Hiring a winning coach & coping with stress.

Athletic Directors privileged enough to earn their living in our schools and colleges are envied by the general public. Look at the job description of an AD: attending countless games, traveling the world over, accepting awards, making speeches, coaching before huge audiences.

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Actually, that job description covers only about a third of what our collegiate ADs do with their lives. The other two-thirds include extremely stressful tasks, like trying to keep their programs competitive.

As researcher Jeffrey Martin and his colleagues put it "ADs have a wide variety of responsibilities that can promote stress, such as hiring and firing coaches, fund raising, balancing a budget, maintaining a competitive athletic program, and forging relationships with coaches, athletes, and parents."

But it is the coaches, however, who have the main responsibility for selecting the right personalities to run the program and, hopefully, propel the team to prestigious championships.

The question left out of most minds, however, is who becomes responsible for selecting the person who makes all those pivotal selections of personnel? The answer is the AD. He basically becomes responsible for the total success of the team.

Since he has no substantial control over the daily operation of the team he supervises, the selection of a winning coach becomes the most important function of the AD's position. After all, any time a coach loses too many games, he or she will probably be fired. If too many coaches lose too many games, they too are probably going to be fired. Whenever too many coaches lose too many games, the AD will probably also be fired.

Todd Ryska, sports management researcher, has this to say about personal effectiveness of the AD and his or her athletic program: "A program can be substantially compromised by stress-induced responses. The pressure inflicted by the never-ending cycle of maintaining successful teams can have monumental effect on the mental health of the ADs and their ability to be ultimately successful."

STRESS

The concept of stress can be complex, especially depending on which type of environment the stressed individual might be working.

Martin and his colleagues suggest that "when people appraise their abilities as being inadequate to meet task demands, they experience stress."

In athletic directing, stress can be felt very strongly in many situations, given the high profile nature of the job. Each and every job requirement performed by the AD is not only put under the microscope of his worst critic (himself) but of the entire community of athletic supporters."

This scope of the critics makes it very difficult on ADs to congratulate themselves on a job well done. When dealing with the community, you will always have a group of people out there who have nothing but criticism for the athletic programs.

ADs will thus experience heightened levels of stress, due to the number of critics they have to answer to.

These critics don't always understand the numerous functions, such as personnel decisions on their teams. An AD has to deal with decisions within the athletic department that can garner great media attention, community criticism, pressure from big boosters, and even pressure from lofty administrators such as the president or the Board of Governors.

Miguel Humura of Fordham University: "ADs and general managers have been faced with the question of how to improve their teams' success. One obvious way of doing this is by selecting qualified personnel for the task at hand."

The media has the power to evoke community reaction to each and every personnel decision made by an AD and the media director who decides whether the reaction is positive or negative.

The members of the community can impose additional pressure by making their feelings heard on internet blogs, letters to the editor, and sports talk radio shows, which are swimming in popularity.

In fact, Kenneth Zagacki and Dan Grano believe that "In recent years, interactive sports talk shows have grown in popularity."

Individuals that donate large sums of money to the university athletic programs also speak a great deal into the ear of the AD--threatening to pull out the funding if a certain type of coach is not selected.

Naturally, if lofty university administrators have to become deeply involved in the search process and leadership power, the AD could be seen as untrustworthy and powerless.

Each of the aforementioned "community pressure factors" inadvertently contributes to the AD's overall stress. As if the AD's basic problems do not loom large enough, the community can magnify the pressure tremendously.

The stress experienced by an AD during the hiring process can be further heightened by sociological variables. One of the strongest of these variables in collegiate athletics is race.

Being fair and balanced is essential for NCAA member institutions, and having a fair percentage of black individuals being hired for a coaching job is the pivotal aspect of achieving that overall fairness.

The Black Coaches Association, the national organization whose "primary purpose is to foster the growth and development of ethnic minorities at all levels of sports," recently conducted a grading project that evaluate institutions on their hiring of black coaches (BCASports.org): Schools were evaluated in categories that included the percentage of minorities involved in the hiring process, the number of minority candidates who interviewed, and the schools' contacts with either BCA executive director Floyd Keith or the chairman of the NCAA's Minority Opportunity and Interests Committee.

SUGGESTIONS FOR HIRING WINNING COACHES

This intense evaluation put even further pressure on the AD's structure. Most importantly, Keith advised potential student-athletes to evaluate the grades of the schools they were considering. If the top-rated student-athletes weren't going to the right schools, the schools would eventually suffer with substandard athletes.

Ultimately, the lack of quality student athletes would mean the ultimate demise of athletic success and prestige.

The most effective cure for stress is prevention. Humans open their doors too easily and invite stress in for a visit because we overextend ourselves.

That openness is undoubtedly linked to the human spirit and ultimate drive for success, both in career and in life. AD's who invest enough time and effort into the search for a quality coach will circumvent a large portion of the stress and make for a much more successful overall team.

CHARACTER REALLY DOES COUNT

Unfortunately for the coaches themselves, AD's are expected to make a habit of monitoring coaches from the moment they are hired. Many of the AD's mistakenly believe that once the news conference introduces a new coach, people will stop paying attention until absolutely necessary.

This philosophy is wrong. Coaches have to be monitored from the start. The more an AD gets to know his coaches, their styles and what they are doing correctly and incorrectly, the closer the AD can get to his coaches program, the more equipped he will be to know what to look for and how to handle the program.

Laura Smith of Athletic Management: "No matter what the status of the current coaches is, our top AD's are always thinking about hiring. They may also choose to keep a running database of potential candidates along the way, even before a job comes close to open.

No one knows for sure when the AD might come in contact with a person he believes would be stellar for a position at his institution. A constant thought cycle about the program supervised by the AD will create better hiring decisions overall and, therefore, more overall success for that program. The more success the AD has, the less stress he will feel being placed on his or her shoulders.

During the selection process, the AD can do a great many small things to ensure a successful hiring experience. Much of that can be achieved during the actual interview process, when the AD is getting a hands-on feel for everything about the candidates. The AD's are going to assume that they know their "X's and O's" about the sport they coach. What most AD's are looking for are the other skills that head coaches need to possess, such as budgeting, travel planning, scheduling, team management, and their commitment to academics.

What the candidate does is also more important than what he says. The AD's should focus more on forcing the candidates to present examples' of how they have handled a certain situation, rather than bragging about how they would handle the same situation if it arose in the future.

The AD should be more focused on proof of the candidate's handling of a situation than on a windy discourse during the interview.

Unfortunately, negative incidents do occur in the hiring process. People can falsify the credentials on their resume and lie about their experiences.

The AD can prevent a huge media firestorm by catching these discrepancies early and eliminating the candidate. For example, George O'Leary was only able to hold his dream coaching job as the head football coach at Notre Dame for six days, before admitting to falsifications on his resumes, discovered by a local reporter.

When hiring a coach with character, AD's must also dig into the candidate's network pedigree. Due to the nature of the athletic business, many athletic directors will immediately look to hire a good friend whenever coaching vacancies occur. This presents a real loyalty issue in coaching.

For example, if an AD hires a friend to be head football coach and the candidate is largely unknown, the AD will become the lone reference to justify the hiring.

If the coach turns out poorly and is greatly criticized, the fans are going to question the AD's loyalty to the institution. The AD can come under severe fire for such decisions and even face losing his job.

Dr. Darlene Bailey (Missouri State U.) offers this pivotal advice for AD's when hiring coaches: "I will rarely think of hiring a friend for a specific position, but I'd undoubtedly ask such a friend to make a list of candidates for the job."

The network of athletic administrators throughout collegiate sports can be a great asset to AD's, as long as the network is utilized in an appropriate manner.

Such hiring (of friends) for specific positions within the athletic department can also stress AD's if the candidate does not end up adhering to the appropriate standards. It can also be extremely stressful for an AD to have to fire a close friend. "Firing a coach is much more stressful than hiring one."

CHECKING TO BE SURE

Any candidate applying for a head coaching position is going to attempt to present the decisionmaker with an optimal recommendation about himself.

Such references are always presented by people who are going to speak highly of the candidate. The AD would be wise to provide the names of other people who know about the candidate, and provide a picture of him as an assistant coach, former player, etc.

This tactic, implemented by the AD, can provide 3-5 quality references by the candidate. It further expands the kind of references that can supply a more representative pool of responses.

COPING

There are many proven (through qualitative data) methods for coping with stress that the AD's can implement. Generally speaking, AD's are always cautioned not to get wrapped up in insignificant details.

Dr. Darlene Bailey: "Don't sweat the small stuff, It's not worth it."

AD's can become too focused on their work and engage in the details of a problem that don't really matter in the long run.

Professional involvement can include a plethora of activities that can prove rewarding for AD's. Organizations such as Collegiate AD's and others can provide many outlets for support, including counseling, collaboration, sounding boards, and scholarly research into a certain areas of decision making.

The CDA also maintains a databank of resumes of people interested in athletic positions for utilization by a member school.

Professional associations can also provide development programs, especially for its younger, "up and coming" sports administrators. Younger administrators, just like coaches, are often labeled early as future superstars within the business.

Professional associations provide young administrators with the chance to hone their skills, receive further training, and, most importantly, network with senior administrators to strengthen their own image and potential job possibility. Professional involvement by the AD will provide him with the most valuable resource of all--understanding. These associations are made up almost entirely of people in the identical position. They will be the only ones who have firsthand knowledge and stories about what policies and procedures work well and which do not, from trustworthy sources.

If nothing else, a professional association can provide someone to listen to the AD during a time of stress. The Association understands fully what position they are currently in and what they are feeling.

David Hoch, Coach and Athletic Director, states: "Your involvement with professional colleagues can provide the excitement, encouragement, and inspiration to continue" even when the AD might feel like giving up.

Encouragement from fellow ADs can lift the spirit and propel the AD through the very stressful time.

Family time is an aspect of any position that most people fall short in. The American way is to be over-involved--not have enough time to spend with one's family.

Family time is a concept that is not only enjoyable, but commonly considered as therapeutic. The daily family time that so many of us take for granted is even more beneficial, such as the time spent at home over dinner just interacting with your loved ones.

The AD's mind is taken off all the stressors of the day, and reminds him what it is like to laugh and giggle, something that does not occur often enough.

David Hoch agrees: "While your spouse or family doesn't have to be stand-up comics, it sure helps when they can get you to laugh. Laughter will take your mind off your daily difficulties."

Exercising or taking daily breaks can also bring about a great deal of stress relief for the AD. Imagine an AD in the heat of the moment, the middle of a hiring process, talking with a candidate, a big booster is on the committee in the room, mud is slinging everywhere .... but, thankfully enough, lunch is just around the corner and a break is upon them.

After all, most AD offices are in gymnasiums, workout facilities are bound to be in very close proximity. If a built-in break such as lunch is not available, an AD can always get a break from the action of the daily stressors.

For example, as David Hoch puts it: "One AD might put a clipboard under his arm and stride up the hallways in a very purposeful manner. He may create the impression that he is on his way to a very important meeting and cannot be interrupted. This will enable him to get in a good 15-minute uninterrupted walk in."

Keeping a list of good things is certainly something every AD should do regularly to keep themselves in a stress-free condition (Hoch). The AD should write down each time he makes a good decision, something good happens to him or his teams, or even every time someone says something nice to him.

This running list will provide an AD with an outlet to look at that will remind him of when things were going exceptionally well.

This memory will enable the AD to look at the current stressful situation as not being quite so bad and that his prospective on the situation will most likely totally change.

This coping method is certainly a very insignificant one at first glance, but it can truly work wonders to relieve the AD's daily stress simply by playing a little trick on the mind.

By Brad Coy & Dr. Gerald Masterson, Missouri State U. Springfield, MO