I Just Coach Lacrosse
This one is for all the coaches out there that are frustrated, especially Division III coaches. If the coaching profession was personified, they would be treated as someone who has schizophrenia, or multiple personalities. That is how we have treated coaches generally in society for many years, in my opinion. I can’t think of another profession that is so revered and held up on such a pedestal to some, while simultaneously, so looked down upon by others. I don’t know if other people feel that way. I don’t know how other coaches view themselves. Now obviously, it’s clear that at some of the highest levels of competition, I can see some coaches embracing that facade. There are some major egomaniacs in our profession. Some coaches are the highest paid public employees in many states. So I could easily see how they could look at themselves as a “leader of men,” a “builder of character,” a champion for athlete’s rights, a savior of an athletic department, or in other words, untouchable. But then there are others that don’t have any ulterior motives. Some of us don’t want to climb the latter in order to hold things over people because he have achieved a high status of power. Some of us have no desire to become administrators or front office managers one day. Some of us aren’t interested in the dirty side of the profession; the “step on your opponents head while they are drowning, win at all cost” type of career. Some of us just enjoy coaching lacrosse. And that’s ok.
I just coach lacrosse. It’s like that old, bad dad joke, “Don’t ask me. I just work here!” That’s how I feel most days. Now again, take whatever I have to say with a grain of salt. This is my experience, so it might not reflect that of other coaches at other institutions. But, we are conditioned ask players, parents, and recruits to come to the coach first, even when it doesn’t directly involve on field issues. Anytime anyone has a question about if their son or daughter can gain admission to the school, or their financial package, or their dorm room, or their class schedule, etc, coaches are often the first phone call. I’m sure coaches across all sports have experienced this from time to time. As much as I would love to be Nick Saban somedays, I am just a Division III lacrosse coach at the end of the day. I just want to coach my players and that’s it. I think some people out there think that all coaches have a magic hat or an endless ability to pull strings. But we don’t. Sure, some coaches at the highest level will have some influence. That all plays into the power dynamic, as previously stated. I’m sure Coach K at Duke was able to get his way on a number of occasions. But he built his program the ground over decades to get to that point. Even DI and DII coaches that have ability to grant scholarships for athletic talent can’t just get there way all the time, or furthermore, allow their players to get their way all the time either. And this is not an indictment on recruits out there in high school or their parents! This is our all our fault in higher ed and in our society. We have conditioned our prospects and players to go to their coach if they need anything. And I am partly to blame myself. We as coaches are our players “De Facto” parents while they are away from home, and I take that role very seriously, as I am sure other coaches do as well. We have open door policies and encourage open and honest communication with our athletes. We want to offer support and be a resource for our teams. We listen to the problems and obstacles our facing on a daily basis. We want to be there to help them, the same way a parent would. There are two things to remember. One, we always want to help our players, no matter what. That doesn’t mean we always can. As much as I appreciate our players reaching out for guidance or my help in certain matters, sometimes I don’t have the ability to. I am not an admissions employee and can’t influence decisions of admittance to the university. I don’t work in res life, and can’t get people moved to special dorms. I don’t work in financial aid, and can’t get my players more a better aid package. I can’t get people out of trouble if they break the university code of conduct. I just coach lacrosse. And as much as I want to be able to do all these things for my guys, I have a defined role within my department. Or do I?
There are so many layers to being a coach. I know what I just said and now I will contradict myself (this is the schizophrenia part coming out). I know I said that we are coaches and we should just coach our sport and that’s it. And how I wish that were true. But sometimes, our job crosses departmental lines when necessary, or convenient. We don’t work in the office of admissions, but we have a hand in the recruitment of prospective students. That’s putting it mildly. We recruit hard. We recruit early and often. We are communicating with hundreds of kids at a given time. Usually, we are their primary contact for a lot of things. We help them with the application process, take them on tours, and facilitate campus visits. A lot of small private colleges wouldn’t exist with an athletic department. Our athletes comprise the majority of the student body in some cases. We are ambassadors for the school. If there is an event that needs attending, we can require our athletes to be there to fill in seats. We are retention coordinators. It falls on us to provide a good experience in order to keep our clientele happy. We are academic advisors. When our players are not meeting the academic standards, we have meetings with them and make sure they get the help they require. We make sure they are eligible, so by proxy, we have knowledge of what courses to take and how many credits, etc. I would say that these are all part of the job, but at the same time, adjacent to what our main role should be on campus. And above all, we risk a heck of a lot for our athletes.
We are entrusted with a lot as coaches. We need to make sure our athletes are not only performing on the field, but in every area of their life. We need to make sure that they are upstanding members of the campus community. If they make poor choices, it reflects poorly on us as their “leader.” We have an obligation to have them participate willingly in adding to our campus culture. We have a lot of pressure on us as coaches, and dually, put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Outside of the confines of our campus, however, we are not seen in the same light. I wouldn’t say we are looked down upon necessarily, but I think a lot of people out there haven’t a clue what it is we do for a living. Well hopefully, if someone eventually reads this, now they will know. It is a full time job. If anything, you are never really off the clock. I got 4 or 5 texts today from either players or recruits (I’m writing this on a Sunday). I once heard from another coach that described being a head coach as “2 full time jobs with 1 salary.” But people on the street have no clue. I’m not overly sensitive about a lot of things, but if you are just not an athletics person (which is ok) and you ever meet a coach at a party, please never ask them “so is that all you do? Do you do anything else?” I take offense to this question. I have to bite my tongue often. It just happened a couple weeks ago when my wife and I went to a wedding, where the groom was a coach! It would be like going up to a teacher and asking them “so is that all you do? What do you for the 3 months when school is out?” Maybe that’s not a great analogy, but it takes some nerve to ask someone about their profession like that, I think. And I know that I’m just a DIII coach (I like it that way), but a college coach is a college coach, period. If you ever met Coach K at a party, you would never have the balls to ask him “so, is that all you do is coach?” And yes, I know I just indirectly compared myself to Coach K, but hopefully you get the picture I am painting. It’s an absurd question. I wish there was a better example but it’s hard to think of one. I would never question the amount of work someone does as validity to what they do, or dare assume. That’s like asking a firefighter what he does all day if there are no fires to put out. All that people need to know is that it pays the bills and that your happy doing it.
So please give respect to coaches out there. It’s more than just playing hop-scotch all day, believe me. It’s a profession at my level that requires a Masters Degree in many cases. I have 3 degrees so I don’t feel too bad about my level of education. So, do I just coach Lacrosse? No, I do much more than that. But I am counting the days to when I can coach lacrosse again. We start fall ball in two weeks so it won’t be long now.
KASEY BURST
The HC at the University of Dubuque, Kasey brings all things college lacrosse to your inbox.