Some excerpts or paraphrased items
At the end of the season (2001?2002?) she gave everyone on the team the Myers-Briggs personality test and she took it herself – said she discovered that her personality was much different than most of the players, that she was most like Alicia Ratay, introverted, shies away from the limelight, doesn’t like public speaking, but when she speaks is very direct, doesn’t sugarcoat anything (said she plans to use the test at the beginning of every year)
We’ve probably had only a few prospects in the past 15 years where the team [which of course met and interacted with the potential recruits] was genuinely concerned about her fitting it. Team chemistry is our number one priority.
I’ll take a good player who really wants to be here any day over a top-10 athlete I had to convince to come here.
The year before the national championship we had terrible chemistry and terrible role acceptance. We had two players in particular who really didn’t want to accept their roles. A year later once they accepted their roles, we became a very good team.
I don’t use my full allotment of scholarships because that’s just too many people to keep happy. I think 11 is good but I can deal with 10
Youth on the coaching staff is an advantage, especially in relating to young players on the recruiting trail. I have nothing in common with 17 year olds but my assistants can relate to them much better than I can.
I’ve only had two technicals since I’ve been at ND. If I scream at the referees, the players will think it’s OK for them to do it also.
So much of this job has become psychology. It used to be about basketball. The coach used to command respect by virtue of the position. He or she was allowed to be authoritarian and a disciplinarian. And parents used to back the coach. Today, everyone seems to be treated so carefully, so fragilely.
I got a call from an athletic director last year who wanted me to consider coaching at his institution. I told him no thanks. I already have the best job in America.
You can’t win without a team leader. This is the single most important ingredient in winning.
I don’t necessarily think you have to be a really good assistant to be a good head coach. I was a horrible assistant coach. I like to make the decisions.
Most assistants want their own program eventually. And that’s good. I want assistant coaches with that kind of aspiration and ambition. Otherwise, they’re content where they are and contentment often invites complacency.
I’ve always had a man on my coaching staff because I know in certain situations he can get away with more in terms of coaching our team. Our players almost expect him to rant and rave and show less compassion. If he says to one of our players “you stunk” she would probably agree and go play. If I say “you stunk” she takes it personally and holds it against me.
She talked about goals set for a season – e.g., hold the opponent to fewer than nine offensive rebounds, make more free throws than the other team takes, ….
Practice has always been my favorite part of coaching.
You don’t see loyalty as much anymore, but it’s very important to me. If a player isn’t happy, she transfers. There is no loyalty at all. There is none. It’s all about “me.” I feel betrayed by a transfer I was counting on to fill a spot for us.
I do have a little trouble hiring a former player to coach with me. I’d prefer they get out and get some experience for a couple of years first. That way they’ll come here with some new philosophies and ideas.
Just because one was a great player doesn’t mean that person can be a great coach.
I am a very big stickler for being on time. This is probably my biggest pet peeve. I’ve left a ton of people behind if they’re late for the team bus. I’ve left players behind for trips to the airport. I’ve even left assistant coaches behind.
Discusses how she really wanted Rebecca Lobo and thought she had a good chance to get her, but “we signed Michelle Marciniak in the same year, and we lost Rebecca.”
Discusses how the team leadership in the season after the 2001 national championship was not good and some of the six incoming freshman got a lot more playing time as the season progressed (and that “became a huge problem.”)
The most devastating loss in my career was the loss to Texas Tech a few years ago in the NCAA tournament. The winner advanced to the Elite Eight. We were up 17-0 … the Final Four was in my hometown of Philadelphia …
With rare exceptions, we tell recruits “first come first served” – i.e., those that accept the scholarship offers first will get them
She discussed some of the obstacles ND faces in recruiting – that it’s a football school (back when the book was written anyway), academics, weather, the “Catholic issue” – where many people thought you had to be Catholic to go to ND, and how one mother said “she was afraid her daughter might marry a Catholic boy”
Coaches aren’t allowed contact with the professors at all which is why I really don’t know very many members of the ND faculty.
We work with players on addressing the media. We have a consultant who puts them through mock interviews and discusses things like making eye contact with the interviewer.
We don’t have curfews for our home games. We have 6 am practices and we can tell pretty quickly who was out late. A stamped hand, by the way, is a dead giveaway.
She also discusses how her plans changed such that she was not on one of the 9/11 planes that crashed into the World Trade Center