I spent some with Coach O'Connor on Wednesday, August 1, talking about my professional goals. I was very appreciative of this time since Coach O'Connor's available time is few and far between. As an aside from my goals, I wanted to point out that I initially thought the summer would be a great time to do this internship with Coach O'Connor because of the available time. The reality is that the summer is probably the busiest time of the year for these coaches. They are on the road non-stop looking at talent and shaping the future of the program. So, again, I appreciate anytime I can get with Coach O'Connor. We actually had to break our meeting into two shorter meetings because of both of us needing to go meet with our wives. So, that actually worked out well. When we were able to sit down and really dive into the topic at hand, I felt very good about the meeting. As we talked about my potential future coaching en devours, I learned that in order for a college coach to be able to actually go out and recruit they have to pass a NCAA recruitment test. This is an open book test that makes coaches show an understanding of compliance issues when recruiting an athlete. I never knew there was a test. I just assumed that once you were a college coach you could recruit. I asked him if this was something that I could work towards so I would have the certification prior to trying to get into college coaching. Unfortunately, Coach O'Connor didn't think that I could. His understanding is that it isn't a separate certification that someone can get, but rather it comes in conjunction with getting a coaching job.
I talked with Coach O'Connor about the possibility of staying involved with the UVA program even after the internship ended. He said he thought that was a possibility, but it would probably be on a project-based need. I admittedly was hoping for something more definitive, but I'm excited just at the potential involvement. I also talked with Coach O'Connor about what the best route for me to take to get to the eventual goal of teaching and coaching at the collegiate level. We both agree that getting into the college coaching world initially is a young man's game. Unfortunately, I am not a young man and I am looking at fulfilling a dream as my second career. However, Coach O'Connor did acknowledge that it is not unheard of to go from the high school ranks to a small college. And, I realistically understand that is what I am looking at doing. I know I am never going to coach at a Division I school. I think what will be best suited for me is to find a small school in a small town where I can both teach Criminal Justice classes and perhaps start out as a volunteer assistant. Then, with any luck, the volunteer position may turn into a paid assistant. Further, if everything in my blissful life falls into place, Allie will be able to coach at the same school in the women's soccer program.
Coach O'Connor and I also touched on what I should be doing in the interim to continue to move toward preparing to try to coach at the college level. We agreed that obviously I need to continue to coach, but he suggested that I find a situation that would allow me to develop even further versus just being an assistant. He suggested that I speak with a local gym owner, Todd Proctor, who also runs the local Travel Baseball program. This is actually something that I have been working on for a while. Todd asked me to take one of the U13 teams about this time last year, but I had to turn it down because of various time constraints. However, since this is my last class, my time has opened up a little bit. I have been talking with Todd about coaching, but nothing was definitive. And, ironically enough, as I was working out with my son, Reid, at Todd's gym, Total Performance, I mentioned to Todd about coaching again. We had talked recently about me helping with a Showcase team this fall, but he said that there is interest in making the Showcase Team an actual team that would continue beyond just this fall and into the Spring. He also told me that I would be the head coach. So, as of today (8/2), I am the Head Coach of a 17U Elite Travel team. I haven't had a chance to tell Coach O'Connor about this development, but I suspect he will be pleased for me.
Coach O'Connor and I also talked about continuing to be an instructor and get my name out into the college coaching world. He confirmed for me that most Division I program has their own camp. He suggested that I send e-mails to the coaching staff of camps I am interested in working starting around March. Then, he will send a follow-up e-mail to the same coaches endorsing me for the jobs. This will be an important endorsement since many of the guest instructors are college coaches versus high school coaches. So, sometime around the first of the year I will be trying to figure out which schools have camps, the dates and trying to pair them up against my known work rotation. With any luck at all and Coach O'Connor's endorsements, I will be able to do some instructing next year and become a regular on the instructors circuit.
I talked with Coach O'Connor about the possibility of staying involved with the UVA program even after the internship ended. He said he thought that was a possibility, but it would probably be on a project-based need. I admittedly was hoping for something more definitive, but I'm excited just at the potential involvement. I also talked with Coach O'Connor about what the best route for me to take to get to the eventual goal of teaching and coaching at the collegiate level. We both agree that getting into the college coaching world initially is a young man's game. Unfortunately, I am not a young man and I am looking at fulfilling a dream as my second career. However, Coach O'Connor did acknowledge that it is not unheard of to go from the high school ranks to a small college. And, I realistically understand that is what I am looking at doing. I know I am never going to coach at a Division I school. I think what will be best suited for me is to find a small school in a small town where I can both teach Criminal Justice classes and perhaps start out as a volunteer assistant. Then, with any luck, the volunteer position may turn into a paid assistant. Further, if everything in my blissful life falls into place, Allie will be able to coach at the same school in the women's soccer program.
Coach O'Connor and I also touched on what I should be doing in the interim to continue to move toward preparing to try to coach at the college level. We agreed that obviously I need to continue to coach, but he suggested that I find a situation that would allow me to develop even further versus just being an assistant. He suggested that I speak with a local gym owner, Todd Proctor, who also runs the local Travel Baseball program. This is actually something that I have been working on for a while. Todd asked me to take one of the U13 teams about this time last year, but I had to turn it down because of various time constraints. However, since this is my last class, my time has opened up a little bit. I have been talking with Todd about coaching, but nothing was definitive. And, ironically enough, as I was working out with my son, Reid, at Todd's gym, Total Performance, I mentioned to Todd about coaching again. We had talked recently about me helping with a Showcase team this fall, but he said that there is interest in making the Showcase Team an actual team that would continue beyond just this fall and into the Spring. He also told me that I would be the head coach. So, as of today (8/2), I am the Head Coach of a 17U Elite Travel team. I haven't had a chance to tell Coach O'Connor about this development, but I suspect he will be pleased for me.
Coach O'Connor and I also talked about continuing to be an instructor and get my name out into the college coaching world. He confirmed for me that most Division I program has their own camp. He suggested that I send e-mails to the coaching staff of camps I am interested in working starting around March. Then, he will send a follow-up e-mail to the same coaches endorsing me for the jobs. This will be an important endorsement since many of the guest instructors are college coaches versus high school coaches. So, sometime around the first of the year I will be trying to figure out which schools have camps, the dates and trying to pair them up against my known work rotation. With any luck at all and Coach O'Connor's endorsements, I will be able to do some instructing next year and become a regular on the instructors circuit.
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