The Most Important Person on Your Coaching Staff Might Not Know Your Sport
As coaches, we spend an incredible amount of time thinking about how to build the best possible staff. We look for people who understand the game, can develop athletes, teach skills, and help us win championships. We want assistants who complement our strengths and make our programs better.
But what if one of the most important people on your coaching staff doesn't know much about your sport at all?
During a recent conversation with Drew Vilinsky from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, we discussed a concept that I believe more Christian schools and athletic programs need to seriously consider: the role of a team chaplain or character coach.
At St. Ignatius, this isn't simply a good idea or something a few passionate coaches have decided to implement. It has become an intentional part of their athletic culture. Over the past decade, Drew has helped develop a chaplaincy program that now includes approximately 29 chaplain assignments serving athletic teams and other student activities.
What fascinated me most wasn't necessarily the size of the program, but the intentionality
behind it.
When I was the head boys basketball coach at The Woodlands Christian Academy, I made a decision early in my tenure to invite one of our Bible teachers to become part of our coaching staff. Aaron wasn't a basketball expert, and that wasn't why I wanted him around. He was passionate about his faith, cared deeply about young people, and could speak into areas of our athletes' lives that went well beyond basketball.
Looking back, I believe it was one of the most important decisions I made as a head coach.
Drew explained that when he looks for potential chaplains, he focuses on three important qualities. First, can they build authentic relationships with young people? Second, do they have a genuine faith life of their own? And third, can they communicate that faith in a way that helps others grow?
Notice what isn't on that list: knowledge of the sport.
That doesn't mean understanding the sport has no value, but it isn't the primary qualification. The purpose of this person is not to teach the pick-and-roll, develop a defensive scheme, or improve an athlete's shooting mechanics. Their purpose is to help athletes encounter Christ through their athletic experience.
One of the most interesting parts of our conversation centered on the relationship between the head coach and the chaplain. Drew compared it to the way a football head coach delegates responsibilities to an offensive or defensive coordinator. The head coach remains responsible for the entire program, but trusts others to lead specific areas with excellence.
The same principle should apply to spiritual formation.
Bringing a chaplain onto your staff doesn't remove the head coach's responsibility to lead spiritually. In fact, it should strengthen it. The coach and chaplain should work together, communicate regularly, and reinforce the same message. The chaplain should understand the team's culture, challenges, and goals, while the head coach should be actively engaged in the spiritual formation taking place.
Perhaps just as important is the chaplain's presence. Drew emphasized that these individuals must be around enough for athletes to genuinely view them as part of the team. Relationships are built in locker rooms, at practices, on sidelines, and through conversations that happen when nobody is expecting them.
An athlete struggling with playing time, an injury, a difficult relationship, or a crisis of identity may need someone who can help them see beyond their immediate circumstances. A chaplain can become that trusted voice, reminding them that their worth is rooted in something much greater than their athletic performance.
At B3rd Athletics, we constantly emphasize that sports are a platform, not a purpose. Our purpose is to help young people know, love, and serve God. Athletics simply provides an incredible classroom in which that formation can take place.
But if we genuinely believe this, shouldn't our staffing decisions reflect it?
We spend significant resources developing the physical, technical, and tactical abilities of our athletes. We hire strength coaches, skill coaches, and specialists to help them improve.
All of those roles have value, but what are we doing to intentionally develop the most important part of the person: their soul?
Not every school has the resources to build a chaplaincy program like St. Ignatius. But almost every coach can begin by identifying someone who loves Christ, loves young people, and would be willing to walk alongside their team.
It might be a Bible teacher, a campus minister, a local pastor, or another trusted member of the school community.
The important thing is to begin intentionally.
As Christian coaches and athletic leaders, we should constantly ask ourselves whether our programs are developing athletes who simply perform at a high level or young people who are becoming who God created them to be.
And perhaps one of the best ways to accomplish both is to invite someone onto our staff whose primary responsibility is to help us keep Christ at the center.
God First. Others Second. Me Third.
