Importance of Coaching Staff Unity

I wanted to talk today a little bit about the importance of staff unity.  For the past few months I have been speaking with a friend who is coaching at the college level.  As a GA my friend has a great chance to learn and has been giving their all for the program.

Well this past season has been very tough on my friend as a new assistant came in.  This new assistant had been a college head coach and knew a lot of technique.  My friend was initially excited but over the last few months the situation has deteriorated and become increasingly frustrating.  I won't go into too much detail about what was happening between my friend and this assistant but let's just say it has become an untenable situation.

My friend went to a coaching clinic and was able to network and meet other coaches.  Now my friend has been interviewing with another college and the head coach of the other school wanted to use the offer to get a job at the current college.  My friend told me this and I said do you really think that this could work for you to stay with this assistant?  I also asked could you really recruit a kid to your school while you have a staff that can't get along?  It will come out at some point.

And that is the point I was trying to make, maybe the head coach wants to keep you, but this situation is not ideal.  We expect the players to be a team and that is how the coaches should be.  We have all seen programs where the coaching staff will argue.  I have seen staffs argue on the sideline and get into fights.  We have played teams at Timpview that have been that way.  No good can come from this situation and could hurt the program for a few years.

I have encouraged my friend to continue for the job and they are a finalist for the position now.  If you are a new coach coming into a program or just starting out pay attention to this fact.   You can't have cancers within a coaching staff.  If you feel like you can't get along with the staff then moving on could be the best for both parties involved.

What do some of you other coaches think?