Year 3: In the Driver's Seat

One thing you learn as a manager or a graduate assistant is that you are to be seen and not heard. You are there to learn, not implement policy. The head coach doesn't care for your thoughts on some great zone defense or what your ideas are to improve offensive efficiency. He cares more about how well you check classes. He cares about your ideas to improve the efficiency of stuffing mail-outs. (I use the term "care" in the loosest sense imaginable...please, young coaches, don't walk into a meeting and put mail-out reform on the agenda).

You're a fly on the wall. You are there to do the dirty work, what no one else wants to do. You're there to do it for free and to pretend with all your might that you love doing it. What many GA's and managers don't realize is this grunt work helps prepare you for the next step. It helps you become a problem-solver without needing to ask for guidance every step of the way. It's also where you learn. You get to hear the parts of the game that those outside the program never witness. Many people sit on their couches or in the stands and watch a game studying the X's and O's and think they can become great coaches. (I thought so too, before I began). But those people aren't in the "War Room" to hear seasoned basketball minds come together to form a plan for practice, games and goals for the larger view of the season. In order to understand the game of basketball, you need to know the "how" and "why" you do things in certain situations. Watching X's and O's will only give you the "how," and you won't know the "why" without learning from great coaches who can convey that to his players and staff.

I can sit here and tell you a million times that you MUST rotate your point guards back to the top of the key on each offensive shot attempt, but without knowing the why, you're really just going to question whether it's even important. But if I explain to you that without a rotation, it will lead to easy buckets for the opposing team, it becomes a more valuable piece of information. This example is the most basic form of "knowing the why" that I'm talking about, but it conveys the message sufficiently without needing a 500-page entry on the intricacies of the game.

As a graduate assistant you're always along for the ride. You're never in the driver's seat. You don't have the power to implement policy among the staff, and you don't have the clout to change an action by a player. You're not even a back seat driver; you're a baby in a carriage with a pacifier in its mouth. (A baby that changes the flat tires of the car, gets the oil checked, and fills up the gas...but a baby nonetheless).

So when I had the opportunity to become a graduate assistant (for the second time) at a middle-of-the-road low major school or become an assistant on a lower level, I jumped at the chance to hop to the front of the car. I'm ready to configure the engine, tweaking it to the standards I've learned from my time as a passenger. I'm ready to guide the vehicle and maneuver it to get to our destination.

Little did I know, hopping into the driver's seat at a Division 3 school, sometimes means to literally hop into the driver's seat...

Our first scrimmage of the year was planned to be at Concord University in West Virginia. It's about 2 and a half hours away. I had always taken buses or charter buses to away games, so I never thought twice about driving. I was informed the day before that I would be driving a 15-passenger van to the game. (Don't you need a license for that?) I didn't realize until then that I was responsible for 15 players and their safety. My actions behind the wheel have a direct consequence for those who are riding in my van. It was then I longed for the days of being a lowly passenger, being comfortable in having no outcome on the safety of other or how we get to our destination. I thought about how this bus ride is a perfect metaphor for my job this season. I am responsible for the growth of these individuals on our team. I'm responsible for their safety away from home.

5 hours and a scrimmage later, we arrived safely back at Emory & Henry. I let out a sigh of relief. We made it. After a couple minutes reflecting on a safe trip, I began to realize I could do this. I can be responsible for these young adults. I can guide them safely to our destination. I'll be learning as I go, but I have learned from some great bus drivers in my time.

As we travel this road through our season (and my larger road through my career), we will hit many obstacles...twists and turns will make for a bumpy ride. We'll compete against bigger and faster cars, so we'll need to know the course better than them. We'll need to know the how and why, and execute them at each turn. If we can find a way to do so, maybe, just maybe...we'll lead the pack from the driver's seat.