Interview Questions for Coaches in Education-Based Athletics

Since the education-based philosophy places emphasis on the growth and development of student-athletes with respect to lifelong qualities and values, interview questions tailored to identify candidates who align with the concept are needed. Long-used, standard questions that worked during the era of shooting for winning seasons and championships may not provide the needed insight.

The following questions should provide valuable understanding into the candidate, and all individuals should be asked the same questions. By taking this approach, you have a sound basis for comparing all the individuals who are interviewed.

Please provide an example of “Teachable Moments” that you used with your team. If the candidate is somewhat confused by this term and needs an explanation or clarification of what it is, you have to hope that they will do better with the next few questions.

What specific steps did you take with one or more of your players who were part of a situation involving poor sportsmanship? When and how did you address the problem?

How do you measure success in high school athletics? If there is any reference to producing a winning program leading to championships, you should consider this as a red flag. On the other hand, if you hear anything along the lines of: “I love working with enthusiastic young people and watching them grow and develop,” you might have a “keeper.”

Directly ask as an alternative: “Where does winning fit into their approach to coaching?” On a scale of one to ten, how important is it?

Why do you want to coach, and more specifically, why do you want to coach at our school? Obviously, you have a vacancy and perhaps it represents a chance to become a head coach. But the second part of the question should reveal how much, if any, homework the candidate did to understand the type of students, families, facilities and setting you have. Of course, you are hoping for an answer that indicates that they enjoy seeing young people grow and develop into giving, concerned, caring and committed individuals.

Please share an example or two of community service projects that your teams were involved with under your leadership? As a follow up, ask how they choose the particular initiative and were the students involved in making the decision.

How would you handle the following situation? If a teacher of one of your players comes to you and explains that he or she has an important test in a day or two but has missed several classes due to illness, what steps would you take? If your candidate suggests that he or she would tell the athlete to see the teacher after school for tutoring and to report to practice after this session, you might have identified a good fit for your program.

What specific steps do you take or activities that you employ to help your student-athletes to enhance the attributes of leadership, integrity and ethics. If the candidate mentions that they support a district or leaguewide program, this would represent a basic understanding of the value of these initiatives, but try to establish if and what they may do within their own program.

One of two exceptions to specialized questions that focus on the education-based concept is the long-used general, standard opening. “Please tell us little bit about yourself.” This innoxious offer gives the candidate a chance to overcome the interview butterflies and to “warm-up” to the interview process. However, if you pay attention, you can uncover a great deal of insight into an individual by what they choose to share.

It is also helpful to ask the candidates to describe either their offensive or defensive philosophy. This is not to identify one approach as being superior over another, since there are multiple successful ways that coaches might employ. Instead, you are trying to ascertain how clearly and concisely the individual can explain it to you, because they will have to do this with the student-athletes and their parents. If their explanation isn’t clear to you, it will potentially be a concern or problem with individuals associated with their sport.

In order to provide the best education-based environment for your student-athletes, it is essential that you hire coaches who embrace the concept. This means going beyond the normal, standard interview questions.

Reference

Hoch, D. 2022. Leading an Education-Based Athletic Program Dr. David Hoch is a former athletic director at two high schools in Baltimore County (Maryland) for 16 years. He has 24 years of experience coaching basketball, including 14 years on the collegiate level. Hoch, who has a doctorate in sports management from Temple (Pennsylvania) University, is past president of the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association, and he formerly was executive director of the Maryland State Coaches Association. He has had more than 800 articles published in professional magazines, as well as four textbook chapters. Dr. Hoch is the author of five books: Coaching within the Education-Based Athletics Concept; The Parents’ Guide to Education-Based Athletics; Leading an Education-Based Athletic Program; A Lifetime of Memories from Education-Based Athletics: Humorous, Inspirational and Occasionally Sad; and Refocusing on Education-Based Athletics – A Call to Action. Hoch is a member of the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee.