The Takeover Coach

How to recognize an overly ambitious coach and make sure he remains consistent with your program.

By Brian Payne

CBN Oct/Nov 2010

There are many reasons for gym owners to be looking to add additional staff. Most of them are good reasons, indicating growth of the business, expansion, increased enrollment and diversity of products. Other reasons to look for staff would include searching for adequate replacement coaches due to downsizing. Coaches with many years behind them have accumulated bonuses, pay raises and benefits and now may be too expensive to maintain. A new, young, eager coach may be willing to work more for a lot less the first year.

Another reason to seek new staff members is because the head coach (often the owner) is tired and ready to take a step back, or possibly step down entirely. When an investment in time and sweat has been made into a business, gym owners often feel an obligation to prepare the new coach to carry on and maintain the policies and traditions. When the new coach has more experience and success than the old guard, be careful of the “Takeover.”

The Takeover Coach comes into your program with plenty of experience dealing with athletes, coaches and parents, and looks perfect on paper. His credentials, certifications, references and criminal background check are all in order. During the introductory interview, this type of coach will be a good listener, ask all the right questions and get detailed information on past accomplishments and goals for the program’s future.

Knowing what the program has accomplished so far and where they want to go is ammunition for the Takeover Coach. “Third place at states? Why not first?”  “First place out of two teams at so-called Nationals? Why not Top 10 out of 30 at a truly ‘national’ event?” The Takeover Coach will begin calculating what he needs to implement in order to accomplish those goals.

Money will be an early topic of conversation because the Takeover Coach needs to know the following:

• Available resources: If there’s a budget for equipment, will the Takeover Coach have access to this fund (with the owner’s permission, of course) to purchase what tools he deems “necessary and vital” to improving the conditioning, fitness level and training of the athletes?

• Pay scale: What’s the total number of hours expected in the gym each week? What’s the starting salary, and when’s payday? Will there be additional duties expected without compensation, such as attending fundraising events, parades, exhibitions and charity events, including early setup and late cleanup? Is the compensation fair for the level of expertise this coach brings to the table?

• Economic advancement: Will the coach have the opportunity to generate extra income by doing private lessons, birthday parties, special clinics or camps outside the gym at local (or not so local) schools? Spell out in advance what the percentage will be, if the gym has to be rented to pay for floor time, if a current staff member has to be present, if property of the gym can be transported off premises and if a fee must be paid to “rent” the mats. Put everything in writing so there are no misunderstandings or gray areas left to be filled in later. Or at the very least, assign a date to revisit the situation for discussion.

What are some early warning signs that you may have brought the Takeover Coach into your organization?

• Private conversations with some of your problem parents: Parents who haven’t seen eye to eye with you may flock to this new person to vent or voice their opinions, especially if the Takeover Coach speaks with energy, confidence and conviction. The parent who’s already gone to every other parent and coach in the gym with their “story” will relish sharing with this new face in the gym.

• Rapid increase in private lessons: Finding out who the ambitious parents are will lead to additional private lessons for the Takeover Coach, because he’ll learn who wants to throw money around. This could be advantageous for the new coach if later he wants to handpick your top athletes and start his own program down the street. It’s a good time to think about no-compete clauses in a contract.

• New and different rewards system: A recent interview with a gym owner revealed that a new coach had implemented a Gummy Bear treat for younger athletes who accomplished something new during class. This made the coach instantly popular with most of the students. The owner wasn’t aware of this at the onset, but did hear from parents of children who were diabetic, had allergies to food coloring and had new braces, and from other coaches who found a trail of ants marching to the discarded Gummy Bear that had been tossed in the corner because it was the wrong color.

• Team bonding and parties you aren’t aware of: The Takeover Coach will want to get to know everybody and see how they interact outside the gym, and there’s no harm in that. However, this must be in plain view of the general public; parents need to be in the vicinity and fully informed; no team member should be ignored or excluded; and the event must be at a reasonable time and expense.

• Asking for help turns into delegating/directing/commanding your existing staff: When a new coach comes into an organization, ground rules, limitations and courtesies need to be established. If the new staff member is given too much free reign, it can cause disgruntlement among existing coaches. A meeting with all the coaches and directors needs to happen early in the relationship, so everyone knows what’s expected and who has authority.

• New penalties and punishments are created and enforced: If the new coach is imposing punishment and penalties, it has to be appropriate, fair and consistent, and it should be organization-wide. The new coach shouldn’t make this decision without conferring with the owners first.

• Established policies are overlooked or ignored: Another warning sign you have the Takeover Coach in your gym is when he takes it upon himself to grant make-up classes, allow preferred athletes to stay later and send non-workers home, all of which may be very much against how business is usually conducted.

Don’t complain about how the sheriff cleans up the town if you give him all the power in the world but don’t closely observe, monitor and comment on his actions. Again, communication is key. Good business owners search for people who’ll put pride of ownership into their efforts. The Takeover Coach does just that. He’s not afraid to stand by his convictions and run a tight ship. He takes over and gets the job done without waiting to be told what to do. Just make sure you’re on the same page. Explain the history of the program and the time you’ve invested to get to this point. You prefer gradual rather than radical changes. Ideas must be presented to the owner or existing head coach for approval prior to implementation. Always speak in positive tones and look forward to building upon what’s already there instead of tearing it down. Current coaches may have done the best they were able to do, based on where they started and what they had to work with. You always need more friends than enemies, so don’t alienate those who already know where everything is.