The Student-Athlete Experience
So how does an athletic director evaluate coaching performance in a way that considers the less tangible outcomes? An evaluation must clarify expectations and consider more than just competitive success as a criteria. Three major components go into successful coaching: 1) Effective Program Management; 2) Positive Student-Athlete Experiences; and 3) Competitive Success. Each of these areas should be identified in job descriptions, performance expectations and evaluation procedures.
This is the second in a three-part series about evaluating coaches. In part one we examined that coaches, particularly at the small college level, must be good managers and administrators in order to run an effective program. Today we look at the next piece in the evaluation puzzle: the student-athlete experience.
At its core, coaching is about development of individuals across a broad scope of areas. Providing a positive and meaningful student-athlete experience must focus on three essential areas: Mentorship, Physical Development, and Roles and Relationships.
Mentorship
First and foremost, coaches are teachers. There is no other person on campus that will spend more time with a student-athlete than his/her coach, so the relationship becomes a natural mentoring environment… if the relationship is strong. Coaches must be able to develop relationships with their student-athletes. Trust and integrity are essential. Above all, coaches must model the behavior and values they, and the athletics program, expect from student-athletes.
Physical Development
Student-athletes want and expect to get better. They want to improve their skills, strength, knowledge and understanding of their sport. Coaches are responsible for this development. Even with facilities limitations a program for physical development can be implemented by clearly communicating goals and setting objectives for improvement.
Roles and Relationships
One of the common breakdowns in the coach/athlete relationship is lack of clear communication about expectations, playing time and role on the team. Everyone wants to be a starter, but a coach must be able to effectively communicate every player’s role on the team and what’s expected with that role. Decision-making must be transparent and leave no room for individual interpretation.
The most significant challenge for any athletics director is to clarify these expectations for the student-athlete experience and assess effectiveness. Establishing department-wide expectations for all coaches will help develop a philosophy and vision for the student-athlete experience. Monitoring assessment feedback year to year will allow checks and balances for evaluation and provide departmental benchmarking.
Finally, a positive experience does not mean that all student-athletes are happy or satisfied with all aspects of their program or coach. Often lessons learned through athletics are not recognized until years later. Student-athlete feedback will always contain critical feedback about coaches. If a pattern of critical feedback develops, it’s significant and must be addressed through the performance evaluation process.