7 Things I Wish I Knew My 1st Year in Player Development

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My first year in player development was 2016.

I had transitioned in the role from being a high school coach and teacher. Six years of teaching world geography and six years of coaching football, basketball, soccer and baseball.

Some of y’all know my story when I got the DPD position at my alma mater, University of Houston, my mindset was I will be a position coach in 5 years and a head coach in 15.

Little did I know, being in the position and impacting players changed all those plans.

When those plans changed and I was all in on player development, there was a massive learning curve and many lessons I learned in that first year.

Today, I am sharing the 7 things I learned in my first year.

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While sharing the things I learned in my first year I will also be sharing pictures from my first year in player development with brief descriptions (they may not be aligned with the lesson I learned. I am feeling very nostalgic in discussing my first year so pictures you will see.)

HERE ARE THE SEVEN THINGS:

Connect and Create Community.

My first year in the role I was swimming and didn’t reach out to anyone else who was in the role. That was a HUGE mistake. Player development professionals are some of the most collaborative people I know, and I found this out in year two. I always wondered how much better my first year would’ve been if I reached out and created a community.

Picture: This is one of the earliest pictures I have from my first year. We helped renovate a local building.

Fail Hard, Fail NOW!

The best time to try and make mistakes is the first year. There were so many initiatives, programs, and ideas I didn’t bring to the table that I wish I did. If you shoot for the stars, you may land on the moon. The first year is the best year to swing for the fences.

Picture: Sometimes players were not able to make events because of scheduling and other last-minute situations. There are still lives to be touched, so sometimes it’s on you to get it done.

Keep Tabs on the Calendar. It is All Cyclical.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but when we switched HCs after my first year the new HC asked when we did a student appreciation practice, and I was left fumbling. Keep the calendar dates, documents, and notes from each year so you can be prepared and enhance what’s done every year.

Picture: One thing you can do every year is have your newcomers help with students moving in to their dorm.

Build More Relationships on Campus.

There are many individuals who can help you in the player development role and some of the most willing are on the campus. In my live cohort I share a full list of the 35+ people you need to know on a campus. (I will have a future podcast episode where I will share 10 of those 35+). Get on the campus, make connections, and build relationships.

Picture: In this picture I am with our orientation/ campus tour students. They were a HUGE asset to us during gamedays and recruiting visits. Their knowledge of campus life really won over a lot of parents for us.

Picture two: I am presenting at our international student orientation. The University of Houston has a heavy concentration of international students. Many of them are excited to experience campus life and I invited them to come every HOME game we had. This eventually led to me leading a more intimate Football 101, with pads, and equipment. I even met two of my future interns at this event.

Write the Vision Down. Make it Plain.

Yes, I stole this one from The Bible (Habakkuk 2:2), but this would have helped me so much in my first few months. I was going day by day and eventually we got going by creating an impactful community impact program. We targeted the local areas and a 10-mile radius from the campus and dove deep. Any of our players who helped out in the community were then given a “H-Town is OUR Town” shirt. This little community plan led the way for me to create Beyond The Field.

Picture: We were able to help Houston Texans player Vince Wilfork with a food drive he was having with HEB. If you look closely, you’ll see me far left in the H-Town is Our Town shirt.

Create Time with Your Head Coach.

My first head coach was Tom Herman, I actually had a picture with him somewhere, but I can’t find it. Anyways, you want to make sure you're getting with the head coach at least once a week. I was terrible at this my first year. I only talked to the head coach when he wanted to discuss a situation, or when he would come by to see how everything was going. Further in my career, I got better. But it’s always good for your head coach to have a heads up on what’s happening in player development.

Picture: Coach Tom Herman addressing the team after we beat Oklahoma in NRG Stadium to kick off the 2016 season. Incredible win and great experience for my first college football game in the role.

Create an End of Year Review.

I actually created this in Kansas to show my football administration the reasons why I earned a raise. I was blown away by how much was done during that year and I wished I would’ve made this same document in my first year at Houston. Whatever the document format you want to use do that, but just make sure you document all you did in the role for the year.

Picture: Our last practice before the bowl game. The year goes by fast, make sure you are doing all you can to impact athletes in your role.

Here’s a video on how YOU can create an End of Year Review:

I will dive deeper into these seven things during this week’s podcasts.

2024 Player Development Conference

We are a little more than three months aways from The Player Development Conference.

We will have breakout sessions during the conference and are looking for speakers. If you are interested in speaking during the conference, please fill out the link below:

Player Development Conference Speaker Form

Have a great day! Go out and create generational impact. DON’T WAIT! Create that generational impact today!