Know Your Weaknesses

I was sitting in the Memphis Airport on Friday and came across a great article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal about the new University of Memphis Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Josh Pastner. In it, Pastner speaks about the hiring of his two new assistant coaches: Willis Wilson (former head coach at Rice University) and Glynn Cyprien, who made stops at Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and UNLV.

In the article, Pastner says that the main reasons that went into the decisions for these hires were the abilities of these men to cover up for his weaknesses. Pastner had this to say regarding the hiring: "I did a lot of research and talked to other people about finding the best guys to fit me. I understand my weaknesses, so I was trying to find guys that picked up my weaknesses. I'm excited about it. They're both good guys, and that's important to me, being on the same page, having loyalty and caring about the players."

In a career field that is driven by egos, it is nice to see that someone truly understands what must be done to be successful. A coach can be good at many things, but it is very rare to be great at all. This is why it is vital that as a head coach, you hire a staff that complements you, bringing their strengths to shore up your weaknesses and who are loyal to your program.