How to Get a Coaching Job

2-12-90

Perspective: How to Get a Coaching Job

It was a pretty good week for Cobber sports. The Lady Cobbers won convincingly again. The hockey team was impressive against NDSU. And the baseball team began pre-season workouts.

The opening of baseball practice means it's that time of the year when basketball coaches begin updating their vitas, often with encouragement from fans and sports writers.

The basketball coaches with winning seasons are considering greener pastures. The coaches with losing seasons are considering hotel-motel management. But, for all those who want to get out of the coaching business there are ten who want in. The reasons are many; big money, short hours, travel to exotic places and, of course, free shoes.

Most fans know they could coach if just given the chance. With this in mind, I thought it may be helpful to relate my successful job-hunting experience, in hopes that it might assist others in finding a cushy coaching job like mine here at Cobberville.

First, let me say this. A scurrilous rumor that head coach Duane Siverson hired me in 1985 as an assistant Lady Cobber basketball coach just so I would have a source of income to pay off my golf bets with him is untrue. I could have paid them off eventually even without this job.

The truth is, he conducted a very thorough interview with me, asking all about my credentials. Then he hired me anyway.

We were standing on the sixth fairway, waiting to make our approach shots. The conversation began like most of our summer conversations.

"You're four down," he yelled.

My five-iron approach sailed wide left. His wedge shot dropped eight feet from the pin.

"You know, Jer, I used to really admire your play when I was a kid."

Du was a sixth-grader when I was a senior for the Central Cass Squirrels of Casselton, ND. I thought of reminding him that, when you're in sixth-grade, all high school players look good.

"Ya, I was pretty good," I said.

"Listen," he said, as we looked for my ball near the river, "I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping me coach at Concordia."

Having virtually no experience as a coach and a little time on my hands, I said what any guy would say, "Of course."

Gathering my wits as I wiped the mud off my golf shoes, I realized that I had sounded over-anxious. "Like, what kind of team is it? I like fastbreaking basketball?"

"Well, Jer, I feel that defense is the key to success in basketball and I really stress that. You used to block a lot of shots in high school. And weren't you sort of a defensive specialist with the Gophers?"

Bill Fitch, my Gopher coach, using an old coaching ploy, had labeled me a defensive specialist when he realized I couldn't shoot.

"Well," I said with feigned modesty, "I did have an opportunity to guard some of the best players in the country and feel I learned from that. I once held Spencer Haywood to 42 points without getting hurt. And I learned a lot from Rick Mount at Purdue when he got 41 on me and broke the Big Ten scoring record. When he came back to Williams Arena I pretty much shut him down. He only had 31 when I fouled out early in the second half."

I paused to let Du absorb the significance of that achievement. I knew I was impressing him because he had a really blank stare on his face and his mouth was hanging open.

"And the time Austin Carr got 38 on me at Notre Dame I learned you can't give a shooter a fourteen-foot cushion just because you are afraid he might drive on you."

"So, you are vaguely familiar with man-to-man defenses?"

Du has a way with understatement.

"No question. For instance. Early in my career we were playing at Indiana and I was guarding 6-8, 240 lb George McGinness. My Gopher teammates called a timeout early and told me that I was embarrassing them by yelling for help before McGinness even got the ball. He was my problem and I had to face up to the challenge. I learned from that. He finished with 37, but I really made him work for all 18 of his shots."

I had obviously satisfied Du with my defensive expertise because he then started talking about offensive type stuff.

"Like, if you were maybe to concentrate on working with the offense, what kind of stuff would you run? Continuity offenses? The UCLA high-post-shuffle? The Flex?"

Du was looking at me in hopes of seeing some hint that these terms were familiar to me.

"We'd fastbreak," I said with confidence. "You know.

Good outlets, fill the lanes. That sort of stuff."

I was in a weak area here since we never had any plays in high school and our team at Minnesota felt a set offense was too stifling. We ran a play about once a year in college.

"But, like, what if a team stops our break?" Du said.

Du was testing me to see if I would break that cardinal rule of coaching: Never admit ignorance, even when you know absolutely nothing. I held my poise.

"We'd work for a good shot and hit the boards,"

"That's it?" Du said.

I pretended not to hear him and went back to raking the sand trap I had just demolished.

"Is there anything more you can tell me about your experience with defenses at Minnesota?" Du asked.

"I once held Iowa's famous `Downtown' Freddy Brown to 46 points in a game we won by two. I saw him get more points than that several times when he played for the Sonics." I said.

"OK, Jer, you work with the offense and I'll get you some books to look at."

I had the job.

These pages are maintained by Jerry Pyle pyle@cord.edu. These articles are copyrighted © and may not be published or reproduced without the express permission of Jerry Pyle.

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