Interviewing Coaches from the Previous Staff

Reach out to ALL assistant Coaches from the previous staff.

It is a good practice to call and set up a meeting or interview with all members from the previous staff even if they are not interested in coming back. This can sometimes be uncomfortable depending on the terms in which the previous staff left. A lot of times, somebody from the previous staff wanted the job that you got. This can create some hard feelings, but it is important to understand that it is not personal. These coaches are usually not mad at you and more than likely feel that they were somehow given a raw deal or they deserved the job. Reach out to them and set up a meeting even if you have “heard” they are not coming back or not interested. Give them the opportunity to tell you that themselves.

When meeting with previous coaches, have a list of questions that will provide insight into the inner workings of the previous regime. A few of these questions might include:

• Tell me the best 3 most successful things done within the program.
• Tell me the 3 things you would change if you were the head coach.
• Who are the best player leaders within the team?

One question I never ask is for a former coach is to tell me what they think about a kid. Every kid deserves to get a clean slate with a new coach. Even when information about certain kids is offered up, I ignore it and formulate my own opinions. I have found that many problem kids for previous staff have been great for me and others have been correctly labeled. Either way, the kid gets an opportunity to prove themselves to the new coach with a clean slate. Sometimes, a clean slate is all a kid needs to turn themselves around.

Some other questions for the previous coaches are geared to find out if their philosophy, coaching style and approach meshes with your program plans. It is very important to know that coaching styles’ are going to mesh. There are many different ways to do things. In my programs, a guy that yells all the time is probably not going to have a place on the staff. You have to decide what works for you and hire people that fit the mold.