Qualities of great assistant college baseball coach

It seems like players and head coaches get most of the pub. Just wanted to hear and share views on qualites of a great assistant college baseball coach. Here are my top five.

5. Loving your job and doing it with pride- If you do not love it, you won't give it the time it needs and you won't be a success. If your job is work rather than enjoyment, better start looking around for another field of enjoyment. Encourage others to feel the same way about the sport as you do. Everyday you walk on the practice field, your love and enthusiasm for the game should be apparent to every player far above their capabilities in order to please you. Show your affection for them in overt ways, so that it cannot be missed. Never present an idea or philosophy to the players that is different from the head coach. Be proud of your team and your college. Wear shirts and jackets bearing their names, not your former school or another college. This is truly a slap in the face to the head coach, and the players. I could not imagine this happening at many colleges (an assistant probably wouldn't last very long). When the students and the athletes see that you are proud of them, they will become proud of themselves.
4. The ability to recruit-In this day and age with the competition in recruiting, it is essential for an assistant coach to be a great recruiter. Attending showcases; setting up campus visits, and of course making dozens of phone calls daily are just some of the responsibilities that come with recruiting. A great assistant coach must be a great communicator to be a great recruiter.
3. Sacrifice- Without a great deal of sacrifice, a potentially outstanding player may remain ordinary, and a potentially outstanding coach may wind up jobless. If you are primarily concerned with monetary rewards, you are in the wrong profession. You must realize that during the season you are not your own man; you practically belong to the head coach and the rest of the team. Quality assistant coaches make the college program they are assisting the best it can be, and NOT spending a large amount of time on putting together a summer league team or other secondary work.
2. Positive Belief-How hard is it to play for a coach who doesn’t believe in you. Assistant coaches are the bridge between players and the head coach. To be a great assistant coach, you must show confidence and be positive with the players. Never (and I do mean NEVER) even slightly disagree with the head coach in the presence of the team. Players will wind up losing confidence in you. Develop a sense of humor (if you do not have one) and be willing to exhibit it on and off the field. Practice can become drudgery and an occasional joke or two can make it more pleasant. Dispatch all your duties with enthusiasm. If you work with enthusiasm, your players will do the same.
1. Loyalty-being loyal to the head coach and sharing his philosophies is by far the most important quality. If an assistant coach is loyal, all the other qualities will fall into place. It is easy to be loyal when your team winning ten straight games; the test of loyalty comes during a ten game losing streak. If an assistant coach disagrees with the head coach it is handled behind closed doors and not out in public view. Once the head coach decides on a course of action, the assistant abides by his decision and never openly disagrees with it. If an assistant coach has different views or philosophies from the head coach, it’s time for him to go. The assistant needs to find another job. Remember, the assistant coach is working for the head coach (not the other way around).

The truly great assistant baseball coaches are fun to be around. The great assistants are part of the unit trying to capture goals as opposed to “me against you.” Players would take a bullet for the great assistants, and head coaches will take great steps to keep them.

 

Must buy into and support what the head coach is doing-100%. If not, do everyone a favor and move on.

 

Interesting Topic

I feel that a great assistant coach is willing to check his ego at the door and accept that the head coach is in charge. He should discuss his ideas with the head coach, and never behind his back, or with parents or players. Assistant coaches should be humble and should not make the mistake of trying to impress others that they are smarter than the head coach. Beyond that: Recruit, Recruit, Recruit.

 

I can't believe any assistants are this brash (or dense), but I would love to see Keith Shumate at NC A and T if one of his assistants wore a t-shirt or hat of another college. They would probably be dismissed immediately. This is an absolute no-no in his program by his players, much less if an assistant coach did it.

 

???...has someone actually done that? (not looking for a name)

 

i don't think it matters if it is high school or college a great assistant is a great thing. if you want an example... just look at the one i have.

 

Totally agree. Good assistants are invaluable. Many times they make the difference in an outstanding program. However, as earlier stated, just remember to leave the sweatshirts, hats, t-shirts, and bumper stickers if moving from one school to another.

 

AC Reynolds has a GREAT assistant varsity/head JV coach that should be getting some looks from programs needing a Varsity coach, he may already have had some looks (I am not that close to the program to know)

 

? who knows?

I remember when Mike O'Cain was fired as head football coach at NCSU.
A big deal was made at the time that he did not have any NCSU "stuff" in his household. And this was viewed as a negative. Don't know how someone would have known?? So don't really know if this was actually true. But just an example of how impressions are formed.