Every spring coaches are fired or change jobs and new coaches are hired. Some are let go because they didn't win enough games, and some move on to new opportunities. In the end a new coach is hired to either create a renaissance or take the program to the proverbial next level. Understand that when there is a change, most programs make a significant commitment to the new coach.
Typically these changes happen immediately after the season, but Florida was a different case with Billy Donovan departing last week for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. As a result, a top-20 program had an opening and filled it, this time with former Louisiana Tech coach Mike White.
What is the process like for the coach when he accepts a new position? What is he trying to accomplish in his first days, weeks and months? How does the coach prioritize? How different is Mike White's transition to Florida from Shaka Smart’s at Texas or Ben Howland’s at Mississippi State? Let’s take a look.
Before accepting the job
Before agreeing to the offer, White and others being recruited must know how the upper half of the league is conducting its business. Staff salaries, travel and facilities must be competitive. There is a cost of doing business, and prior to accepting the position the coach must make sure the university’s commitment is in line with his expectations.
The news conference and team meeting
The head coach’s news conference and first meeting with his players are both extremely important. The coach must create a clear vision for what he wants his program to look like moving forward as well as the culture he plans to create. What are his non-negotiable terms and what are his expectations? How is his program going to be different from his predecessor’s program?
While Howland and Smart were able to sell their vision to both the media and their new teams, White will not have the opportunity to meet with his team because the semester has ended at Florida. This complicates the transition significantly. Spending time with the team you inherit is very important. Those players who were recruited by the former coach are now your players. They must feel like your players. If not, the ones who decide to stay will not buy in to the vision you have for the program.
White will need to travel and meet with each returning player and his family. Although time-consuming, this will be pivotal in developing a real relationship with his players and earning their trust.
A coach is only as good as the players in his program. How does he expect his players to help him recruit if he does not have their trust?
Selecting a staff
A head coach must always be thinking ahead. Prior to accepting a position he must have a majority of his staff in place. In a perfect world he should have at least two assistants and his director of basketball operations in place upon taking the job. Having coaches who understand your culture and philosophy is helpful in the transition. Each member of the staff will have specific responsibilities during the first few days of the transition. This enables the coach to hit the road running.
Hiring a strength coach, video coordinator and the remainder of the support staff is just as important. But having most of your team in place is pivotal in the transition. Both Smart and Howland handled this aspect of the transition well. Howland retained George Brooks, a member of the former Mississippi State staff who had ties to the university and brought Korey McCray, one of his former UCLA assistants with him who had strong relationships in the Atlanta area. Smart basically moved his VCU staff to Austin, Texas, making the transition an easy one.
One of the most important hires is having the right secretary -- someone who understands the policies and procedures at that institution as well as has a handle on the community and campus. A good secretary can help run interference when there are so many people pulling at you as you are trying to make the transition during the pivotal first month.
Review the academics of all players in the program
It is imperative to meet with your coordinator of academic services to get a pulse on your new team’s grades. Which players are and are not in good academic standing? Who needs summer school and where does each member stand in regards to progress? When academics are important to the head coach, they are important to the players. Having a handle on academics also has an effect on recruiting and the number of scholarships you might have available as well as potential APR issues.
Re-recruit signed players
In today's culture of college basketball, players who are signed and committed usually want to reopen their recruiting process. The new coach must begin recruiting each commitment’s circle of influence immediately. He can call coaches and advisers, and if the players have signed a national letter of intent and it is not a dead recruiting period, the coach must meet and re-recruit each of the commitments. This will be pivotal for the new Florida staff as it had a number of players transfer at the end of the season and its roster is limited at best.
Individual workouts
When most coaches take over a position, they get an opportunity to conduct an individual workout with the members of their team. This enables the coach to get a better understanding of his players’ strengths and weaknesses as well as gives the players a chance to connect with their new coaching staff. For Smart, this was the first opportunity to implement his system. Setting the tone in the individual workout helps set the tone for the summer and season. Basketball is a 12-month sport. As a coach you want players who want to be coached, love the game and know how to work.
White will have to wait for the start of summer school to begin before he gets to address his entire team. That first team meeting needs to touch his players. He understands what he does will be compared to the work of Billy Donovan, a future Hall of Fame coach. The NCAA allows coaches to work with their players for two hours daily for eight weeks while they are enrolled in summer school. This will be pivotal for White's transition with his team. These workouts need to be well organized and purposeful. A tremendous amount of time must be put into making sure at the end of the eight weeks the players have a better understanding of his system, expectations and culture. Understand that for three of the weeks the coaching staff will be on the road recruiting from Wednesday to Sunday, so the head coach must have a plan and calendar in place for that period of time.
Establish the recruiting geographic footprint
The head coach and the staff he hired upon accepting the job must immediately begin to recruit the players and coaches in their new geographic footprint. The earlier the contact, the better the chance to establish recruiting traction. Howland probably did the best job of any new coach in the country by immediately getting involved with and eventually signing one of the nation’s elite guards in Malik Newman. A key to that was retaining a coach from the former staff who had forged a relationship with Newman. This is rare, but an excellent move by Howland. It gave him even greater credibility and enabled him to quickly develop a relationship with Newman.
Review scheduling
The new staff must immediately get scheduling under control. Often when there is a change, scheduling is behind. Scheduling is something that must be worked on every day. The coach must be on the same page as his administration. This should have taken place in the discussions prior to accepting the position. A successful head coach must have a scheduling philosophy. How many home games? How many 'guarantee' games? How many exempt events and made-for-TV games? How many games will his team play versus the top 50, 75 or 150 teams?
Don't be afraid to ask
The immediate aftermath of taking over a job is the time to ask questions and make requests. The AD who hired you is never more in your corner than when he or she hired you. You are undefeated and the AD wants you to succeed. I always felt upgrading offices, the lounge or the locker room was a tangible way to let the players know we were moving forward and there was a new commitment to winning.