Why Are Assistant Coaches So Important To Team Success?

When sports teams are successful, much of the credit goes to the head coach. However, there is often a staff of excellent assistant coaches who toil behind the scenes. These individuals occupy adjacent seats at court side, or roam the sidelines orchestrating different aspects of game strategy. Here are some reasons why assistant coaches are so important to team success.

Delegation of Responsibility

While the mastermind behind most game plans begins with the head coach, assistant coaches are entrusted with individual aspects of that strategy. In many team sports, separate coaches work with particular units, or deal with specific position players.

This helps to free up the coach to work on overall team objectives, while the assistants focus intently on prioritizing certain responsibilities. Baseball teams have hitting coaches and pitching coaches, even bench coaches.
Each sport, depending on the diversity of positions, will use a different number of assistants. Each assistant coach is delegated with a unique responsibility, and therefore plays an important role in team success.

Good Guy Bad Guy

Sometimes a head coach needs to use an abrasive strategy to motivate a team that has a lackluster attitude. Often the coaching staff will directly coordinate this strategy in a private coach’s meeting.

The assistant coaches will show a more congenial manner to help spur the team to raise their intensity level, thereby pacifying their angry head coach. It’s like the good guy/bad guy method of obtaining a desired result through mixing two dramatically diverse mannerisms.

Team Unity and Character

Assistant coaches are also entrusted with helping build the team’s identity. They foster team unity and blend the head coach’s philosophy to build a cohesive unit. An assistant coach is invariably given the important task of recruiting new players, or meeting with prospective free agent