There are a majority of you who are reading this newsletter who are interested in player development. You may find yourself in one of the following categories:
Interested in being in the player development role.
Interested in learning about player development.
Interested in creating player development for your program.
Interested in creating a player development role.
Interested in professionally developing while in the role.
Wherever you fall player development has this continually interest among many.
In this newsletter and this week’s podcast I am sharing with you the ten things you should consider as your interest grows.
I will highlight them below, but to get greater depth make sure you listen to the podcast above. (You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts.)
10 Things to Consider if YOU ARE Interested in Player Development
The role is fulfilling.
The role varies by program.
The role is an all-access position.
The role will be an enigma to the staff.
The role is a great opportunity to impact.
The role will most likely be a one-person department.
The role is heavily involved with academics.
The role can be a catch all position.
The role allows for the creation of meaningful relationships with alumni.
The role is a crash course in leadership.
There it is there are many other things in the role, but I wanted to share these ten. Once, again to dive deep please go listen to The Player Development Pod episode above. (Or click The Player Development Pod link in the sentence.)
Coaching Movement
There has been a great deal of coaching movement this past week in the NFL and in college football. Two of the GOATS are no longer with their teams and athletic directors and general managers are making moves quicker than I have ever seen.
Why do I bring this up?! Because this 8 podcasts series is geared to prepare you for this time where a lot of hiring happens in player development. You can read more about that here in one of my previous newsletters: Player Development HIRING Season Is Upon Us.
Now the order of hiring in college football looks like this from my experience.
1st - Personnel/Recruiting
The head coach is hired, and his first hire is someone in recruiting or personnel who then begins building recruiting or building the roster the coach wants. You can that here in this post where Kalen DeBoer arrives in Alabama and his GM Courtney Morgan gets off the plane with him. The video is here: Courtney Morgan arrives with Kalen DeBoer
I saw this happen in person when Joey McGuire, who I worked on staff with at Baylor, was hired as the Texas Tech Football Head Coach. His first hire was personnel star on our staff James Blanchard. Here’s a post of them arriving together in Lubbock.
2nd - Strength Coach(es)
The head coach is going to begin winter training soon and wants his own strength coach who will be a catalyst of the culture he wants while he and the other coaches are out on the road recruiting players.
3rd - Coordinators
The head coach wants to get as many coordinators hired as soon as possible so they can get on the road and recruit. Specifically, any players who are committed and on the fence. You want them to be around the coordinators who will be putting them in positions to succeed.
4th - Assistant Coaches
Very similar to the coordinators the coach wants his guys on the road to recruit the area and secure a good signing class.
5th - Logistical Support Staff
These are the positions that are getting all the operations squared away while the coaches are on the road recruiting. They are getting with those in the athletic department, academics, campus, and other entities that will ensure the day to day goes well.
These positions could be chief of staff, director of operations, more personnel staff (specifically on campus recruiting).
6th - The Rest of the Support Staff
This where player development comes into play, although I would argue the correct person in this role should be hired earlier. This time is usually after national signing day or right before in my three experiences. The other staff coming on board during this wave are quality control coaches, analysts, additional personnel staff, additional strength staff, additional operations staff, and any other positions a head coach wants on his staff.
Below is a photo of a graphic showing the above-mentioned staff additions during my time at Baylor. You may see someone familiar.
Hopefully this gives you clear insight into how the hiring process works, after typing that all out I believe I will add another podcast to the series. Going into further detail about the hiring processes.
If your mind now goes to interviewing, the below section will detail how I will help you understand that process as well.
Player Development Interviewing
Next week I the podcast episode will be focused on three tips I will provide you for player development interviews.
I am really excited about this episode.
I have been fortunate to take part of many player development interviews and have created a game plan for them.
In the two cohorts I instructed for the Guide to Player Development course we dove deep into this subject.
For those who want to be prepared for a coming or future interview for the player development position I’ve created a workshop just for you.
The workshop will include the following:
Hour and half interview instruction and discussion workshop
Interviewing templates
Interview strategy plan
One on one mock interview at another date
Those who are interested and would like more information please sign up here: Interview Workshop
Testimonials
Angelica Ducheine details her experience in the Player Development Guide Course.
Take a listen: Course Testimonial
I appreciate Angelica’s testimonial and look forward to her continuing to grow in this role. If you are looking to hire someone to your player development department, hit Angelica up.
All my students from the cohort were given what is needed to succeed in the role.
If you are interested in the course, click here Guide to Player Development Course
Resources
COURSES
Guide to Player Development Online Course - Self Paced
Player Development LIVE Cohort Course Interest
WORKSHOPS
BOOKS
Player Development Guide eBook
Head Coaches Guide to Player Development eBook
COACHING
Player Development Coaching Program Interest
DOWNLOADS - FREE
That’s it for this week.
Have a great week. Go out and create GENERATIONAL IMPACT. DON’T WAIT, create that generational impact today.