Before I get going with an answer that will be far more complex than the question suggests, let me declare that I did not always have this breakdown when selecting assistant coaches. The more I coached, the more I observed other coaches, the more teams I have led and the more levels at which I coached has refined exponentially my "musts" for my coaching team. So here goes my answer.
In the beginning, my choice for Assistant Coaches pretty much came down to who's available and willing. From there, I would just accept the result of that decision and "work with what I got". As I gained experience, I quickly realized that my approach to coaching needed more than my two eyes and one brain in order to interpret what was happening with my teams and positively evolve the group as the season carried on. My story to how I got to where I am now with respect to Assistant Coach job expectation is long. Might be another blog entry down the road. Instead, let me get to the point now.
1- I like to have 3 Assistant Coaches on my team:
One Lead Assistant and two Assistants. Obviously, if we are talking about NBA or NCAA, there would be many more but lets focus on a typical situation. Now, all three coaches need to bring something different to the table and I am not talking about their personality. One MAJOR pet peeve for me is walking into a gym, looking over to the bench and seeing every single coach on the bench doing the same thing. That is, watching the game like the Head Coach is watching it. More on that as we get going here.
2- Lead Assistant:
For me, there are two coaches watching the game and two other coaches watching specific aspects of that same game. The Lead Assistant and I are the ones watching the game. My job is obviously managing the game; to be the final decision. The Lead Assistant, during games, is to act as if he is doing my job and to give me feedback as to how he (or she) would deal with the situation. The Lead needs to have a very good sense of timing because the last thing you want to be doing is constantly be in my ear. So there's characteristic #1- SENSE OF TIMING. If I am interviewing for Assistant Coaches, I am going to give them a situation that will be measuring their sense of timing. We talk about game awareness for players. The same applies for coaches. The LA should be a person that is not far off in approach than his HC. But he shouldn't be someone that is completely different.
The LA needs to be someone that believes in loyalty. Characteristic #2- LOYALTY. The HC has a hard enough job. It is a very lonely world being HC. The LA needs to be 100% bought into what the team is trying to accomplish. Even in times of disagreements, you need to remain 100% on the side of your HC. There is no gray here (unless your HC is breaking the law of course). Check the ego at the door and help your HC be the best version of him or herself. This aspect is very critical. This person is an extension of the HC. For me, the LA is directly involved in practice planning, roster building, budget management. I need a person with whom to bounce ideas off and to have quality "same page" feedback. Lastly, the LA needs to be ready to take on game situations without the team missing a beat! The HC, from time to time (especially in my case), will get ejected out of a game. Or, as what happened to me a few years ago, might need to take a leave for an extended period of time. The LA has to step in and there needs to be absolutely no dip in team performance or team responsiveness. Not as easy as it sounds. On my teams, my LA needs to have a strong voice in practices. In games, they might have timeouts handed to them from time to time depending on time and score as well as game importance. The level of collaboration to achieve a common team goal needs to be high. Again, check the ego at the door. It's not about who's the better coach. It is always about our guys and how best to serve them. The LA is someone that will be HC or is someone already HC ready. This is who I look for when I pick my LA.
3- Assistant Coaches:
These coaches need to be or need to become expert in something the team is trying to excel at. They also need to be excellent player development coaches. On my teams, I need my AC to chart something specific. Now what they are to chart is given by me. How they do it, how they break it down, how they recommend to put it into our practices is entirely up to them. I've had a few cases in the past of AC asking for more direction from me. Let me tell you, when that happens once during the season, it's acceptable. When it happens more than once, it tells of the level of expertise this person has and I failed in identifying that in the interview process. So a characteristic I look for in a good AC is INITIATIVE. Understand what we want to excel at as a team and take on the job to be the best at breaking that down for us.
One of my AC will be an expert in our offensive efficiency (my system there is Space and Pace). The other AC will be an expert in our defensive efficiency (my system here is what I call 20%). Both of my AC will work closely with my LA so that when the time comes to implement their detail in our practices, the LA will be leading it with the AC responsible for whatever specific part we are working on (defensive or offensive). Of course, this does not happen right away in a season. The HC will be setting the tone on everything for the first 3 weeks or so via practices and coaching staff meetings. But after that, the LA and both AC should be fully into their roles and the HC can back-off to allow his coaches to grow as leaders on the team. This approach of mine is important to me because it also allows me to see how other coaches would go about preparing the players for what I am trying to do system wise. So it is a win-win situation for all. Players appreciate different voices in practices, coaches are stimulated and empowered.
Good AC are able to scout their opponents. On my teams, depending on the league I find myself, I will designate several teams per AC for them to be the "expert scout" for that team. When we play against a particular team, the AC responsible to scout that team will be sitting next to the LA. The AC is to inform the LA and from there, the LA decides what should be shared with me and what can wait. During timeouts, it is the AC responsible for that team that will speak to me first. That way, if he or she feels a message he shared with the LA is important yet the LA did not think so, he or she can share it with me then. Do not mistake this moment (if it happens) to be a mistake made by the LA. This is just how I want to be certain we are optimizing efficiency when it comes to communication.
So to summarize my "look-fors" when it comes to my coaching team:
Characteristics
- Awareness (timing thing)
- loyalty (togetherness to accomplish our goals)
- Initiative (own your task/role)
- Sense of humor
Skills
- Player development (on and off the court)
- Technology (Krossover, Jes-Soft, FastDraw, etc)
- Recruiting
- Scouting
- Able to breakdown numbers and create drills or situations that we can use in practices so that the numbers improve (this one is huge). Don't just give me the charts or numbers and say "here you go coach, this is what you want me to chart" then walk out the room. Take what you are charting, and get creative with what you see. How would you go about addressing what you are charting if the need is there? Remember, what you are charting is very important to me. I need that information because it speaks volume to me. But I also need a plan of action from you.
Things to keep in mind
- No Assistant Coach should be hated by the players.
- Bring value to the coaching team everyday. Players look forward to genuine and intelligent takes on their performance. Players want to improve everyday. If you have numbers to back-up your words, that makes the message even better. If you have film breakdown that also supports your message and numbers, that's even better!
- HELP MAKE THE HEAD COACH'S JOB EASIER!
- There is no EGO to what we do. It is always about the mission to get a win and improve our players. Taking things personally is reserved to the players when they are playing defense. It has no place on a coaching staff.
- Be a good story teller or joker (when appropriate). I go to a dark place when it comes to competition. I can get very demanding and very passionate. I need the people around me to snap me out of it from time to time and get me laughing. Or at least smile.
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