I applied late last week for head coach position for which I think I’m extremely qualified. Actually, I initially emailed the Athletic Director my resume as there was no online posting yet. This is a position for which relevant experience is not a question at all as I spent a lot of time in this particular conference. That means if I don’t at least get a bit of interest there’s some other factor at work. As it turns out, the A.D. responded (while traveling) to my email indicating that I would have to apply online officially when the posting went live. Late the same day I received a note from someone in H.R. letting me know it was up. The fact that they were proactive about that sort of thing suggests at least some interest. So does the fact that the A.D. (or at least someone in Athletics) scoped out my LinkedIn profile.
Also in the showing some interest category is an assistant position I’ve put in for. I saw the job posted, and was surprised. I’d been in touch with the head coach there over the break, but not in the context of him having a job for me. I passed him my resume, but from an “in case you hear of anything interesting” perspective.I didn’t think he’d have an opening having just hired a new assistant last year, and I got the feeling he didn’t either, which suggests something developed fairly suddenly – as certainly can happen. Anyway, when I dropped him a note to ask if he was looking for a 1st or 2nd assistant he passed me along to his HR person and I received an invitation to apply, which I have. This job wouldn’t pay as much as a head job, I’m sure, but it’s with a team that made the NCAA tournament last season in a desirable part of the country. Trade-offs.
Added to the list of jobs I didn’t get are Montana and Akron on the head coach side, along with the Florida State, Notre Dame, LSU, and Indiana assistant positions. Those jobs filling have opened up other positions in the usual domino effect.
Believe it or not, I found an actual letter from Mississippi State waiting for me when I got home the other day. You’ll recall I found out about that job being filled a couple weeks ago. The letter is dated the 15th, has a postage date of the 20th, and got to me in England on the 27th. I appreciate the personal touch, but it cost them $1.15. Email would have been fine.
With all the job dominoes falling, just about as many new positions are opening up as ones I’ve put in for are getting scratched from my list. In the past week I’ve put in applications for three other assistant positions and one head coach job above and beyond the ones mentioned above.
Actually, that latter head coach job was one I went back and forth about pursuing. The program has been poor for a number of years and seems to have turned over several coaches recently. The A.D. is relatively new to the position. I don’t know enough about the school or program to be able to gauge whether it’s somewhere that a real turn-around is a realistic expectation or not. I figured I’d put in for it, though. I love the idea of taking on a struggling program and getting it turned around. If it ends up not looking particularly appealing I could always turn it down.
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