Having a
dual role was typically a way to give the coach a little more prestige and a means
to increase their salary. The AD/Head Coach role also provided that the
president of the university was the only supervisor in the chain of command.
Allowing these roles to be held simultaneously has almost been entirely
abandoned in recent decades. Collegiate
sports, in all aspects, have become far too complicated to be run on a
part-time basis. There are just not
enough hours in the day for one person to take on two demanding jobs, if one was
to attempt both tasks at once certain aspects would have
to be sacrificed and therefore presenting a poorly done job.
Holding both
jobs could also lead to a case of favoritism; AD’s are in charge of the
athletic budgets and usually have the final say in the amount of each athletic
team’s financial plan. This can make it
extremely easy for the sport they also coach to become the best at “fundraising”,
which usually means they were just cut a bigger check. This type of system was given up by most
university systems to avoid problems like these and since then have been doing
quite well. Athletic departments that
have avoided evolving with the rest of the country are also usually lacking in
performance and facilities, except for that one special team.
The role of
an Athletic director is to be a leader of the athletics program as a whole. One should always look to be fair and equally
meet the needs of each sports team. Taking
a dual role as the coach of an athletic team is consciously deciding to neglect
the rest of your department and noticeably putting the needs of just your own
few athletes ahead of the rest.
I think this is a real good topic because being a coach and an Athletic director takes a lot of time, dedication, and organization. Being a coach is a tiring job all by itself because as a coach you have to play multiple roles in your player’s lives. First you have to set a good example for the players to follow because no one is going to listen to someone who does not take their own advice. Second, in some situations you have to play the counselor role because some of the athletes come from broken homes or have a lot of things going on in their lives. Last but not least you have to be the coach, which entitles knowing you stuff and being able to transfer it to the players in a way they can understand it. After all that you have to consider the things it takes to be an Athletic director because that’s a full time job in itself. When you are the A. D. you have to keep track with all the sports and make sure things are going according to the way they are supposed to. So this entitles going to a lot of meetings and events. Now if one person is doing this job you can see how complicated things can get, and not just that he or she has the eye of the school and public looking in on them to make sure everything is being taken care of and handled properly.
ReplyDeleteDavid makes a very good point in his blog. There are only 24 hours in a day, and that makes is nearly impossible to fit in two full time positions into that day. Although it is barely possible, it brings up the next question of how effective can an individual be if he has to split his time between two very time intensive positions. A head coach, even with the help of assistants, has many responsibilities, as TD mentioned. The AD also has an equal amount, if not more, responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteWhereas an AD should always be neutral, a coach is always going to push for his team. The conflict of interest can make holding both positions difficult. It is natural for a coach to want to do everything he can help his team succeed, and if the coach has the power of an AD, the two roles could easily merge.
With the high level of stress that accompanies both positions, it is very possible that a person in this position could make rash decisions without having the time or clarity of mind to assess situations with a neutral mindset. If this occurs, who is suffering? The teams? The programs? The athletes? The staff?
This is a great topic. In high school my football coach was also the Athletic Director. This only happened for one year. After realizing the time and effort needed to be a head coach and an AD he decided it was better to be just the AD. I believe it takes a special type of person to be able to do both. For example, Coach Reisman at Tarleton State University has been doing both the head basketball coach and AD for a long time. With Tarleton State University trying to become a Division I school I don’t know how much longer he will be able to do both with the stress levels and how much more that will be involved being Division I.
ReplyDeleteI do believe there can be some favoritism involved in being both the head coach and AD. It’s important to realize that if you do have both jobs that every team needs to be funded and treated with respect to the sport and how much money is made from that sport. Because obviously football needs more than tennis or basketball and basketball may need more than volleyball for example. I do think it is possible for a person to have both the AD and head coaching job I just believe there is fine line on how it should be done.
I really enjoyed this topic. I think it is extremely important that the AD is separate from a coaching position. While I do believe it is still possible for coaches to also pull double duty as the AD, it can take away from the program as a whole. At the high school level, the size of the school and number of students involved in athletics becomes a factor for an AD to properly perform their job.
ReplyDeleteThe town I grew up in now has two high schools and the school district hired an AD for the school districts to help relieve some of the duties off of the coaches. The football coaches at each school are also considered the campus coordinator to handle smaller situations that might arise throughout daily routines. Overall I think it is more beneficial for coaches to be coaches and AD's to be AD's.
I agree with the opinions in this article and believe athletic directors should not also hold the position of head coach. Although the salary of an AD/head coach is a nice thing to have, the president of the university or school board has to split those jobs up. There is not enough time in the day to have just one man or woman focus on the everyday duties of being an AD and head coach simultaneously. AD’s are generally working hard and focusing on overseeing the daily/long term duties of all sports, rather than focusing on just one. It’s only natural for an AD/head coach to put a lot or even more effort towards his or her respective sport. After all, they want their team to win and be competitive. My point is that I feel like you can’t put all 100% of yourself into one job that should require two people.
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