Kristi Lansford

Passion, dedication, continuing education, student-athlete centered coaching philosophy, and a legendary mentor.

Never provide an answer to a question, particularly to student-athletes, to which you don’t know the answer. Instead, respond with, “I’m not 100% sure, but I will research, find the correct answer and get back to you ASAP.

Learn the history (including Title IX), believe you belong in coaching and administration, learn from many mentors, and fight for opportunities for athletes who lack access. Additionally, find your voice, stay true to your beliefs, personality, and coaching style rather than imitating another coach. My mentor was legendary and extremely successful. Because of her success, I believed that her coaching style was the only way to be successful. I, therefore, tried to imitate her style in the beginning of my coaching career, but it neither worked for me nor my athletes. Because my and my mentor’s personalities were very different, the imitation approach was not authentic. I knew it and my athletes knew it. Although I learned so many things from her (technique, integrity, the game, etc.), I did not become successful as a coach until I learned to utilize my own voice and stay true to my personality, coaching style, and who I am as a person.

Despite numerous changes in college athletics that necessitate constant adaptation, I believe one of the most significant challenges lies in the unintended consequences of Title IX and the biased evaluation of female coaches compared to their male counterparts. While Title IX has undeniably enhanced participation opportunities, provided more equitable facilities, funding, media coverage, and other positive outcomes, it has also led to a dramatic decline in the number of female coaches and administrators.

Consider Pat Summitt, for instance. It’s highly unlikely that many, if any, male coaches were interested in accepting her position at Tennessee when she was hired due to the low salary, limited resources, lack of publicity, and lack of prestige. However, with her success, increased funding, publicity, growth, media coverage, and prestige of women’s sports, her position became highly attractive to male applicants.

Pat Summitt serves as a prime example, but this trend has affected various sports across the country, where positions once predominantly held by women have become more appealing to male coaches. Consequently, the job pool for female coaches has significantly reduced by approximately 50%. In other words, while there are a few female coaches in men’s sports, male coaches now have two coaching opportunity pools to choose from (men’s and women’s sports), while women realistically remain limited to one pool of job opportunities (women’s sports).

Another challenge is the biased evaluation of female coaches compared to male coaches. A compelling example comes from an interview with Carol Hutchins, the former head softball coach at the University of Michigan. Hutchins shared that if she disagrees with an umpire’s call and expresses her disagreement, she is perceived as emotional and irrational. In contrast, Jim Harbaugh, the football coach at Michigan at the time, was seen as passionate for his actions, such as getting into the referee’s face or throwing his headset.

While these challenges are far more complex than what I’ve briefly outlined, the essence is that while Title IX has brought about invaluable and deserved improvements for female athletes, it has had the opposite effect for female coaches and administrators. .

Integrity, honesty, transparency, cooperation, continuous learning, and adaptability to changing environments.