DePauw’s athletic coaches rarely see time off. Most of the year they are doing everything they can to prepare themselves or their team for upcoming competition.
Coaching at the collegiate level is a full-time job most of the year. In season, coaching is an everyday job between long practice hours, late nights watching film, creating game plans and coaching multiple games a week. Off-season work is mostly dedicated to the recruiting of new talent to join the team.
Coaches at DePauw don’t get the option for very much down time.
DePauw’s lacrosse coach Carl Haas has only been coaching at the university for two years, but he has already felt the effects of the grueling schedules for DePauw’s athletic coaches.
Haas said he has to find time to for his personal life and that may only be one weekend an off-season. He says most of his personal time over the summer is sandwiched in between traveling to recruiting showcases and organizing schedules for upcoming seasons.
Haas is a full-time employee of the university as an athletic coach and comes into his office at the Lilly Center year-round, but also takes his job home with him. Haas says that work never really goes away, stating that recruiting alone is “75-80% of the job.” Even out of season, Haas committs himself to his job as the head coach of DePauw’s lacrosse team.
Women’s basketball coach Kris Huffman also notes how hectic the off-seasons can be. Huffman says the biggest difference in her job in the off-season is due to the fact that she cannot work with her athletes hands-on.
Like Haas, Huffman devotes much of her off-season time to recruiting, saying that is a huge part of her off-season job. Huffman describes how she and other athletic co-workers have to change hats in the off-season to fulfill the needs of the athletic department. As an assistant athletic director, Huffman spends time supporting athletic programs other than women’s basketball. Another role as Assistant Athletic Director is sustaining and improving alumni relations. Huffman says she spends time keeping up to date with alumni of DePauw’s athletic program.
In the off-season, Huffman is given time to focus on busy work, like staying up to date with her email and completing paperwork. Huffman is a full-time employee of DePauw and like Haas continues to go to her office to fulfill her many roles in the athletic department.
Vince Lazar, DePauw’s men’s and women’s golf coach, is also extremely dedicated to his program. Lazar is in his office at DePauw year around, unless he is on the road with the team or on a recruiting trip. Golf’s in-season practice and competitions are nine weeks each fall and 10 weeks each spring, but Lazar says the job stretches much further then those 19 weeks.
Like Haas and Huffman, a major part of Lazar’s job is recruiting and he highlights two main seasons when recruiting is most important. Lazar recruits during golf’s high school season, which can be spring or fall depending on the state; Lazar also recruits during the summers when high school golfers participate in tournaments. Outside of those recruiting cycles, Lazar invites 20 to 30 prospective golfers to campus, initiating introductions and exposing them to DePauw. During the summer, which technically Coach Lazar has off, he is still recruiting, working at golf camps and preparing for upcoming seasons. Lazar stresses that his job as DePauw’s golf coach is year-round, but he also contributes to the game management of other sports at DePauw if he has time.
Within their tightly scheduled and highly demanding jobs, Haas, Huffman and Lazar are still working to improve their programs. With recruiting, helping with other sports and preparing for upcoming seasons there is not much time for coaches to take off.