Myles Brand: A Leader Deeply Committed to Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Social Justice

Myles Brand: A Leader Deeply Committed to Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Social Justice Myles Brand will probably always best be remembered as the Indiana University president who fired legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight. It is unfortunate since Brand, as a scholar, president of two major universities, and Executive Director of the NCAA, accomplished a great many things on behalf of students and as an enthusiastic proponent of the educational value of intercollegiate athletics and sport more generally. At all times and in everything he did, Brand exhibited as a leader a deep commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice. It was especially noticeable and on full display during his time as Executive Director of the NCAA, a position he held from 2002 until his untimely death from cancer in 2009. As this essay illustrates, Brand’s commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice was made clear through the academic reform movement he helped initiate and in fights to eliminate Native American mascots and other disparaging images, secure more head coaching positions for Blacks, and maintain original Title IX guidelines that had allowed women increasing opportunities to participate in highly competitive athletics. Although not always successful in these efforts, especially in seeing more Blacks hired as head coaches, Brand was largely effective in leading the effort to implement academic reform measures, rid sport of insulting Native American imagery, and guard against those who were

Sex Differences in High-Level Managerial Jobs: Evidence From Professional Basketball

We examine sex differences in a market for high-level managers with simple and clear objectives, head coaches in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). We find equal proportions of males and females as first-time coaches, and limited evidence that males inherit slightly worse teams. Also, when hired, males are older and have more experience. Males have slightly higher winning percentages for the first few seasons of coaches’ tenures. Furthermore, we find no difference in survival; it is independent of sex and largely determined by performance. Thus, we find female coaches are not held to higher promotion or retention standards in the WNBA.

Athlete-Centred Coaching in University Sport:

The purpose of this study was to investigate how, and to what extent, athlete-centred coaching practices were utilized in a university sport context. This project was informed by sociocultural coaching research that has demonstrated the potential negative consequences of disciplinary coaching approaches and in what ways, if at all, an athlete-centred coaching approach can address some of these concerns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight varsity head coaches and then analyzed through a Foucualdian lens. The findings suggested that the successful delivery of athlete-centred coaching in university sport is made difficult by ingrained power relations and forms of knowledge which have traditionally made the coach the primary decision maker.

Reciprocal and non-reciprocal employee–organization relationship: The mediating roles of felt obligation and workplace familism among collegiate coaches

This study examined coaches’ perceived organizational support (POS) on their affective commitment and turnover intention and the role played by felt obligation (a reciprocal exchange) and workplace familism (a non-reciprocal exchange) on these work-related outcomes. Based on the stratified random sampling, a total of 333 full-time head coaches employed in athletic departments affiliated with the NCAA responded to a web-based survey. Results indicated that POS was positively associated with workplace familism and felt obligation, but it did not directly predict affective commitment. POS, felt obligation, and workplace familism collectively predicted 78.1% of the variances in affective commitment. Workplace familism and affective commitment were negatively associated with turnover intention, while felt obligation was not directly associated with turnover intention. The mediated effect of felt obligation and workplace familism reveals that both types of reciprocal and non-reciprocal exchanges matter for coaches. Although, when compared, the influence of workplace familism was stronger than felt obligation. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of how POS affects positive work-related outcomes in the context of collegiate athletics and offer practical implications for athletic programs to develop the senses of felt-obligation and work familism, which lead to better employee-organization relationship.

A Comparison of NCAA FBS Head Coaches Salary Determination From New and Modified Contracts

Previous research examines head football coaches’ salary only using aggregate athletic department revenues. Using detailed football program fixed and variable revenues provided in the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System data, head football coaches signing either new and modified contracts are able to capture both variable and fixed revenues when negotiating salaries. Additionally, for the two other labor groups (student athletes and assistant head coaches), assistant head coaches salary is positive and statistically significant with respect to head coaches’ salary, while student athletes aid is statistically insignificant, possibly due to the cap imposed on student athletic aid during this time period.

Stress and Burnout Experienced by Intercollegiate Swimming Head Coaches

The purpose of the present study was to investigate stress and burnout among intercollegiate head swimming coaches in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Participants were 223 coaches working at NCAA institutions who completed the Coaching Issues Survey, which measures potential stressors experienced by coaches using four subscales of Win-Loss, Time-Role, Program-Success, and Athlete-Concerns. Time-Role was the most significant stressor and Win-Loss the lowest. Females reported significantly higher stress levels than their male counterparts, t(197) = −2.87, p = .01, on all subscales. Overall, levels of stress were not significant by NCAA divisions I, II, and III F(2,201) = 1.25, p = .29, suggesting that coaches across all levels experience stress. Findings highlight the importance of monitoring work–life balance across all collegiate athletic divisions and the need to understand why females report higher levels of stress and how this can be improved. Future research should consider how burnout can be avoided through coaching education and training interventions that might aid coaches who perceive their work environment as stressful.

Alcohol Consumption Literacy, Alcohol Confrontation Efficacy, and the Educational and Training Needs of Coaches to Manage Student-Athlete Alcohol Misuse

The rate of alcohol consumption among student-athletes places them at risk for engaging in unsafe behaviors. Although coaches play a key role in regulating alcohol use among athletes, many lack the knowledge and self-confidence to be effective. This study aimed to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption literacy and alcohol confrontation efficacy among National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and attempted to identify types of training and education wanted to better manage student-athlete alcohol use. A total of 518 National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches completed alcohol consumption literacy and alcohol confrontation efficacy measures and two open-ended questions about what kind of alcohol training, information, and skills were needed. When accounting for previous education/training and gender of team coached, alcohol consumption literacy predicted all confrontation efficacy subscales. Content analysis showed coaches wanted training related to alcohol literacy, effective communication, and prevention planning. Findings have implications for designing alcohol prevention and intervention programs aimed at National Collegiate Athletic Association coaches.