Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

6 Ways to Better Utilize Assistant Coaches

The late great Billy Graham liked to say, “A coach will impact more young people in one year than the average person will in a lifetime.” The quote didn’t distinguish between head coaches or assistant coaches. All coaches have an opportunity to make a difference.

As a head coach, your platform is greater and you may have more opportunities, but your assistants can make a tremendous difference in the lives of your athletes – both from an athletic and personal level. The best programs have great coaches. A good head coach can only do so much if the assistant coaches are not very good.

Having a good assistant coach isn’t automatic even if that person has the knowledge or experience.

Here are 6 ways that you can better utilize your assistant coaches more effectively…

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The Coaching Traits Athletic Directors Struggle to Uncover

SPECIAL GUEST POST FROM DAN CHRISTENSEN 

Hiring a college coach is one of the most important decisions an athletic director makes.

It is also one of the easiest decisions to misread.

Not because athletic directors are careless. Most are not. They work hard, ask thoughtful questions, involve key people, and carry the weight of knowing how much the hire matters.

But coaching searches are difficult because the most visible parts of a candidate are not always the most predictive.

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7 Creative Ideas for More Effective Practice Sessions

The Navy SEALS like to say, “Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion, instead you sink to the level of your training.”

Very few athletes are true “gamers” in that they can show up on game day and flip a switch. Most athletes need to prepare and build good habits, so they can call upon their skills when needed.

In order to best prepare your athletes to face certain situations during games, you need to inspire them.

Here are seven ways you can make your practice sessions a little more creative in order to increase their effectiveness…

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What Signals is Your Coaching Resume Giving?

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Many coaches assume the hiring process starts when the interview begins.

Athletic Directors would tell you it starts much earlier.

It starts the moment they open your resume and cover letter.

And whether you realize it or not, they are asking one central question:

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13 Fundraising Ideas

Raising money for your team, organization, or cause is a necessity. Whether it’s for necessary items and operations or for extra stuff (e.g. trips, extra set of uniforms, etc…), you’ll want to find the fundraising activity that makes sense for your situation.

Here are 13 things that you can do to raise money…

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How to Interview (and Answer) to Make the Right Hire

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When coaches prepare for interviews, they often focus on:

  • Recruiting plans
  • Practice structure
  • Systems and schemes
  • Scheduling philosophy

All important.

But based on our recent research at Bechler Leadership, they’re not the primary focus.

We asked Athletic Directors a simple question:

“What’s a favorite interview question you ask when hiring a coach?”

The answers told a very different story.

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Using an Application to Select Team Captains

Selecting team captains is one of the most important things that you’ll do all year for your program. You want to select the right individuals who’ll best lead, influence, and impact their teammates.

Utilizing an application during the captain selection process can be beneficial. This article will outline some of the reasons you might want to use this tool, as well as some things to consider if you decide to take advantage of this resource.

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7 Tips to Get Considered for More Coaching Jobs

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In college athletics, most coaches believe the hiring process starts when they submit an application or land an interview.

In reality, it starts much earlier.

By the time a search officially begins, athletic directors and search committees often already have a working list of candidates in mind. That list is shaped by reputation, relationships, trajectory, and trust, not just resumes.

If you want to become a serious candidate for jobs, you have to think beyond just applying to a ton of opportunities.

You have to position yourself.

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What Actually Makes Coaching Candidates Stand Out

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Every coach wants to know the same thing going into an interview:

“What actually separates candidates?”

Not in theory. Not in a generic “be yourself” sense.

But in real search rooms…what do Athletic Directors actually notice?

As part of our recent national coaching search study at Bechler Leadership, we asked Athletic Directors a simple but revealing question:

“What have candidates done to stand out during the interview process?”

Their answers were consistent, and instructive.

While many things matter in a search, three themes rose clearly above the rest.

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Why Coaches Get Eliminated Before the Interview

SPECIAL GUEST POST FROM DAN CHRISTENSEN 

There’s a hard truth in the college athletics hiring process that many coaches underestimate:

You are being evaluated long before the interview.

In fact, based on our recent study of Athletic Directors, many candidates never even make it to that stage, not because of experience, but because of what shows up (or doesn’t show up) in their resume and cover letter.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about signals.

And right now, too many candidates are sending the wrong ones.

[Read more…]

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