May 7th, 2014 was the day I was officially named the head coach at the University of Maine, so my first full year is complete. Some of the things I’ve learned and observed as I continue to try and get better and build a championship culture:
Support matters. The positive support of everyone in the UMaine community and throughout the state really does matter. It allows us to be comfortable with long-term thinking. When we make decisions, we always want to think culture first. The positive support for what we are trying to do allows us to be comfortable doing that.
Time management is critical. Perhaps the biggest day to day difference between this job and my previous job at RIC is that my time is no longer my own. With 4 assistants, there is a lot more face to face interaction, more discussion. There are more decisions made that need my approval, assistant ADs that I need to meet with, alums and supporters to get to know. The day is a lot busier with face to face interactions. It’s all good, but it’s just different. There is much more oversight and general management that takes place at this level.
When establishing a new culture, face-to-face, individual leadership is important. I’m very proud of the culture we established at RIC. After 9 years our guys believed in our approach and were 100% bought in. I could count on them to continue to live the culture we had established every day. But that’s not how it was in the beginning. Those guys at RIC didn’t really know me 10 years ago, just as the our players at Maine are still getting to know me now. I have to spend time with them – on the court and off – talk to them, be in front of them, look them in the eye, to establish the relationships necessary to develop a culture of trust.
Winning accelerates buy-in. There is no question winning makes the buy-in easier. It’s natural. Everyone wants to win, and when you do, they believe in what you are doing without fail. I remember when we beat Iona in my second year at RIC, thinking “now we’ve got them.” We went on the road and beat a Division I team, and it gave everyone confidence in what we are doing. We had a great group of kids that I really enjoyed coaching in my first year in Maine. But we need to start seeing success on the court to truly believe in what we are doing every day.
I have to organize and prioritize my day. I’m used to being able to respond to emails, phone messages and texts relatively quickly. But given the demands on my time are different, I can’t simply respond to messages as soon as I get them. I’d never get off my phone. I have to set aside time to get back to people and do it at certain times during the day. Being efficient with my time is crucial.
The culture of your athletic department is really important. High level programs feed off of each other. It’s great to be surrounded by high level programs and coaches. Our football team had 6 guys in the NFL last year, and our hockey team had 6 guys in the NHL. Our baseball team has guys getting drafted. The athletic community at UMaine is a high-achieving, low-maintenance environment where the coaches and athletes challenge each other. You can feel it when you are an athlete at UMaine. It’s exciting to be a part of, and it helps our program.
When you blow the whistle to start practice, it’s all the same. The differences between Division 3 and Division I are mostly the things that surround your program. The arena is bigger, the travel is different the media coverage is greater. But when it comes to team building and establishing a culture, it’s the same approach. The kids might be a little bigger, a little quicker and more talented, but it’s still about developing trust and establishing a competitive atmosphere where the kids can be at their best. Getting tough, talented kids to buy-in to the right approach is the key to winning championships at any level.
Recruiting is done a lot earlier. One of the biggest differences between the levels is the recruiting rules. First of all, at this level we have scholarships, and those scholarships are very valuable. With 351 teams, there are roughly 1,000-1,2000 scholarships available each year for Division I basketball players. Because there are so few and they are so valuable, they are offered and accepted a lot earlier. At the D3 level we were waiting to see who the best players were who slipped through the cracks. At this level, you have to identify the talent you can get a lot earlier and go out and get it. For us to get the best players we can get, we have to evaluate very well early in the process.
This year was a blast. So many people look at our record and ask me how we are doing, how we got through the year. The challenge of building a program and a culture from scratch is a great one, and it’s a lot of fun. We had a great time with our kids every day, trying to find a way to get the most out of them. We don’t like the results we ended up with, but the challenge of the process was a lot of fun. We really feel we can build something special at Maine, and that’s exciting to be a part of every day.
