QUALITIES INHERENT IN AN ASSISTANT
By Jim Harrick
University of Georgia Head Coach
Courtesy of www.coachharrick.com
Job Related Responsibilities
He has two jobs…Recruit and Recruit!
Do some of the following every day:
a. Make calls
b. Write letters
c. Get transcript
d. Study recruiting lists
e. Know all players in locale well
f. Meet a
coach (personally or by phone)
g. Develop a style to sell
h. Thorough knowledge of in home visit material
i. Get recruits to visit campus
j. Do all leg work
k. Work on closing the player (get him to commit and sign)
He is relentless,
relentless, and relentless in whatever he does; in recruiting, scouting,
and all phases of his work.
He is knowledgeable:
a. Gets better every year as a judge of
talent
b. Can sell his school, head coach and
basketball program
c. Scouts
d. Knows the offense and defense drills
e. Is a good x and o man
At Practice
Enters into practice, doesn’t just stand around.
From coaches planning session, he knows
1. Where to be during each drill
2. What specific area he is coaching at the time
3. Always busy during pre-practice (fouls-feeding-coaching)
4. Early to practice in case any players want
instruction
5. Super enthusiastic at all times (especially in
times of adversity)
6. Get involved and be involved
Answers all
correspondence.
Gets on campus and meets
teachers and administrators.
Gets paid for giving you
an answer on the bench.
He is a teacher of the
game of basketball.
Personal Qualities
He is enthusiastic beyond
belief, he loves his work and time if not of importance.
He is undeniably loyal to
all staff members, especially the head coach.
He is a person the head
coach cannot dominate:
a. Makes all complaints known
b. Say anything you want
c. Evaluate recruits thoroughly
d. Evaluate our own players thoroughly
e. Give opinions about our team
He is a friend with the players:
a. Has an open door policy
b. Develop great coach-player relationship
c. Praise players, praise-praise-praise
He is a non-smoker.
He is clean, neat, well-groomed and attractive looking.
He is a hard worker- great industriousness.
a. Self starter- doesn’t need to be told what to do.
b. First in office and last to leave (however, he accomplishes something every day
instead of merely having activity).
He is tremendously
motivated to do his best every day.
He has a great positive
attitude.
He knows his specific
assignments and carries them to the fullest.
He is aware of the other assistant’s assignments and can be ready to take them over in case of an
emergency.
He works to develop his image and reputation as being flawless.
He is an Idea Man
(constantly has ideas on how to improve the program)
a. Develops new ones
b. Works on new plays
c. Has a gimmick
He never says, “I told you
so!”
He knows an opinion from
fact.
| 
