5 New Realities:
Coaches & Crises
Presented by: Kathleen Hessert
AFCA Convention 2012
© 2012 All Rights Reserved
1. Public trust is lost
2. No more free passes
3. Coaches are under scrutiny & under siege
4. Crisis management = vital core competency
5. Social media factors into decision making
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge 2
NEW COACHING REALITIES:
Steps to
Survive & Excel © 2012 Sports Media Challenge
Bunker Mentality Doesn’t Work
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge 5
When the University
Takes the Lead,
• Athletic Dept relationships with football become less valuable
• Decisions are delayed when administrators don’t understand
or care about the rhythm of athletics
• Stakeholders expand & need attention on and off campus
• Big donors & “influencers” carry big weight but…
• Demands require help from non-football staff, coaches,
outside professionals
Everything Changes!
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge 6
Apply
Issues Management.
Your Job Depends On It !
• Crisis management is added to your current responsibilities
• Strategy needed ; tactics alone are not sufficient
• Focusing on current crisis means you’re behind
• Ripple effects start early & last long
• Determine & focus on what may happen next
• Communicate how you’re taking control to instill confidence
7 7 © 2012 Sports Media Challenge
Issues Mgmt Lessons Learned
• ID potential
horribles before &
during crisis
• Put your efforts &
resources where
they’ll help you
most
• Reevaluate issues
daily as they
change constantly
High Impact High Probability Assign resources NOW
Low Impact Low Probability IGNORE
Imp
act
if it
hap
pe
ns
rat
e 1
-10
10
Probability of occurring rate 1-100%
100%
Issues Management Assessment
Monogram Club & players respond
negatively to critics
Campus police involvement criticized
Monitor Rumors
for
1st Mover Advantage
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge 8
• Shutting out criticism is like not scouting opponents
• Blame spews from unexpected areas/people
• As scrutiny grows- others (insiders & outsiders) grow
angry from spread of negativity focused on them
• Comprehensive social media monitoring is essenial
9 9 © 2012 Sports Media Challenge
Monitoring Lessons Learned
• Real-time monitoring
enables timely action
• Media troll Twitter,
Facebook for
discontent, support,
storylines.
You can prepare
• Public sentiment
polarizes . Easy to
determine friends
&foes
• Easily identify issues
you’ll face &
questions to answer
Watch sentiment as it changes ACT on IT
Be Transparent.
Align Advocates
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge 10
• Staff, players, recruits, parents, advisors
• Know what you can say and not say. Stand firm.
• Put information into 1 of 3 categories:
• what I know …
• what I don’t know…
• what I’ll find out…
• Enlist advocates to communicate your message
11
There’s
No Time to
THINK, FEEL, or ACT
But Your Job
Depends on it!
© 2012 Sports Media Challenge
5 New Realities:
Coaches & Crises
Contact: Kathleen Hessert
@Kathleenhessert on Twitter, Linkedin, Google+
704.541.5942 or 704.906.3600
© 2012 All Rights Reserved