Make it about the what, how and why - not about the who

There's a trend in college coaching.  I don't think it's totally new and based on conversations I've had in the past few weeks, I know I'm not the only one who has noticed.  The trend is not good, is somewhat dangerous and it's growing.

First of all, I will concede that networking is indeed important.  Regardless of your occupation, it is extremely helpful to grow your sport, business, customer base, etc.  However, networking in college volleyball, as of late seems to be less about sharing great information and having deep conversations about how best to attack the complex job of building a great program than being seen out with the right group of coaches.

Coaching is complex at every level.  Coaching a college sport is insanity run amuck.  Coaches are tasked with the following things:

• Understanding at a deep level the nuances of their particular game
• Having great skill at training the skills associated with executing that game
• In game tactical skills
• Expert communication skills so they can communicate that game to players with an ever changing communication skill set
• Skills to both identify and evaluate the right talent and people to fit in with their program philosophy
• Budgeting expertise
• Fundraising abilities
• Knowledge and business skills to market and run camps
• Culture building skills
• Public speaking abilities to inspire their players, administrators, fellow coaches and fans to support the vision they have adopted for their program

So I'm just saying, perhaps the majority of the pie chart that makes up the skill set of the typical college coach should be focused on the what, the how and the why you do it.  Networking is important, sure, but perhaps lets spend 10% of our efforts on that and 90% on gaining the skills for the most important aspects.  We owe that to the profession, our players and the sport we coach.