Coach K vs. Coach Knight
Subject: Coach K vs. Coach Knight
Several NCAA Championships, consecutive final four appearances, and hundreds of victories. These are only few things from a long list of accomplishments that two the candidates for the head coach position have already achieved as a coach. Based on statistics, it would be hard to differentiate the legendary Coach Knight and Coach K, but if one examines the masters from a psychological perspective, significant differences can be found. Even though the accomplishments of these individuals are impressive and clearly reflect the effectiveness of their leadership styles, there are factros such as personal qualities and characteristics that make Coach K a better fit to the Pepperdine Athletic Program. In this essay, I will analyze different leadership theories in order to prove this point and show that regardless of the tremendeous expereince and impressive record of Coach Knight, Coach K is the person who can return the Pepperdine basketball program to nation prominence.
Though there is no doubt that both coaches are great leaders, the traits that made them legendary are greatly differ. To improve the performance of his team, Coach Knight uses different kinds of task-oriented leader behaviors. He provides instructions to his players through clearly defined rules and responsibilities and views discipline as one of the most important factors that leads to success. ”Follow our rules, do exactly what we tell you and you will not lose.” These words sum up his philosophy about his devised coaching system he created over the years. This system seems to works because he is able to influence his players to work toward a common goal but he doesn’t use enough people-oriented leader behaviors which negatively effect his relationships with the players. What makes Coach K extraordinary is that he not only emphasizes discipline but also spends ”a large amount of time … getting inside a player’s head, understanding where (the player is) coming
Several NCAA Championships, consecutive final four appearances, and hundreds of victories. These are only few things from a long list of accomplishments that two the candidates for the head coach position have already achieved as a coach. Based on statistics, it would be hard to differentiate the legendary Coach Knight and Coach K, but if one examines the masters from a psychological perspective, significant differences can be found. Even though the accomplishments of these individuals are impressive and clearly reflect the effectiveness of their leadership styles, there are factros such as personal qualities and characteristics that make Coach K a better fit to the Pepperdine Athletic Program. In this essay, I will analyze different leadership theories in order to prove this point and show that regardless of the tremendeous expereince and impressive record of Coach Knight, Coach K is the person who can return the Pepperdine basketball program to nation prominence.
Though there is no doubt that both coaches are great leaders, the traits that made them legendary are greatly differ. To improve the performance of his team, Coach Knight uses different kinds of task-oriented leader behaviors. He provides instructions to his players through clearly defined rules and responsibilities and views discipline as one of the most important factors that leads to success. ”Follow our rules, do exactly what we tell you and you will not lose.” These words sum up his philosophy about his devised coaching system he created over the years. This system seems to works because he is able to influence his players to work toward a common goal but he doesn’t use enough people-oriented leader behaviors which negatively effect his relationships with the players. What makes Coach K extraordinary is that he not only emphasizes discipline but also spends ”a large amount of time … getting inside a player’s head, understanding where (the player is) coming
Cited: Snook, Scott A., Leslie A. Perlow, and Brian J. Delacey. "Coach K: A Matter of the Heart." (n.d.): n. pag. Print. Snook, Scott A., Leslie A. Perlow, and Brian J. Delacey. "Coach Knight: The Will to Win." (n.d.): n. pag. Print.