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How to Identify the Best Job for Your Basketball Coaching Career · A Quick Timeout

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  Welcome back to the next installment of the next move presented
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  by QuickTimeout and
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  SPEAKER_00: Coach Portal,
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  the platform built by coaches for coaches and designed to
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  simplify the job search
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  process and provide coaches at all levels the job opportunities
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  they deserve.
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  Talking today about taking that next step in your coaching
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  journey and making sure
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  that it's the right step by identifying factors that will
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  actually further your
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  SPEAKER_00: career.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our guest today is no stranger to the show.
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  He's currently the assistant coach at the College of
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  Charleston,
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  Coach Jeremy Groh.
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  SPEAKER_00: Coach, welcome back.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tony, how you doing?
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me on again.
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  Coach Grose entering his second year there at Charleston,
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  also had stops at Furman and Xavier.
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  SPEAKER_00: He's also at Indiana.
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  SPEAKER_00: Coach,
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  SPEAKER_00: as you look back on your different stops,
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  was there any kind of indication or feelings maybe that you had
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  for a particular
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  job that that was the right step or the next step that you
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  should take in your
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  SPEAKER_00: career?
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  SPEAKER_01: Every time I've been approached with opportunities,
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty slow to analyze what the situation is and what that means.
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  SPEAKER_01: I have tried my best not to jump around a whole lot in my career.
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  SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot of coaches may not always have that choice.
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  SPEAKER_01: I've been really fortunate with that.
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  SPEAKER_01: I've only had to move after graduating college twice.
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  SPEAKER_01: I've worked for one boss now.
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  SPEAKER_01: This will be my 10th year working for him.
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  I've worked for another one for five and another one for one
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  that didn't require me to move.
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  It was a situation where he became the head coach as an
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  assistant got promoted.
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  SPEAKER_01: So I've been a little bit slow to move.
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  SPEAKER_01: That's for a couple of reasons.
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  One,
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  as you get older,
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  your family is the number one consideration when making a move.
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  SPEAKER_01: I now have an eight year old son, a six year old daughter, got a wife.
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  SPEAKER_01: They are the number one priority in terms of any move I make.
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  SPEAKER_01: So that's number one.
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  The second thing that always you want to make sure is that
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  there's stability and
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  SPEAKER_01: that when you evaluate what is the floor that you are walking into.
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  I've been really,
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  really fortunate that every stop that I've been at has been a
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  winning program.
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  SPEAKER_01: And that provides a really high floor as well as great stability,
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  SPEAKER_01: especially when it comes to,
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  SPEAKER_01: number one,
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  SPEAKER_01: your family,
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  SPEAKER_01: as well as,
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  SPEAKER_01: number two,
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  SPEAKER_01: your career.
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  How do you separate things like salary and maybe even location
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  from things like
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  opportunity for you as an individual to grow and kind of the
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  long-term growth and
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  SPEAKER_00: even the development as a coach?
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  SPEAKER_01: I have...
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  tried to never make a job decision based off of salary
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  especially with the industry
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  that we're in where the the long-term goals of sustainability
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  as well as i do have
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  a goal of eventually becoming a division one head coach really
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  not even division
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  one a head coach at a school or an institution that fits me
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  that's the number one
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  SPEAKER_01: priority not necessarily to be
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  SPEAKER_01: be one, but one that fits me.
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  And so as you go through those processes and those decisions,
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  I think it's really important that
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  SPEAKER_01: you know what your priorities are in making those decisions.
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  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times when you elevate levels, the financial gains come with it.
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  SPEAKER_01: As I've gotten older,
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  I've become less and less concerned about level and more
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  concerned about what is
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  SPEAKER_01: the fit?
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  SPEAKER_01: How does this develop me?
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  SPEAKER_01: Is this right for my family?
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  And so a lot of times if that right opportunity comes and it is
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  an elevation,
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  SPEAKER_01: The financial gains will come with it.
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  SPEAKER_01: But I want to make sure that it's the right fit for my family.
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  SPEAKER_01: I want to make sure that I'm going to develop.
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  SPEAKER_01: And I've been fortunate enough to work for really,
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  SPEAKER_01: really successful head coaches that are really great people.
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  SPEAKER_01: And that's really important to me.
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about the fit.
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  I've talked about it a lot on this show with regard to like
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  players and them.
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  recruiting and where do I go to college and not just the level
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  like you talked about.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know coaches think about that to an extent,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I also think that they sometimes get the glamour of the level.
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  SPEAKER_00: They will sacrifice the other things.
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  SPEAKER_00: What are some of those other things?
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  SPEAKER_01: I would say,
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  SPEAKER_01: and I kind of briefly talked about it when I was younger,
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  SPEAKER_01: early twenties,
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  SPEAKER_01: mid twenties,
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  SPEAKER_01: what,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: I will,
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  SPEAKER_01: I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't concerned with level.
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  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
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  But as I've gotten older,
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  as I've gained more experience and look,
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  I far from know everything.
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  SPEAKER_01: To me, the level has become less important.
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  What's been more important to me in terms of fit is what works
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  for my family as
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  SPEAKER_01: well as what is the culture?
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  SPEAKER_01: Do I know the head coach?
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  SPEAKER_01: What's my comfort level with them?
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  as well as what is your role and ability to develop and
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  continue to get better?
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  Because I think that's one of the most important things in
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  making a decision.
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  SPEAKER_01: Are you continuing to grow when making a decision like this?
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  SPEAKER_01: And those are a couple of things that I think about besides,
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  SPEAKER_01: hey,
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  SPEAKER_01: what is the financial gain of all that?
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  SPEAKER_01: And like I discussed,
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  SPEAKER_01: Most times when you're going through it,
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  that'll either come with the role or set you up for maybe in
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  the future if you're
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  SPEAKER_01: able to continue to evaluate.
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  SPEAKER_01: So that can never be,
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  SPEAKER_01: in my opinion,
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  SPEAKER_01: if you want to continue to advance,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: one of the first couple bullet points.
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  SPEAKER_01: Now,
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  I understand there's different situations where people with
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  families and different
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  SPEAKER_01: things like that,
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  SPEAKER_01: that can make a major decision.
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  SPEAKER_01: And not everybody is the same,
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  but those are the things that I've tried to process when making
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  decisions.
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  SPEAKER_01: when making those types of decisions.
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  SPEAKER_00: There is sometimes a hesitancy of coaches.
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  SPEAKER_00: They don't want to make that lateral move.
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  Is there anything that you can identify either for yourself or
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  just others that
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  SPEAKER_00: you've talked with to avoid that?
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  It kind of goes back to my original point of not getting too
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  caught up in what the level is.
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  And so when you're talking about a lateral move,
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  there can be a lot more to it than
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  SPEAKER_01: what meets the eye?
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  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a elevation and role?
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  SPEAKER_01: Is that maybe,
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  SPEAKER_01: hey,
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  SPEAKER_01: similar level,
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  SPEAKER_01: but one program is more sustainable in terms of,
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
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  SPEAKER_01: financial infrastructure for the program,
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  SPEAKER_01: not necessarily yourself,
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  SPEAKER_01: or is a place really built to win?
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  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a special relationship with the head coach?
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  I think there's a lot of different factors that you have to
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  weigh versus like,
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  SPEAKER_00: hey,
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  SPEAKER_01: am I just going level to level?
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  SPEAKER_01: When presented with different situations,
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  SPEAKER_01: not that my processes are right or wrong,
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  SPEAKER_01: a lot of times I try to figure out,
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  SPEAKER_01: well,
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  SPEAKER_01: what is the floor with both situations?
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  SPEAKER_01: And then what is the ceiling?
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  SPEAKER_01: If you try to figure out what that is,
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  that can at least help you gauge where on the spectrum you feel
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  comfortable making
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  SPEAKER_01: a change.
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  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, I've been now...
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  in coaching for 16 years i've only moved twice you know so i'm
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  not necessarily the
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  guy that's been jumping a whole lot been really fortunate
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  really that i i haven't
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  been forced to and there's a lot of coaches that have been put
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  in positions that it
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  doesn't matter if they want to or not they have to it's the
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  unfortunate nature of
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  SPEAKER_01: the business
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  SPEAKER_01: I've been fortunate that I haven't had to make those decisions.
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  A lot of it is probably because I've been a little bit slower
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  to make sure when
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  SPEAKER_01: deciding to move or acknowledging that I'm in a really stable,
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  SPEAKER_01: successful situation.
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  One of the biggest things for the college level is you as an
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  assistant coach
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  SPEAKER_00: deciding who you're going to hook your wagon to.
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  and that head coach and you've been fortunate like you've said
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  to have head coaches
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  that have been great people and helped you further what in
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  regards to advice would
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  you say to people from that perspective thinking about who am i
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  going to connect
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  SPEAKER_00: myself with
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  SPEAKER_00: I think it's got to be in the top of your priority list.
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  SPEAKER_01: There's going to be a lot of things that are important to you.
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  SPEAKER_01: I've been fortunate.
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  SPEAKER_01: I worked for Chris Mack.
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  SPEAKER_01: He was a guy that I worked for his entire nine years at Xavier.
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  SPEAKER_01: He gave me my first and second opportunity in college basketball,
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  SPEAKER_01: hired me as a graduate assistant,
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  and then elevated me to director of basketball operations as
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  someone that I'm
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  SPEAKER_01: Very comfortable with.
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  SPEAKER_01: I trust fully and someone I fully believe in.
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  And so I've been fortunate enough to have 10 years of working
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  for him and about to
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  SPEAKER_01: go on number 11.
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  SPEAKER_01: I also worked for Bob Ritchie at Furman for five years.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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  everybody that follows you and follows your podcast knows that
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  Bob is as good as it
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  SPEAKER_01: gets as well.
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  Someone that's been very successful and that's a great person
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  that's in it for the
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  SPEAKER_01: right reasons.
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  And so I've been fortunate in terms of those are the two guys
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  that I've worked for
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  SPEAKER_01: the longest that I knew going in.
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  SPEAKER_01: One,
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  they're great people and two great coaches that are really
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  successful and that I
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  SPEAKER_01: could continue to learn and develop from them.
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  SPEAKER_00: So as you look back over those last 16 years,
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  SPEAKER_00: with the wisdom that you have now,
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  giving yourself a piece of advice in regards to navigating your
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  career choices for
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  SPEAKER_00: optimal growth,
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  SPEAKER_00: what would it be?
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  SPEAKER_01: I think number one is crush it where you're at.
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  Do the best possible job you can for your boss and your school
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  and for your
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  SPEAKER_01: institution to every single day.
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  SPEAKER_01: Just worry about that.
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  SPEAKER_01: And the rest of this stuff will take care of itself.
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  SPEAKER_01: The Twitter rumors, that stuff is irrelevant.
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  SPEAKER_01: Did you do the best job for your program that day?
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  SPEAKER_01: You have to walk in every single day thinking that.
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  SPEAKER_01: I think that's number one.
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  SPEAKER_01: And then number two is,
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  SPEAKER_01: especially if you're not married and you're mobile,
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  SPEAKER_01: making sure that you never make a decision based off money,
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  SPEAKER_01: especially early in your career.
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  SPEAKER_01: You want to be attached to great people.
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  You want to be attached to winning programs and places that you
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  can learn.
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  SPEAKER_01: And when you're younger,
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  you have an ability to do that because you don't have to worry
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  about wife,
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  SPEAKER_01: kids,
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  SPEAKER_01: you know,
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  SPEAKER_01: can I move?
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  SPEAKER_01: What does this mean financially?
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  You're at a place where you can just really go and let loose in
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  terms of trying to
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  SPEAKER_01: figure out how you can be the best coach you can possibly be.
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  SPEAKER_01: Those are really important years to develop in terms of a coach,
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  SPEAKER_01: not necessarily the X's and the O's,
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  SPEAKER_01: but how do you act every single day when you go in the office?
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  SPEAKER_01: How are you a professional every single day?
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  SPEAKER_01: Who are you surrounding yourself with?
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  SPEAKER_01: So making sure that those things are in place versus the financial gain.
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  SPEAKER_01: Awesome stuff.
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  SPEAKER_00: Coach, appreciate you taking some time for us today.
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  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
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  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Tony.
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  If you're looking to make your next move,
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  let me encourage you to check out coachportal.com.
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  Coach Portal is designed to take the guesswork and frustration
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  out of the coaching
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  SPEAKER_00: search,
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  a dynamic real-time database with up-to-date job movement and
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  resources that aren't
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  SPEAKER_00: available elsewhere.
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  Coach Portal is a game changer for anyone looking to advance
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  their career or find
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  SPEAKER_00: new opportunities.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks to all of you who click in each week.
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk to you again next time on a quick timeout.