By James Cox

James Cox has been the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Club Sports at Miami Dade College since 1997, previously serving as Assistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director. He currently sits on the Executive Committees of NACDA and the National Association of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators. He welcomes questions and comments on this article and can be reached at: jcox@mdc.edu.

For most of us, this is the best time of the year. Every one of our teams has a chance to win a championship, new faces are flush with anticipation, and positive energy is everywhere. And, we don't have any coaches' evaluations to do for quite a while.

Annual coaching staff reviews are a critical part of our jobs, but they tend to be one of our least favorite tasks. In fact, they're often accompanied by a "let's get this over with" attitude by both the athletic director and coach.

Several years ago, I began to think about why these evaluation sessions are so uncomfortable. I came up with three reasons:

• Most people do not take criticism willingly or happily.

• When someone is critiqued just once a year, many things that happened over an entire season are forgotten with one situation standing out and serving as the sole criteria that determines whether they receive either a positive or negative final review. In addition, what the athletic director remembers as the highlights of the year may not be what the coach remembers.

• Coaches are competitive and often believe they are doing great in every area. They come into the review thinking not only do they deserve a raise, but a building should be named after them whenever they retire.

I wondered: How could I deal with these realities and make the evaluation a more positive experience? I thought about all the interaction I have with my coaches throughout the year--the problems that arise and are solved, the discussions, the requests, and the give-and-take--and I realized these interactions should be the basis of my evaluations.

I decided that evaluations should be a year-long process. Reviewing coaches really must begin at the start of the school year and continue with every meeting an athletic director has with the coach. If the evaluation is ongoing, the annual sit-down is the culmination of a process, and not a stress-filled, awkward hour at the end of the season.

I had made it a practice for some time to meet regularly with my coaches as often as I could, but I had never documented those meetings. So I started to be more strict about scheduling bi-weekly meetings with coaches, and I also began a journal to keep track of each discussion, describing what was talked about, what was promised, what issues were in the forefront, what goals were shared, and any ongoing problems we had. And when the "formal and final" evaluation came up at the end of the year, this journal made a huge difference in helping us get more out of the review.

END GOALS
With this (or any) evaluation process, it's important for coaches to know what you are critiquing them on. Here at Miami Dade, we use the following criteria:

Leadership: contributions to the college, community service, participation and leadership within the sport, committee participation, athletic association activities.

Professional Performance: practice organization, game management, game strategy, accuracy and timeliness in completing paperwork, budget management, keeping current with the latest coaching methods and strategies.

Interpersonal Skills: communication with supervisor, co-workers, campus personnel, student-athletes, community members, and businesses.

Motivation: attendance record, going to conferences and seminars, professional readings, self-improvement activities, record of trying new strategies.

Knowledge: complete understanding of national governing body policies, eligibility rules, state association rules, and institution policies and procedures.

Each evaluative area has the following ratings: unsatisfactory, satisfactory with reservation, satisfactory, satisfactory with commendation, or excellent. Coaches grade themselves, which I look over before issuing my marks.

Our coaches must also list the goals and objectives that were established the previous year, indicate whether the goal was met, and provide a short narrative explaining what was done throughout the year to meet the goal. The categories that are used to evaluate goal accomplishment are: fully met, substantially met, not met, or no action/to be repeated.

Each coach is required to list at least three goals they will act on in the upcoming year. The goals must relate to coaching or improving their personal performance, and be attainable, practical, and realistic. This is where the coach will display their vision for their program.

More important than the written evaluation is the oral evaluation, in which I delve into each criteria more thoroughly. For me, the key during this discussion is to remember three "R" words, in this order:

Reinforce: To let coaches know what they are doing well, it's important to commend good behavior, practices, habits, and conduct that you have observed. If I have documented or noticed poor behavior, conduct, or habits, during our conversation I reinforce the department's policies, our code of conduct, and expectations that I have for the coaches.

Redirect: To be effective and have a positive relationship, the athletic director and the coach must be heading in the same direction--maybe not exactly on the same path, but at least within shouting distance of each other. Coaches often need a slight compass "shift" at least once a year to get back on track in a certain area. For me, the word "redirect" means getting my coaches pointed in the right direction.

If a coach is more like 45 or 90 degrees from my expectations, something stronger than redirection is needed so instead I talk of a readjustment. I am very direct with any coach who continues to drift further and further from the mission of the college or the ethics and standards of the profession.

Reinvigorate: Whether the coach receives an excellent review or needs a major readjustment, I try to challenge them in a motivating way. This is where knowing what makes your coaches tick is critical. If a coach seems to have accomplished all of his of her goals, reinvigorate him or her with a new idea, such as increasing community support of the program, boosting attendance, initiating camps or clinics, conducting seminars for high school or youth coaches, and so forth.

The goal of any evaluation is to inspire optimal performance from your coach, and I keep that in mind throughout the process. But I also like to think in broader terms and remind coaches that their ultimate goal is to enhance the welfare of the student-athletes on their team.

EVERY OTHER WEEK
With all coaches clear on the end goals of the evaluation process, you can start transforming the annual review into a yearlong process. That may seem like an arduous task, but it's not. In many ways, it's really just a matter of being conscious of annual goals and making a commitment to sit down with your coaches on a consistent basis.

I meet with each of my head coaches at least once every two weeks, with the coach choosing the day and time. This allows the coach to take some ownership of the meetings. The primary goal of each meeting is for the coach to update me on what is happening with his or her team. It is an opportunity for each head coach to have an uninterrupted period of time to relay any and all concerns, questions, plans, and complaints.

The secondary goal of the meeting is to enhance and strengthen the relationship between the coach and the athletic director through informal and casual conversation. So it doesn't always have to be an "all business" meeting--you can talk about the kids, the dog, the vacation, the new car, whatever.

Each meeting's agenda is set by the coach--this is a time for the athletic director to sit back and let the coach discuss with you topics that are of importance to him or her. You might be surprised to find that issues of most concern to a coach were not the ones in the front of your mind.

Typically, coaches will bring up topics such as facility issues, student-athlete discipline, comments on the season, and surprises or disappointments that have surfaced. There can be many diverse talking points that a coach will hit you with. Let them explain everything before you offer feedback.

After the coach completes his or her thoughts, I share my observations. Items I introduce to the conversation may cover their performance, their involvement with other campus activities, getting any paperwork or schedules done on time, a certain rule or regulation, or something positive I saw with their team. I may comment on their communication with their student-athletes or a potentially unsafe practice. If needed, the meeting can be an opportunity to discuss critical issues, such as possible rules violations or poor behavior of a student-athlete.

I have also found these meetings to be extremely beneficial in spotting a problem before it becomes a crisis. For example, we recently had a student-athlete and his parent who were giving the athletic trainer a hard time about treatment of the athlete's injury. The athletic trainer never brought it to my attention, nor did the parent or the athlete, but the coach mentioned it in passing during one of our meetings. This opened my eyes to the festering problem. I set up a face-to-face meeting with the coach, the parent, the athlete, myself, and the athletic trainer, which helped resolve the situation before it got out of control.

When the bi-weekly meeting with the coach is over, I record notes from our conversation. I maintain a portfolio on each coach and write down key points from each of our meetings throughout the year. This allows me to refer back to issues that might not have been fully settled in previous meetings as well as recording any agreed upon resolutions or decisions. Most important, it gives me a written account of how the coach is progressing toward his or her annual goals and evaluation.

YOUR ROLE AS LEADER
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, one of the stumbling blocks with conducting evaluations is that no one likes to be critiqued. The process can be discouraging, especially if the coach is not 100-percent convinced you have his or her best interests at heart.

That's why the way you handle the bi-weekly meetings and the final evaluation are so critical in this process. Your leadership skills will be tested and you'll need to figure out the most effective strategies for mentoring each of your coaches.

To start, you should play to the strengths of your particular leadership style. I mentor my coaches by sharing personal experiences. Having been in college athletics for 31 years doesn't make me any smarter than anyone else, but it does allow me to talk about a variety of situations, calamities, problems, disasters, and surprises that have come up during my career.

Regardless of your own personal style and history, part of everyone's leadership strategy must include showing the coaches you are committed to their success. Leadership guru John Maxwell wrote, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

One way to show your sincerity is to give your coach 100 percent of your attention during the bi-weekly meetings. Close the door to your office, do not answer the phone, do not glance at your e-mail, and do not allow others to interrupt. If your office is one of constant distractions, then meet in the coach's office or at another location for coffee or lunch.

While they talk, listen closely. I often get out from behind my desk and sit with the person to promote a more casual conversation. I make sure they have completely finished their thoughts before I say anything. And I often ask follow-up questions if I think they have more on their mind.

The meetings should help the two of you build a better rapport. Everyone has their own way of communicating, and you have to find what works for you and each individual coach. The meeting is a way to assure you are getting (or at least trying to get) feedback and enabling two-way exchanges.

In addition to the bi-weekly meetings, coaches should feel welcome to visit your office at any time. My philosophy is to make sure coaches not only feel comfortable, but obligated, to tell me bad news. I provide each coach with my cell phone number and encourage them to call me at any time, whether to answer eligibility questions, discuss problems, interpret rules, or so forth.

I know that it's easy to feel like we are the stopping point of an endless march of coaches who come to us with various requests, problems, and complaints. Sometimes it gets to the point where you just want to close the door and have some uninterrupted time for yourself. But never forget that you are the leader of the program and part of your job is to put out fires. One of my favorite quotes is from former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said; "The day your people stop coming to you with their problems is the day you stop being a leader."

I have also found that praising coaches for what they do well can go a long way. One of the best things I think a supervisor can do is to thank or acknowledge an employee when they have done something well.

All the above strategies show your coaches you care about them and that you are rooting for their success. Then, when you do evaluate their performance, they know it's because you want to help them improve. If you respect their work, they'll respect yours.

THE ANNUAL REVIEW
Now, when I do my end-of-season evaluations with coaches, it feels like the culmination of a process. It's actually an enjoyable time when I get to really go into depth with a coach about his or her strengths and weaknesses and how he or she can improve.

In preparing for every evaluation, I look over that coach's portfolio very closely. I read over the main points we've discussed throughout the year, check whether follow-up issues were resolved, and carefully review any requests for improvement I made. This provides me with a very clear record of how the coach is progressing and greatly diminishes the chance that the review is based on a single incident. There should also be very few surprises for the coach in terms of whether he or she has met expectations.

For example, I might say, "Remember when we discussed your request to have the locker room renovated in January? I asked you at that time to give me your thoughts on the most effective way for the locker room to be renovated, and as of today I have not received any ideas from you. Is that still a priority for you?"

I especially like to talk about any improvements I see a coach making, which reinforces what he or she is doing well. If there was a problem early in the year and the coach has made a sincere effort to improve, I would issue a good grade in that area. I would not downgrade a coach based on the earlier incident, but rather grade up based on the efforts to change.

At the same time, I don't neglect pointing out the problems or weaknesses that the coach must improve on. And I am honest if a weakness is jeopardizing their employment. If I continue to be concerned about a certain area and there has been no visible effort by the coach to improve, then the coach would definitely be given an unsatisfactory or satisfactory with reservation grade, so that it is documented that we are unhappy with their performance and expect improvement.

The ongoing review is especially helpful for the coach who is receiving poor marks. Rather than being told once a year that you are displeased with their performance, points of contention can be addressed early. Holding meetings every two weeks allows you to provide suggestions and offer timely assistance to help the coach to improve. It also allows for documentation in case progress is not made.

I always end each evaluation session on a positive note. I thank the coach for his or her efforts and for their dedication to our school and their team. I make sure they know I am always there to assist them in any possible way, and that I am committed to helping them be successful.

And if I'm ever feeling that a conversation with a coach will be difficult, I remember this quote from author Eugene Habecker: "The true leader serves. Serves the people he is entrusted with. Serves their best interests, and in doing so, will not always be popular, may not always impress. But, because true leaders are motivated by loving concern rather than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price."