Mostly a lurker on here but after reading all these "Screaming vs. Not Screaming" discussion I have a few ideas that I would like to pose and get feedback on.
Before I pose my ideas, here's my story: I am a lower level NCAA coach for the last 8 years and I've had some success (multiple conference titles and NCAA tourney berths) and I was very much a yeller at first. I tend to consider myself a bit of an "old school" coach but I've had to adapt as time has passed as well I would say that I am 50% as explosive as I used to be, specifically in coaching my "post-Covid" players.
I am also a high school educator and I can say without hesitation that the modern student is vastly different than when I started coaching/teaching about 15 years ago. The term I use is that the modern student/athlete is a lot more brittle. This is a generalization and there are many who don't fall into this category but overall "the cracking point" of many happens a lot sooner. These factors have led to me to some questions.
So here are the questions:
1. Does the modern coach need to be more adaptable in terms of their coaching style in terms of the modern student athlete? Underwood has been coaching for 30+ years at various levels. Can we assume that the modern student athlete is vastly different than the student athlete of the 1980's when he started coaching? How does a coach balance staying true to their style/ core values vs adapting to not only fit the athletic ability of his/her players but also adapt their psychology/methods to maximize motivation? I can only speak from my experiences but I can 100% say that I have had to learn to coach players differently. Some you can "MF" pretty hard and they can take it. Others you have to use a little more finesse with or you can lose them pretty quickly. Not everyone person is the same and has the portal, change in assistants, NIL, expectations, etc led to less time being spent on find the right players for Underwood's personality? I have a friend, who is a lifetime coach and who is very successful in the JuCo world, who says "if a kid can play for me then he/she can play for anyone." My friend is a very hard coach to play for but he wins and his players motivation is to transfer to a high level D1 so he gets away with it. I assume that Underwood is a very hard coach to play for but he has also won and so it's been allowed for the most part. Does the evaluation of mental toughness of a player need to be a bigger focus in the recruiting of players to Illinois?
2. How has NIL impacted "coachability"? Players like Shannon and Mayer were well compensated to come to Illinois. What does the psychology of motivating a person who is in the top 5%-10% - 15% of earners in the USA look like compared to a pre-NIL player who wasn't being as well-compensated or compensated at all beyond scholarships? If the "salary" is paid in advance, how much motivation is there to complete the job or to give 100% attention/effort/attitude toward that job? If the salary is paid then how much attention is paid to the finer details of the job?
3. How does the "Me-centric" nature of modern society impact these young student athletes? Human nature is to be selfish or at least partially self-serving. All of these players have hopes/ambitions of playing professional and being paid to play basketball. Do they have to "get theirs" first before the team concept comes into play? I know before NIL, the big idea coaches pushed was "let me help you get to the NBA/Pros". That could possibly be a means to motivate or to tolerate more "old-school" coaching. The "light at the end of the tunnel" was a professional career and money. NIL now provides the money so what becomes the motivation if not intrinsic? I guess getting to the NBA is a motivation but can you use that "dream" for every single player since only the most elite will get drafted.
4. Does the "newness" of the team factor into their reactions to Underwood's style being unsuccessful? I tend to believe that yelling is earned. The player must first "buy what you're selling" and trust you before you can light them up. There are so many new members to this team that I am left to wonder has Underwood "earned the right to yell" in some players eyes? Add in that the returners would not be players that, in my opinion, reacted well to Underwood's style last year and you might lack the trust/culture needed to allow for such "yelling" in public. My examples for returners who did not react well last year would be Coleman at times seemed to pout/overreact to hard coaching. RJ seemed to be one that faded into the background some when he was lit up during a game. Public embarrassment is a massive fear for many people, no matter their age. If hard-coaching/yelling is viewed as that then it might be easy to see how one could check out pretty quickly if the person yelling has not earned the trust of the player.
I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors. I am quickly typing this on my lunch break from work haha.
Go ILLINI!!!!
Before I pose my ideas, here's my story: I am a lower level NCAA coach for the last 8 years and I've had some success (multiple conference titles and NCAA tourney berths) and I was very much a yeller at first. I tend to consider myself a bit of an "old school" coach but I've had to adapt as time has passed as well I would say that I am 50% as explosive as I used to be, specifically in coaching my "post-Covid" players.
I am also a high school educator and I can say without hesitation that the modern student is vastly different than when I started coaching/teaching about 15 years ago. The term I use is that the modern student/athlete is a lot more brittle. This is a generalization and there are many who don't fall into this category but overall "the cracking point" of many happens a lot sooner. These factors have led to me to some questions.
So here are the questions:
1. Does the modern coach need to be more adaptable in terms of their coaching style in terms of the modern student athlete? Underwood has been coaching for 30+ years at various levels. Can we assume that the modern student athlete is vastly different than the student athlete of the 1980's when he started coaching? How does a coach balance staying true to their style/ core values vs adapting to not only fit the athletic ability of his/her players but also adapt their psychology/methods to maximize motivation? I can only speak from my experiences but I can 100% say that I have had to learn to coach players differently. Some you can "MF" pretty hard and they can take it. Others you have to use a little more finesse with or you can lose them pretty quickly. Not everyone person is the same and has the portal, change in assistants, NIL, expectations, etc led to less time being spent on find the right players for Underwood's personality? I have a friend, who is a lifetime coach and who is very successful in the JuCo world, who says "if a kid can play for me then he/she can play for anyone." My friend is a very hard coach to play for but he wins and his players motivation is to transfer to a high level D1 so he gets away with it. I assume that Underwood is a very hard coach to play for but he has also won and so it's been allowed for the most part. Does the evaluation of mental toughness of a player need to be a bigger focus in the recruiting of players to Illinois?
2. How has NIL impacted "coachability"? Players like Shannon and Mayer were well compensated to come to Illinois. What does the psychology of motivating a person who is in the top 5%-10% - 15% of earners in the USA look like compared to a pre-NIL player who wasn't being as well-compensated or compensated at all beyond scholarships? If the "salary" is paid in advance, how much motivation is there to complete the job or to give 100% attention/effort/attitude toward that job? If the salary is paid then how much attention is paid to the finer details of the job?
3. How does the "Me-centric" nature of modern society impact these young student athletes? Human nature is to be selfish or at least partially self-serving. All of these players have hopes/ambitions of playing professional and being paid to play basketball. Do they have to "get theirs" first before the team concept comes into play? I know before NIL, the big idea coaches pushed was "let me help you get to the NBA/Pros". That could possibly be a means to motivate or to tolerate more "old-school" coaching. The "light at the end of the tunnel" was a professional career and money. NIL now provides the money so what becomes the motivation if not intrinsic? I guess getting to the NBA is a motivation but can you use that "dream" for every single player since only the most elite will get drafted.
4. Does the "newness" of the team factor into their reactions to Underwood's style being unsuccessful? I tend to believe that yelling is earned. The player must first "buy what you're selling" and trust you before you can light them up. There are so many new members to this team that I am left to wonder has Underwood "earned the right to yell" in some players eyes? Add in that the returners would not be players that, in my opinion, reacted well to Underwood's style last year and you might lack the trust/culture needed to allow for such "yelling" in public. My examples for returners who did not react well last year would be Coleman at times seemed to pout/overreact to hard coaching. RJ seemed to be one that faded into the background some when he was lit up during a game. Public embarrassment is a massive fear for many people, no matter their age. If hard-coaching/yelling is viewed as that then it might be easy to see how one could check out pretty quickly if the person yelling has not earned the trust of the player.
I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors. I am quickly typing this on my lunch break from work haha.
Go ILLINI!!!!
