Climbing Ladder of Success
What do Jack Kemp, Steve Largent, Bill Bradley, J.C. Watts and Jesse Ventura have in common? They’re former sports heroes who went into politics and gained respect for their leadership qualities.
Sports figures always attract attention, whether they’re coaches or players. There were 12 television stations showing Michael Jordan’s NBA retirement announcement last month, an indication of the overwhelming interest Americans have in sports.
In an era when schools are searching for competent communicators and leaders, it’s no wonder that a trend is under way: The hiring of successful ex-coaches as high school principals.
Denny Thompson, former Sylmar baseball coach, is the new principal at Canoga Park. Dan Wyatt, former Kennedy track coach, is the new principal at Chatsworth. Bob LaBelle, former Agoura basketball coach, is the new principal at Royal. Jim Nielsen, former Van Nuys basketball coach, is in his second year as principal at Channel Islands.
Principal Tom Moran of St. Francis once was the school’s baseball coach. Principal Gary Murphy of Chaminade was track and cross country coach at Crespi. New Principal Bill Thomason of Loyola was the school’s basketball coach.
None would have been given their principal positions without a commitment to academic excellence. But having a coaching background has suddenly become an asset rather than a liability.
The popularity of athletic competition has made coaches among the most influential and visible faculty members on high school campuses.
Those on committees selecting principals want men and women who can unite teachers, parents and students while promoting a vision for the future.
Every day, coaches must display organizational and social skills to mold teenagers from different backgrounds into a smooth-functioning unit. It is ideal preparation for running a school.
“They’ve been in situations where they’ve had to make on-the-spot decisions,” LaBelle said of coaches. “They’re able to look at the big picture. They scout, they communicate, they have a vision of what they want. Those are all strong aspects of a leader. Their final examination is in front of 3,000 people.”
There was a time coaches and ex-coaches were stuck with the label of being a “dumb jock.” Faculty members were suspicious of their motives. Stories circulated of coaches lobbying teachers to change grades of star athletes.
“When I made the decision years ago to leave Sylmar and go into administration, I worked very hard to change that,” Thompson said. “I want to show people someone who likes athletics can be an instructional leader.”
No one can become a principal today without a strong academic background. Candidates must have a master’s degree, an administrative credential, five years of teaching experience and two years of administrative experience.
Principals in the Los Angeles Unified School District are judged on accountability and student achievement, said Dan Isaacs, assistant superintendent.
“That’s where the game is being played,” he said.
But any principal who goes into an assignment thinking he or she can ignore athletics is asking for trouble. High school principals didn’t need to see the attention paid to Jordan’s announcement to understand the impact sports has on society, let alone on a campus.
From the amount of time spent dealing with parents, coaches, students and the media, to the thousands of dollars allocated for uniforms, travel and equipment, sports plays a significant role in a principal’s job.
“It’s an area you can’t ignore,” Murphy said. “When half your student body are involved in an activity, it behooves you to be supportive. I look at athletics as important to a kid’s development and that’s a different perspective than some parents and our society have. They’re looking at it as a way to make millions. We agree it’s important. We disagree why it’s important.”
Said Moran: “I think you’d be fooling yourself if you said athletics isn’t a huge percentage of your time. We’re an all-boys school and some people in the community will only view our school through the window of athletics. We understand as an institution, it has the potential for great public relation opportunities.”
In the battle between sports and academics at the high school level, sports has attained a major foothold in a school’s daily life. Principals insist they are judged most by the academic achievements of the student body, but sports competition offers the opportunity for a public relations boost or headache.
Principals with a coaching background use their past experiences to help deal with every day problems. Nielsen relies on lessons learned from playing basketball for Coach John Wooden at UCLA to help him in his daily challenges. He keeps a copy of Wooden’s Pyramid of Success in his office to remind him of the values he tries to pass on.
“A lot of what I do is based on what Coach Wooden taught me,” he said. “A day doesn’t go by that something I do isn’t related to what he taught. The guy [Wooden] is a master teacher. I’m sure he would have been an outstanding [principal]. One of the things I find being a principal is the need to understand people. As coach would say, ‘How do you get the best out of your players?’ Learning how to understand people and motivate them is critical.”
No matter how well principals perform their duties, there always will be skeptics wondering if their true allegiance lies with athletics.
“I think there can be a successful marriage,” Moran said. “The best coaches out there are good teachers, and if they treat their field or gym as a classroom, then they’re usually successful.”
Of course, the principals are still trying to rid themselves of one bad habit from their coaching days--ambivalence toward officials.
“I never did deal with umpires,” Thompson said. “I hated them.”
Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.
