Tigers Head Football Coach: A Case Study

Coaching philosophies differ all over the world, from one sport to another. They are the central foundation to any good coach’s success in his/her respected programs. A coach’s philosophy does not only guide and lead the other members of the staff in the right direction, but it also allows each athlete to know what is expected of them, and how they should behave. By being aware of a coach’s philosophy, the athlete is fully responsible for his/her actions both on and off the field of play. In the words of the great Nick Saban, "It 's about what you control, every minute of every day. You always have to have a winning attitude and discipline, in practices, weight training, conditioning, in the classroom, in everything. It 's a process."

college level, the hiring of coaches is a key responsibility for athletic directors that can be subject

Joe Ehrmann describes how he has developed his philosophy of coaching by relating the story of his life in his youth, high school and in college describing two different types of coaches he had played for. The first are coaches who were impersonal, authoritarian, and sometimes abusive which he calls transactional coaches; this is in contrast to the humane coaches he calls transformative coaches. Coaches must face this responsibility because we all remember our coaches. “This is the awesome power and responsibility of coaching: You give your players memories, for better or for worse that stay with them until the day they die” (Ehrmann, 2011 p 46-47). Joe Erhmann goes on to ask, “What is the moral and ethical composition of their program?

Boyce, L. A., Jackson, R. J., & Neal, L. J. (2010). Building successful leadership coaching relationships. The

Based on our learning from week one of our class, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the leadership perspectives manifested in both Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski, coaches who have made significant marks in their field in college basketball. I hope to be able to identify the power bases both coaches rely upon, as well as whether their actions are more aligned with either a managerial role or leadership role. In addition, I hope to identify how significant the leadership traits have influenced their leadership, based on the five-factor

It all started with an email seeking freshman male in his coaching and administration program. The 2012 graduate of UConn’s Sport Administration and coaching program, William Aloia, says this future success as the Associate Athletic Director for The College of St. Rose started out by almost” falling into his lap”. The New Jersey native began his undergraduate experience with two Division-I parents, and like an abundance of people he knew that working in sport was something he wanted to do. Previously a part of the Kinesiology department under the late Joe Marrone, Will jumped on the opportunity posted through an email and started his freshman year as a basketball manager for the very successful UConn’s basketball program. He explains how this experience “opened his door up”. Will states; “once I started at UConn working with the women’s basketball program and being around collegiate athletics at such a high level it’s really something in itself, and unbelievable experience. I knew it was for me, I didn’t know which part for sure, but I knew this was something I wanted to do.” What Will realized very quickly realized about working in sport is that often times it is a thankless job. However, that did not stop him from finishing his undergraduate career as a four-year manager for the basketball team. The motivation for Will early in his career has been a two-dimensional illustration of success.

Staffing a school is the most important responsibility and service a principal has to attend and to provide a school. Students have a right to be taught by highly qualified teachers and in this case a highly qualified basketball coach. The case study #16 presents a situation where the principal has to begin recruiting to fill a basketball coaching position that has been long filled by two brothers that are ready to retire due to health reasons. The principal feels the pressure to have to fill this position, but finds it a bit challenging for a number of reasons—salary considered too low, not enough interest in “girls’ teams by the community, racial and gender concerns, and scandals in nearby district concerning males coaching girls’ teams. An athletic director for the high school suggests that she look into asking the parents of the players. (Kirschmann, 1996)

If a group of students were asked who the biggest influence in their life was, many would say some kind of coach. The general thought that comes to mind when discussing coaching is athletic coaches, but coaching has a much broader spectrum. The major difference between a coach and other leaders is commitment. Coaches help build plans for success for their followers and then follow their progress until the goal is completed.

Basketball teams need a coach that believes in them. The team needs a coach that will work hard to help them achieve the goal of winning. They need a coach that communicates and shows interest in each of the players. On the other hand, they need a coach that can be directive, but also supportive. In the case study this week, Shirley was quite the opposite. Conflicting enough, by all appearances she did not have a total grasp of the concept of leadership in coaching basketball. Factors that could cause the lack of leadership could be confidence or even lack of knowledge (Cohen, 2000). In this paper, Shirley’s leadership style and behavior will be discussed, along with looking at situational factors and other leadership styles that

Phil Jackson coached the Chicago Bulls basketball team to one of the longest winning streaks in professional sports. In his book, Sacred Hoops, he describes his approach to coaching a group of acknowledged stars. He clearly understands that simply collecting a set of outstanding players does not a championship team make. One way of understanding his approach is to think of every problem or project having components in four different spheres:

When I first started playing football for Coach Abrams he always seemed he was the kind of coach who never got mad or yelled at you. He is a coach who truly cares for everyone of his players and wants us to be highly successful. If there was someone not doing something right he would never yell at them or get mad he would help them and show them the right way, he would teach and explain to them how to do it right, as if they were his own child that he would want to succeed. As you read this you will see that coach never was the type of man or coach to get mad or yell. One day I learned about coach Abrams if you aren't paying attention or talking and not listening, he will get mad and yell and it shows he cares for his players.

In Case 7 “Perceptions of Leaders Following Public Failures: A Tale of Two Coaches”, two leaders both college football coaches of their respective teams were encountered with scrutiny, as they lacked a certain level sensitivity regarding serious incidents within their program. The case study talks about both Mike Leach and Gary Barnett’s background as coaches and progress to the events with their program that lead to them being involved in the public failure. This eventually led to people having various perceptions of both coaches based off of how they dealt with the incidents. As a result of both programs image being tarnished, Mike Leach was fired, however; Gary Barnett’s job was retained.

Borland, J. F., Kane, G. M., & Burton, L. J. (n.d.). Sport leadership in the 21st century.

Urban Meyer provides a great backdrop to explore the questions that have been posed. Urban Meyer has been a college football head coach for 14 seasons and has amassed a record of 154 wins with only 27 loses, resulting in an 85% winning percentage. (www.sports-reference.com, 2016) The Wall Street Journal

Coaches teach amateur and professional athletes the skills they need to succeed at their sport. Scouts look for new players, evaluating their skills and likelihood for success at the college, amateur, or professional level. Many coaches are also involved in scouting potential athletes.