The Importance of
Assistants
By John Giannini, La Salle
In corporate America
the CEO gets all the credit for a company's success. He or she
is made out to be the one person responsible for everything good
that has come to the company.
But there are always people who put in just as much time and
effort, without the glory of getting mentioned on CNN. In
college basketball we call these people assistant coaches.
With any job, you are only as good as the people that surround
you and assistants are as much a part of a team's success as the
head coach and players. To further the point, hiring an
assistant is nearly the equivalent to getting married.
People outside of college basketball may chuckle at such a
statement, but there is more truth to that statement then you
would realize.
These are the people that you will spend the majority of your
time with. They become your true family. And with any family
unit, trust and faith are so important to the harmony of the
group.
Your career and lives become so inter-twined so it is so
important to work with people that you really like.
Of course you also want a staff that is dedicated, hard working
and have the ability to recruit players, but the hiring process
should begin with one question -- do I like this person?
Many outside the coaching ranks may believe that how connected
or how many good contacts an assistant has are most important,
but I disagree.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has a great approach to hiring
assistants, noting that if you are a good person you will
develop contacts. That in itself speaks volumes about coach
Calhoun and all the success that Uconn has had over the last
decade plus.
I have always been fortunate to have great assistants, which is
a big reason that I have been able to have success in coaching.
At Rowan it was Joe Cassidy that was such an important part of
us winning a Division III national championship. At Maine, Ted
Woodward filled that same role and would become the head coach
when I took the head coaching position at La Salle. But more
importantly, Ted and Joe are both good friends.
All final decisions are made by the head coach, but -- in my
case -- I always want their input. Sometimes assistants see
things a little differently and they may have a perspective that
I did not consider.
I cannot emphasize enough how much trust and faith all head
coaches must have in their assistants. They may not get the
national appreciation, but they are very much appreciated by the
head coach.
Whether it is in print form or a television monologue, many
assistants are singled out as the next great college coaches.
However it is not common to hear praise bestowed on an entire
staff.
Today it is impossible for any head coach to have success
without excellent assistant coaches. After a victory head
coaches are the first to be besieged by the media. But the first
thing we do is thank our staff for their preparation and effort.
Every year leagues, conferences and each division of basketball
have countless coach of the year awards. They should have a
staff of the year award. The head coach or the recipient of a
coaching award owes a lot to his staff. He or she wouldn’t have
that award without them.
