SPECIAL GUEST POST FROM DAN CHRISTENSEN 

A formal interview tells you a lot about a coaching candidate.

But it does not tell you everything.

In fact, some of the most useful information in a coaching search comes before and after the interview itself. How a candidate communicates, prepares, follows through, treats people, asks questions, and handles the full process often gives an athletic director a clearer picture of how that person may operate once hired.

The interview is the performance.

The process often reveals the pattern.

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SPECIAL GUEST POST FROM DAN CHRISTENSEN 

Most coaching candidates can talk well about leadership.

They can describe their culture. They can explain their recruiting philosophy. They can talk about accountability, relationships, discipline, communication, and developing student-athletes.

And much of it may be sincere.

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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 hardest.

A coach hire affects far more than wins and losses. It shapes team culture, student-athlete experience, retention, department morale, institutional alignment, and the long-term direction of a program.

That is why we recently gathered input from 60 college athletic directors across junior colleges, NAIA programs, and NCAA Divisions I, II, and III for our 2026 College Coaching Search Report. The goal was simple: better understand what athletic directors are experiencing, noticing, valuing, and struggling with in today’s coaching searches.

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