MATT DOHERTY – NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER AT NORTH CAROLINA & FORMER NOTRE DAME & NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH – EPISODE 289

Matt Doherty

Website – coachmattdoherty.com

Email – coachmattdoherty@gmail.com

Twitter – @DohertyMatt

Matt Doherty is a former basketball player and coach at the University of North Carolina. He has extensive experience in leadership and building teams with a winning culture. Matt played his collegiate basketball as a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels (1980-1984). At UNC, Doherty was a three-year starter. He was the second person in ACC history to earn 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 400 assists over a collegiate career. In his four seasons, the Tar Heels amassed a record of 117 wins and 21 losses and won the 1982 NCAA Championship.

Matt went on to become a Division I coach, first taking the reigns at Notre Dame (1999-2000), before coaching at UNC (2000-2003), Florida Atlantic Univeristy (2005-2006), and finally coaching at SMU (2006-2012). As a coach, he won the ACC Championship in 2001 with the Tar Heels and was named AP National Coach of the Year that same season.

Doherty then worked in the front office for the Indiana Pacers of the NBA, before finishing his basketball career as the Associate Commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference (2017-2019). Matt is now an active speaker, traveling the country speaking to businesses and organizations, detailing his experiences as a player, coach and executive.

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Get your pen and paper ready so you can take some notes as you listen to this episode with Matt Doherty, National Championship Player at North Carolina & Former Head Coach at Notre Dame and North Carolina.

What We Discuss with Matt Doherty

  • The 1981 NCAA Title Game against Indiana and Isiah Thomas the night Ronald Reagan was shot.
  • His recruitment to North Carolina and first impressions of Coach Dean Smith.
  • The need to grow and get out of your comfort zone.
  • The valuable lessons you can learn from playground basketball.
  • Playing with Michael Jordan and winning a National Championship in 1982.
  • His first coaching job at Davidson with his high school coach, Bob McKillop.
  • What makes a good assistant coach.
  • Lessons he wished he had learned prior to becoming a head coach.
  • STEVIT – Know your SELF, your TEAM, your ENVIRONMENT, your VISION, Your INDUSTRY, the TRUTH

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  • Last year at the Jr. NBA Summit I came across an amazing company called iSport360 and its Founder Ian Goldberg.  Their youth sports app gets coaches, players and parents on the same page. Your team can set goals, share player feedback, training videos, sticker rewards, player evals and practice assignments.  All to foster healthy team communication and culture.  If your team or club struggles to keep open lines of communication, especially among team parents, iSport360 can help.  If you want to empower your athletes to have more success, more confidence and more communication with their teammates, give iSport360 a try today.  Reach out to me via email mike@hoopheadspod.com or give me a call at 216-392-4059 to learn more!

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THANKS, MATT DOHERTY

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TRANSCRIPT FOR MATT DOHERTY – NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER AT NORTH CAROLINA & FORMER NOTRE DAME & NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH – EPISODE 289

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the hoop heads podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle this morning. But we are pleased to be joined by Matt Doherty, former national champion as a college player at the University of North Carolina and former head coach at the University of Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina.

Matt, welcome to the podcast.

Matt Doherty: [00:00:19] Hey, thank you for having me on, Mike.

Mike Klinzing: [00:00:21]We are very excited to be able to have a chance to have a conversation with you. Truth be told. I grew up as a North Carolina fan, despite the fact that I’m here in Cleveland and my love for Carolina predates actually Michael Jordan.

So something about the wall, something about a North Carolina. I still remember the 1980,  1980 final and Al Wood,  that was right around the time when President Reagan was shot. And that was, I think, the first time I really remember becoming. A Carolina guy. So despite the fact that,  Imdidn’t go to [00:01:00] Carolina, didn’t grow up in Carolina,  I definitely grew up as a North Carolina fan for whatever, for whatever reason.

Matt Doherty: [00:01:06] So I think there’s moments.  I think there’s a couple things. You know, I w I was on that team,  39. 39 points against Virginia and the final four,  the championship game was,  two nights later, and that’s when Ronald Reagan was shot and we weren’t sure if we were going to play the game.

 so yeah, there, there are moments, you know, there are moments that capture a young man’s heart, a young person’s heart in a, usually it’s around six, seventh, eighth grade, and you see it. And you just, you know, fascinated by it. And,  I think also the color of the uniforms. I agree 100%. Carolina blue,  is, is pretty cool.

Mike Klinzing: [00:01:58] yeah, no doubt about [00:02:00] that. I’ll, I was always, as a kid, we used to go and vacation in Hilton, head Island, South Carolina, and we would always drive, obviously through North Carolina do that. And. As a guy who loved North Carolina, I always wanted a Michael Jordan, North Carolina. Jersey, and obviously today you could find it in two seconds on the internet.

But back then we used to stop and go to the apartment stores in North Carolina, and I was never able to find one, had lots of gear, but never was able to get that Jordan Jersey for whatever reason. So what was it like that that night when you guys played Indiana and the title game and Reagan gets shot and you’re not sure if the game’s going to be played.

Do you remember back like what it was like in the locker room, your team, and sort of what coach Smith was talking to you about in terms of your preparation? Cause I had to imagine that that was a difficult time to be in the locker room. We’re here. You’re preparing for what at that point is obviously the biggest game of your life.

And then you’re not sure if the game’s even going to be played.

Matt Doherty: [00:02:59] I think the [00:03:00] game was delayed about an hour. I think finally Ronald Reagan,  was recovering and he. Made some comment that was, you know, Hey, play the game. I wish I was there to witness it. And,  so we went out and played and,  unfortunately we beat pretty handily.

 Isaiah Thomas was terrific.  we had beaten that team, that Indiana team in chapel Hill in December, but,  you know, Isaiah was terrific and James worthy had gotten foul trouble in the first half, and that, that, you know, that really hurt our chances.

Mike Klinzing: [00:03:39] Well, you got to get back some revenge. The next year, not directly with Indiana, but clearly you guys came through in the following season and got coach Smith his first national championship.

Matt Doherty: [00:03:48] Let’s go backwards

Mike Klinzing: [00:03:49] before we go forwards though, and just talk about you growing up,  in the state of New York. How did you end up at Carolina? What was the decision making process for you when you were being recruited [00:04:00] now? How did you end up at North Carolina? What was it about the program coach Smith?

What? What made you decide to end up in chapel

Matt Doherty: [00:04:06] Hill? Well, when I was. In,  when I was a freshman in high school, Carolina went to the final four and there was this guy named Michael corn number 31 who’s six, seven white kid from Jersey city. I’m like, man, that’s cool. You know, and there’s a kid who’s, you know, his height white kid from New York, New Jersey.

He’s at North Carolina.  uniforms look cool. I liked the way they play. You know, they hustle. They play team basketball coach the Olympics in 1976,  in Montreal where they won the gold medal. And I just kind of fell in love, you know, with the way they played Michael corn. And, and.  their uniforms. And so, you know, I would dream about playing there and then I was being recruited.

I personally [00:05:00] played on a good high school team. Bob McKillop, who’s the head coach at Davidson college, was my high school coach my first two years in high school.  and we had good teams.  so I mean, you know, some of the better teams in the state of New York. And so I started getting recruited and then,  you know, wanted to play in a league.

The big East was it formed at that time?  I was just starting the form when I was a senior in high school,  and I really wanted to go and play where I’d get a good education and have a chance to be a part of a people program. And I wanted to play in a league, and the ACC was the best league, you know, in basketball.

So,   I was fortunate that they recruited me. And,  once they offered, you know, they offered me a scholarship. I saw the place I decided to commit. What was your

Mike Klinzing: [00:05:51] first impressions of coach Smith when he started recruiting you?

Matt Doherty: [00:05:55] How secure he was with himself. [00:06:00] Where I think a, you can sense the anxiety of other coaches.

 especially when they find out you’re being recruited by North Carolina. They get nervous and then shows, and some of the comments they make, and, and coach Smith was basically, you know, comfortable and Hey, we’d love to have you.  I remember a comment he made in the home visit. You know, we’re, you know, most people saying, Hey, you have a chance to start or play a lot.

And he’s sitting there and says, you know, you’ll be fortunate to play by the time you’re a junior. And I clean up my chair and I said to myself, I’ll show you. And so,  you know, I think that’s his way of doing two things. Stoking your competitive juices. I’m not over recruiting a player to the point where you’re making promises that will cause dissension among the [00:07:00] team, make people difficult to coach,  and  and testing you a little bit.

Mike Klinzing: [00:07:07] And when you got there as a freshman, what was the biggest adjustment, maybe both on and off the court for you going from being a high school player to go on and stepping into obviously a major

Matt Doherty: [00:07:19] college program? Yeah, I remember going there. I went there for the summer. I always want to get a head start, so I was.

Now it’s common. You know, we’re freshmen, incoming freshmen, go take summer school classes and work out. So I did that. I went down there and got a job in,  play pickup games. And I remember the first pickup game,  I think Mitch Kupchak, who’s now the GM of the Hornets,  he was playing for the Washington bullets at the time.

 they were called the bullets, Tommy LA guard.  Dudley Bradley, you know, all these guys were in the NBA and they’re all big, strong, and athletic and aggressive. [00:08:00] And I remember my first shot was an air ball. And I’m like, Oh my gosh. And, and I got, I got a little down and John Kooster who,  ended up coaching in the NBA for a long time, became a team of friend.

And he, he basically said, it’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. And so then you just continue to work. And he kind of took me under his wing and we would work out on our own and, and work on my shot and run and do some different drills. And, um. And then, you know, I figured it out. You know, you just kind of figured out what you can and can’t do.

You know,  in high school I could do a lot of things and, you know, leave my feet in the lane and create a shot. Well, that wasn’t happening for me at Carolina, you know? And so by testing yourself against the best you, it’s going to force you to grow. And I run a leadership,  practice. And I talk about that continually.

The only [00:09:00] way for you to grow is to get out of your comfort zone. You know, if I just stayed at that level, I would never gotten better. You know? I, I thought like, okay, maybe I should consider going to a lower level program where I could be more of this. We’re sure star, but I didn’t want to be sitting in my dorm room watching North Carolina cut down.

Mike Klinzing: [00:09:21] Yeah, completely understandable. Did you, I think the lesson that I pull out of that for sure is that here you were, as most guys are, who go to play at an ACC school. You’re a high school star, you’re a do everything guy. In high school and then you come to a program where it becomes quickly, probably pretty evident that evident that I’m not going to be that same type of all around star.

The ball’s always in my hands, and yet you were able to figure out how to. Become the role, a role player, how to fit into what your team needed and what your [00:10:00] coaching staff needed for you to do in order for you to get onto the floor. And I think that that’s a lesson that is sometimes lost on players today, in that you see the number of kids that are in the transfer portal and just they come into a program with the expectation that they’re going to be great right away and they’re going to have the ball in their hands constantly.

So maybe talk a little bit about just. How you adapted to that mentally and just sort of shifted your focus from, Hey, I’m going to be this all, do everything person too. I’ve got to figure out what I need to do in order to be able to get on the floor and help my team win.

Matt Doherty: [00:10:32] Well,  Mike, I, I, I talk a lot to anyone who will listen and this is a good platform that I do believe youth basketball is broken.

 because it all is AAU driven. And controlled by adults. And,  and now this is the old, when I grew up, [00:11:00] okay, this was the old man talking. Now

Mike Klinzing: [00:11:02] I’ve been talking like that a lot on the podcast.

Matt Doherty: [00:11:06] And I do think if we could instill this model, and I’ve talked to people, you know, at at high levels. See I was a role player when I was a freshman in high school.

I was, I came off the bench. I didn’t play a couple games my sophomore year. I was on this zone, the varsity.  I was the probably third of best player on my, as a sophomore and as a junior. The best player, senior is the best player on a very good team in the park. Growing up, I. W would go to the park at a sixth grader and try to get in the pickup games with the college players.

And so I’d be sitting on the sidelines or getting there early, and if I’ve got an a game and I did something [00:12:00] wrong and an older player would tell me what to do, and I didn’t do it, I wasn’t going to be a lot to play on court one anymore. So my point is, I think that. By playing. I always wanted to play off.

I was never the star in the summers or on my high school team really until my junior, senior year in high school because I was playing with really good players. And then in the park, no, there’d be one minute, maybe on a Saturday morning where I was the best player in the court. But Saturday night, the college players would show up and I had to get there early just to get in the first game, and then I had to take direction from them.

And I think that’s real talent of leadership. My point is at a young age, I might one minute be the leader of my team. On court three but that night I [00:13:00] wanted to be on court one with the college players, so I wasn’t the worst player on the starting on the five and I had to take direction from them. And I think that’s where leadership is lost nowadays.

Is that these young people never pick their own games. They never choose. They probably don’t even have to choose. Okay. Because the teams are made by adults. And then the plays are designed by the adults. Where when I was in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth you know, through high school, even college, the two best players would make the teams and you choose and then you start negotiating and then then players.

Knew where they stood in the eyes of their peers. Now days, a young person has a hard time telling a peer that they’re not that or telling a peer that it’s a bad shot holding a peer accountable [00:14:00] because they don’t have to. Because the teams are chosen, the coaches run the run, the run, the run the teams as opposed to, I think pick up ball is a great way for young people to learn.

I’m going to write a book someday about the park, about the valuable lessons you learn from choosing sides, from calling a foul, from telling a young, like if there’s 11 people. Somebody who’s not playing. So if you and I are choosing teams, you and I are deciding that person’s not good enough. So that person has a choice.

He can work to get better. He could go home and quit, or he can just accepted, you know, or, or he can buy a better ball. So that we need it. We want to use this ball.

Mike Klinzing: [00:14:53] That is so, that is so true.

Matt Doherty: [00:14:55] i think one of the,

Mike Klinzing: [00:14:56] and I grew up in a very similar fashion to what [00:15:00] you just described, a lot of the points that you just made hit home with me.

I think about showing up at the park early when I was a young kid, so I could get into the games on the main court, and then I would always stick around and be the last guy around. So when there was. Eight or nine or 10 guys left at the end, I could get into that game. And then slowly you start to start to build your reputation and you start to figure out how you can fit in.

And I think one of the things that goes along with what you just said is kids today, because of the system that we’re in, they only play with kids that are their own age. And so as a result of that, everybody is even, so the situation that you described where you had these college guys when you were younger telling you.

What you should do or what you need you to do, or picking you for their team or not picking you for their team in certain cases, helped you to better understand and figure out where you fit and what you needed to work on. Whereas today, just like you described, the coaches, their mom [00:16:00] and dad are in the stands.

They’re playing with other kids who are all their own age. Nobody’s the clear. Leader there is not that hierarchy. They don’t have to make those decisions and figure stuff out and negotiate what the rules are going to be and who’s going to be on what team. And I can speak to, you mentioned about kids even knowing how to pick teams, and I can speak to that.

I teach phys ed at the elementary level during the day as my quote, real job and. Picking teams is one of the most difficult things for kids to do cause they just, they argue with me, they argue with each other about what the teams are going to be because they just don’t have any experience. The way that people who grew up in our era had experience of just having to figure stuff out because there wasn’t adults around to guide them.

And I think that’s a huge, huge, I don’t know if problem is the right way to say it, but it definitely is something that I think we could improve on and make the youth basketball system better without question.

Matt Doherty: [00:16:55] Imagine. Imagine if you out your kids at PE to choose your own [00:17:00] sides and they can only pick five on the side and some kids will left out.

You or your principal would get a phone call the next day from that parent whose kid didn’t play and they’d say, how come Johnny didn’t play? Absolutely say, well, he was, he wasn’t picked. And then say, that’s not fair.

The things I said, Hey, when I talk and leadership, life’s not fair. So you know, you never want, you know, the, the, the old participation trophy, you know? No, like, that doesn’t work. Like you got to compete. You’ve got to find where you can add value. And if you  because you know, when you get in the real world.

You don’t get a paycheck just for showing up.

Mike Klinzing: [00:17:50] So true. There’s no question about that. And we could probably. Spent two hours talking about youth basketball and things that we would both have in mind to try to improve it and make it better. [00:18:00] But I want to hit on a couple more things with you before we run out of time.

So first one is, I think I’d be remissed without asking you, when you’re at North Carolina and Michael Jordan shows up, what were your initial impressions of Jordan the first time you met him? Saw him, played with them. Did you have any idea? Were there any inklings that. He was going to be what he ended up being.

Matt Doherty: [00:18:22] Well, I think the first thing Michael, you see is his size and his shoulders and his arms and how long have you he is. And,  his athleticism. And he, you know, he’s very gregarious.  he had great energy.  he was on the,  you know, cocky side.  but you know, he had the talent to back it up. And,  he didn’t mind the challenge.

He got stimulated by a challenge. And I followed jump man history on Twitter. And you know, there’s a quote [00:19:00] about Doug. Colin’s saying, you know, don’t wake him up. You don’t, you let a sleeping dog. That’s so true. Like when, when I would play pickup with them, you know, if I had the chance to block his shot, you almost want to apologize and say, you know, I’m sorry, I probably found you there.

Right? Like, because you don’t want to. Fire him up because once you fire him up and usually you don’t, it doesn’t take much. Like he’s, he’s normally high energy, but if you talk any junk or embarrass him in any way, shape, or form, or he would perceive it that way, it was over. It was over because he had so much talent skill, savvy.  you know, he, he was, you know, I think he’s the best, you know, maybe, maybe Jabbar was overall the best, but you know, it’s in Michael’s, in the conversation and, and maybe the best player of all time. [00:20:00] All right, so let’s.

Mike Klinzing: [00:20:01] Transition from your playing career. Just want to touch a little bit on the coaching side of it.

At what point during your playing career did you ever think that you might want to get into coaching? I know you went out and when you got done at Carolina,  you ended up getting a job in the quote real world on wall street,

Matt Doherty: [00:20:18] but

Mike Klinzing: [00:20:19] was coaching ever on your radar while you were still playing or was that something that after you were away from the game for a little bit, the bug came back and bit, you just describe your process for getting into coaching and just what your mindset was.

Matt Doherty: [00:20:32] Well, when I got cut, I ironically that cooked by the Cleveland Cavaliers, George Karl. I got drafted in a six round.  they don’t even have three rounds. Now. They have two.  so, you know, I wasn’t, my chances were very slim. And so when I got cut,  I, I equate it to like getting broke, a longtime girlfriend, breaking up with you.

You know, I was a fourth grader. I dropped about playing in the NBA, [00:21:00] and now the game is telling me,  it no longer loves me. So I. Ran to wall street. I thought, Oh, I’ll show you. You know, I’m gonna, I’m going to go out with this other girl, you know? And so,  just that other girl,  wasn’t that fulfilling.

So I left wall street after four years, moved to Charlotte, thinking I was going to get in the real estate business is, I figured money would be fulfilling. And  you know, I wasn’t making enough to realize that, whether, what would or not, but I ended up.  I was doing the radio at Davidson and they made a coaching change and hired Bob McKillop.

And,  Bob was my high school coach, my first two years of high school, and I joined the staff and I never looked back. I mean, I, I was so in love with coaching basketball and recruited at,  you know, it was,  it was a perfect fit. What

Mike Klinzing: [00:21:56] was that like in terms of going from. [00:22:00] Playing under coach McKillop and obviously knowing him in that role where you were a player and he’s your coach, and then now, clearly this is years later, but still going from being in that role to then being a member of his staff and being more of a colleague.

What was the relationship like between the two of you at that time?

Matt Doherty: [00:22:20] I mean, we had a lot of fun. We worked hard. I think that looking back, and I’ve told them this, I said, I wish I was a better assistant for him.  and I think that, you know, that’s why the leadership thing is so important to me. After I got let go at North Carolina, I went on a leadership journey.

And you know, in the middle of my journey, I’m saying, you know, if there, why isn’t there any formal leadership development in coaching?  there’s very little, and, and, and so because it’s all about leadership for him. As a high school [00:23:00] coach, now we’re going to call a program. For me now being an assistant coach, and you know, all that gets involved in that.

The personalities, the knowledge gaps, the,  you know, the, the clicks, the insecurities. All those things surface and it caused some tension.   and then Bob really figured out the college game and who he was as a coach and, and developed to, I think one of the best coaches in college basketball. You know, making a jump from high school, college punches is really ridiculous.

It no question. Yeah. And it’s not so much that, I mean, it is the basketball to some degree, but it’s all the other stuff too. And then I didn’t know how to be an assistant, you know, I had a, I had an ego, you know, and, and, and I was ignorant towards a lot of things. And. Oh, I was probably disrespectful in my body [00:24:00] language to somethings.

And  so there was a lot of undertones that weren’t healthy. And then I went to Kansas and after I became a head coach, you know, it’s like being a parent, right? You kind of realize, Oh my gosh, you know, my, my dad was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. You know, or I wish I would have Bob Paulson, coaching scars, you know, and there, there are coaching scars you have dealing with players, but there’s also coaching scars you have dealing with,  staff.

And, you know, I look back and I, I, I wish I would have been a better assistant for him. And when I say, well, Bob’s like a brother to me, matter of fact, I need to call him. I remember, I remember after I lost my job at North Carolina, I moved back to this area near your Davidson, and I’d go watch practice.

And there was a moment where he and I were leaving the gym and I said, Bob, I just want to tell ya, I wish I was a better. Coach assistant for you, [00:25:00] and you know, sometimes you say those things, hoping that that other person would fill the dead air and say, Oh no, you were fine. You know, he just, he just looked at me and said, thank you.

Mike Klinzing: [00:25:13] That’s awesome. That’s good stuff.

Matt Doherty: [00:25:18] Well, yeah, true stories. That’s

Mike Klinzing: [00:25:22] funny. That’s

Matt Doherty: [00:25:23] awesome. He didn’t put his arm around me sound now. He didn’t forgive me. He was just like, yeah, thank you. Appreciate like, yeah, you’re right. You were kind of a, you know, you’re kind of a jerk.

Mike Klinzing: [00:25:36] All right. Two questions to kind of wrap things up cause I know we’re pushing up against your time limit. First thing is what was the biggest transition when you went from being an assistant to being a head coach? And then number two, just give people an idea of what you’re doing on the leadership front so people have a, have a solid understanding of

Matt Doherty: [00:25:54] what you’re actually doing

Mike Klinzing: [00:25:55] today.

Matt Doherty: [00:25:57] Yeah. Thanks, Mike. I think, well, you never [00:26:00] ready. It’s never, you’re never fully ready. We should just don’t know what you don’t know. And a lot of it is the feeling you get and your gut when you transition to that,  different position, the head coach, because now you have a responsibility for. You know, in college basketball, let’s say 30 direct reports, you know, 15 players or managers or assistant coaches, a couple of secretaries, strength coach, trainer, whatever.

So you now have accountability to them that you’ve got to manage them and, and put, put them in position to be successful and then deal with. Yeah. You know, so insecurities like, Oh, you know, paranoia. They talking about me or, you know, Oh, I screwed that up.  you know, a feeling of incompetence when you make a mistake because you will make a mistake.

And so I think,  hiring people, [00:27:00] firing people, you know, those are the things you’d never had to do, right. It’s time I had to fire somebody. I’m writing a book right now and, and, um.  the title will be,  as of today rebound because rebounding from failure and the first time I had to fire somebody was when I was at Notre Dame.

You know, that’s not easy to do and there’s a right way and a wrong way. And if you do something the wrong way, that could impact your reputation for a long, long time. So as a result. When I lost my job in North Carolina, I worked with an executive coach. I ended up going to the Darden school to take a class at UVA.

I went to the Wharton school at Penn, took another class, work with a nugget leather executive coach, and as I’m taking some classes at Wharton, I’m saying to myself, Oh my God, if I would have taken these classes before I was head coach, I might still be the head coach. And so that’s why I realized. I want to put together a leadership [00:28:00] practice where I teach people groups and individuals do seminars on leadership.

On how to grow, how to get better, because I realized it’s not taught, even in some of the better corporations, it’s not taught. They might have a seminar, they might have a weekend workshop where they check a box, but I call it a leader practice. Okay.  it’s the darty leadership practice. And, and why is it practice was you’ve got to practice, you’ve got to practice leadership.

 it can’t be a read in a book and now I’m good to go.  it would be like you taking routine. I say it’d be like me checking my team at North Carolina on October 15th. Back when that was the first day of practice putting in my office, putting in my defense, talking a little bit about Duke. We’re going to, next time I’ll see you.

We’ll meet February 3rd in Durham. We’re going to play Duke. How do you think we’ll do a very good, [00:29:00] because we didn’t practice. You know, we didn’t test our skills, we didn’t put, and you will make mistakes as a leader, there’ll be those coaching scars will your screw up, you’ll react to somebody, you’ll make a comment, and it could damage your relationship.

So I think I talk about STEVIN and I jokingly say seven steps. It’s the guy I met on my leadership journey. And the first, the essence step, it stands for know yourself. The T means you’ve got to know your team. The means you got to know your environment, the be know your vision, the, I know your industry, and then the T.

you got to know the truth. You’ve got to mind for the truth. So you need to have somebody on your staff that can close the door after practice and say, mom, you screwed up. I can’t, can’t believe you called out Joey when he. [00:30:00] You know, got beat off the dribble like that. You know, you, we put them in a bad position.

You should can be, you know, whatever it is, but you embarrass the kid, you know, that kind of thing, you know? Damn, you’re right. As opposed to creating a wall as a head coach, because now you have the power of the position and you don’t listen. You don’t create an environment where people can come with to you.

With the truth because I said this, either you going to manage the truth and the truth is going to manage you. So those are the things that I learned and I talk a lot about in my leadership practice. And,  I’ve enjoyed that because that’s my fix, Mike, of teaching a coaching since I don’t have a basketball team anymore.

I

Mike Klinzing: [00:30:47] love it. It’s good stuff. Matt, I really enjoyed your clinic at the virtual coaches clinic. I thought it was well done and I thought a lot of the things that you shared really were relevant to coaches today, and that’s another reason why I wanted to have you on. Besides obviously. [00:31:00] Your background as both a player and a coach.

Why don’t we respectful of your time. Before we get out, can you just give people an idea of where they can find out more about what you’re doing? Share out how they can find out, just how they can get in contact with you, and then I’ll jump back on and wrap up the episode.

Matt Doherty: [00:31:15] Yeah. You know what I’m under, my website is under construction.

 they can find me on Twitter at DohertyMatt and then CoachMattDoherty.com.

Mike Klinzing: [00:31:32] That’s very cool. So people who are part of our audience, please reach out and go find the things that Matt’s doing. I think he’s going to have some great stuff up there. That’s going to be an excellent resource for coaches in terms of leadership.

So to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode.

Thanks.