinking about an exit. An area tour ensures they are making a fully informed decision. It doesn’t guarantee they come, in fact it might lose you some candidates. Ones that maybe wouldn’t have worked out in the long run anyways. But, when a coach knows exactly what they are signing up for, they arrive on Day 1 focused on winning, not wondering if they made a mistake.

The Bottom Line

An athletic director who ignores the community tour is essentially asking a candidate to marry into a family they’ve never met. Don’t leave the “lifestyle” piece of the puzzle to chance. Get in the car, show them the community, and close the deal.