College basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. Head coaches at the Division I level are well paid as are many members of their team. Composing the coaching staff is a vexing issue for the average fan. This article will explain the role of associate assistant head coaches and support staff.
During most college basketball games on TV, a fan notices a slew of suits. These suits represent the coaching staff members of each individual school. Five, seven or ten employees can be present on the bench during matches. Who are all these people?
The average college staff consists of the head coach and his assistant coaches. The number of assistants depends on the size and level of the program. A smaller school can have one, two, or possibly three assistant coaches. Mid-level colleges, such as Division II and Division I, may have three to five assistant coaches. At the highest level in Division I, the support staff of coaches may number seven or eight. Assistant coaches make up only a portion of the entire staff. Managers, coaches, graduate assistants, and statisticians can also be part of the bench formation.
A recent development at the college level is the assistant head coach. This is a confusing situation, and I explain how this works.
Nicknames generally don’t mean much to a college coaching staff. You are either an assistant or a manager, basically.
The title of senior assistant has little value because all assistants work as hard or, in the case of graduate assistants sometimes, work even harder.
The Assistant Head Coach was created to help assistants obtain head coaching jobs in two ways.
1. The title distinguishes them from the rest of the employees externally / by image. It gives the title coach a little more leverage if the head coach moves, he may look at the assistant head coach first before walking out. Another factor is that it can be a way to get more money for that helper, again separating it from the others. This title can also be detrimental in terms of employee chemistry. The ego is hurt and the pride begins.
2. An assistant head coach may assist if the assistant searches for a head coach position at another school. The athletic director may view an associate head coach with more interest than “just an assistant.”
Remember that every employee has a different approach to using the Associate Head Coach title. There may be a plan behind it or just decorating the windows. Many programs and many master trainers have many different approaches to staff building. I hope this article helps you understand why so many suits are adorning every college bench this winter.