The Executive is usually in charge of hiring a GM, and sometimes the GM can wear many hats, they can be President and GM, or that can be two totally separate jobs. The GM can have a lot of different powers, depending of course on what exactly the executive is looking for. In my context I am going to talk about the GM in terms of the Team….and getting the right people in place.
The GM needs to hire a coach. There is no rule that says a GM and a coach need to like each other, or even get along….but in the building of The Perfect Team…….they do.
They need to have a mutual respect for each others ideas, basic philosophies and future plans.
They also need to work hand in hand…..they can disagree, but also respect the decision of one another, and move on after a decision has been made, and look ahead.
The GM must know when it is time to fire a coach as well…but since we are building The Perfect Team…we will not discuss this side of the story.
- For this example, we are going to say that our prospective coach has all the necessary certificates and qualifications that we are looking for.A GM will look at a few things when looking for a coach.
- Experience – how long have they been coaching and at what level, and with what kind of success.
- Why were they successful? – If they had some poor seasons….why? – What did they learn?
- Passion – they have to Love the game.
- Strong character, but able to check ego when need be.
A good GM will let a good coach hire his own staff. Assistant coaches and trainers are just as important as every other piece of the puzzle to build The Perfect Team. A good Gm will let a good coach make daily decisions when it comes to players positions and game planning. The head coach need people they can trust, and can work with, and share their same philosophy on coaching. There is no room to argue the basic “plan” the coach has laid out….but a great coach will listen to ideas that his staff has and will jump to implement if they are good ideas.
I have been a head coach, and an assistant coach. Both are difficult jobs. I really enjoyed this year being an assistant with the Owen Sound U19 girls…because it allowed me to use more “coaching” skills and offer encouragement, while leaving the big decision making to the Head coaches.
All players react differently to different coaching styles….and that can be a problem. The famous coaching character that I remember well was Morley Kells...coached me in Junior A and again in Senior in Owen Sound. He had a different style…to be polite here I will say that he was enthusiastic, loud and made his point and thoughts understood very clearly. (You can read between the lines)
A lot of players do not like that type of coaching, I on the other hand seemed to be ok with it…as he was able to get more out of me, than other less animated coaches were. To each, their own.
Thing is, this is why a good GM need to find a coach that can do the most with the talent they have and find ways to win.
Next – Training/Equipment Staff
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