Kristen McDonnell's teams win...a lot. In a pandemic-shortened season, her Norwood High team went 9-2 during her second season coaching boys. She serves as the Director of Guidance at Norwood.
McDonnell switched from coaching girls at Braintree High, where her teams went 211-32 with four state championships in her final six seasons in Massachusetts' top division. She was named the Boston Herald Coach of the Decade.
Coach McDonnell kindly agreed to an interview (lightly edited).
1. What do you discuss at the introductory meeting with parents?
We provide an overview of the program's recent successes, improvements, and goals for the upcoming season. I want to make sure they know our coaching staff is committed and how much we're committed (i.e. what our staff does to ensure we've used all of our resources, skill sets, etc. to maximize their child's experience). We provide some information about the logistics (bus schedule, practice/game times, etc.) and then have the boosters club representative speak to the parents.
We explain our expectations for communication with players and parents. They can come to us any time if they would like to share a personal issue or concern in their child's life; however, we outline what we never discuss with parents: playing time, game strategy, or anything about another player.
2. What is your basketball philosophy?
My general philosophy is to teach/coach basketball in a way that allows every member of our team to play an important role that they can be proud of, and to celebrate each of those roles. I'm big on making sure that kids understand the "why." Why do you play basketball? Why do you put so much into this sport? This team? Why do we run certain sets or make certain decisions? It's all about building relationships, working hard, and having a good time.
3. How do you create your team culture?
This is a loaded question! There's so much that goes into building a team and program culture; it takes a village. I think one of the most important pieces is to create a blueprint of how you see your program developing over time. Highlight all the players and roles in that village (e.g. coaching staff, players, boosters club, athletic director, trainer, youth program, etc.). Once you do that, it'll give you more direction in terms of your next steps: meeting with each of those people/groups and gaining buy-in.
Having strong program core values is also important. What are your non-negotiables? How will you communicate with your players on a consistent, sustained basis? Showing your players that you genuinely love basketball and want to be there each day working with them is huge.
4. If you could tell your younger self something about coaching, what would that be?
KEEP IT SIMPLE! Do those simple things very well. And ignore the noise - you're always going to have critics if you put yourself in a coaching role. It's way better to be "in the arena" hearing some of that noise than to be on the outside avoiding it.
5. Do you find coaching boys different than coaching girls?
Yes, absolutely! There is a different psychology that goes with each one and it's making sure to tap into those differences effectively. To generalize, girls are better listeners and want so badly to please you. If you tell them to get through options 1-5 in an offensive set, they'll get through all of them. Boys are more naturally active and often want to act before totally knowing why they're acting or making a certain read. So boys may only get through options 1-3 in that same offensive set. No way is good or bad, we just need to make sure we know how to maximize each mindset. On another note, the boys game is faster so it's important to make quicker decisions throughout the game. There is less down time to think about your next move.
6. What is your basketball self-education process?
I'm obsessed with learning in the off-season. I love listening to podcasts of successful people talk about what makes them tick. I watch practices of other teams to pick up new drills and approaches. I watch a ton of videos on X's & O's and read a lot of books about leadership, culture-building, etc. I think the greatest learning tool is what you can take from other coaches. I'm lucky to be part of an informal group of about 30-40 MA coaches (called the Fireside Chat) that share different topics each week.
7. How do you define team leadership positions (e.g. selecting captains)?
All varsity players from the current team vote for captains for the next season. I like captains whom I can use as my go-to in the off-season. I'll sometimes select one additional captain right before the season if someone else has shown a high commitment in the off-season. To be honest, I don't worry too much about captains once we get the right kids in those positions. We make leadership an any grade-level position so we talk in very general terms when referring to captains/leaders.
Lagniappe. Here's an Audible.com podcast with Coach McDonnell. "I never realized that Senior Night was like...a young girl's wedding day."
2018 State Championship game. Transition, ball movement, cutting created a lot of high quality shots.
