By Brian D. Stanchak, The BDS Agency
Since 2018, there have been 231 Division I Head Women’s Basketball Coach openings. We dive deep into the levels of experience, gender, and race of the coaches who were hired in each of these positions to see if there is an established trend. As you’ll see, half of the 10 listed categories hit record-high percentages this off-season, including in the areas of coaches who are female and people of color who were hired as Division I head coaches.
The chart above details the number of hires who became a first-time Head Coach at the Division I level when hired. This chart includes hires who were previously an Assistant Coach or a non-Division I Head Coach directly prior to being hired. Over the past five years, 65.37% of hires were a first-time Division I Head Coach, with 32 or more first-time head coaches at the Division I level being hired during three of the last five off-seasons.
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The chart above details the number of hires who were in another Division I Head Coach position when they were hired for a new Division I Head Coach position. Over the past five years, 23.38% of hires were in another Division I Head Coach position directly prior to being hired at a new University, with this off-season showing the highest percentage of Division I head coaches moving on to other Division I Head Coach positions at 26.79%.
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The chart above details the number of hires who were previously in a Division I Head Coach position at some point during their career, but were not in that Head Coach position directly prior to being hired for a new Division I Head Coach position. Examples include a former Division I Head Coach who was an Assistant Coach at another University prior to being hired or a former Division I Head Coach who was not coaching at the time of their hiring. Over the past five years, 9.52% of hires were a former Division I Head Coach, but not directly prior to being hired.
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The chart above details the number of hires who were previously in a non-Division I Head Coach position when they were hired for a Division I Head Coach position. Examples include those who were a Division II, III, NAIA, JUCO, or high school Head Coach directly prior to being hired. Over the past five years, 14.29% of hires were in a non-Division I Head Coach position directly prior to being hired.
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The chart above details the number of hires who were previously in a collegiate Head Coach position (NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA) at some point during their career, whether they were in that role directly prior to being hired or not. Over the past five years, 59.31% of hires had some prior Head Coach experience at the collegiate level, with this off-season showing the highest percentage of Division I head coaches being hired with previous collegiate Head Coach experience at 67.86%.
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The chart above details the number of hires who had no prior collegiate Head Coach experience prior to their hiring. Over the past five years, 40.69% of hires had no prior collegiate Head Coach experience.
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The chart above details the number of hires who were directly promoted from Assistant or Associate Head Coach to Head Coach of the same program. Over the past five years, 16.45% of hires were directly promoted from Assistant or Associate Head Coach to Head Coach at their University.
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The chart above details the number of females who were hired, regardless of prior experience. Over the past five years, 80.52% of hires were females, with this off-season showing the highest percentage of females being hired as Division I head coaches at 87.50%.
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The chart above details the number of hires of coaches who are people of color, regardless of gender and prior experience. Over the past five years, 40.69% of hires were coaches who are people of color, with this off-season showing the highest percentage of people of color who were hired as Division I head coaches at 46.43%.
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The chart above details the number of hires of coaches who are female people of color, regardless of prior experience. Over the past five years, 35.06% of hires were female people of color, with this off-season showing the highest percentage of female people of color being hired as Division I head coaches at 41.07%.
Final Analysis: Based on the trending data above, the assumed profile of the most-likely candidate for a Division I Head Women’s Basketball Coach position is a female, regardless of race, with some prior collegiate Head Coach experience, regardless of the level of that head coaching experience.
The data also shows that university’s are placing an increasingly positive emphasis on hiring females (over 82% during each of the last three off-seasons) and people of color (over 40% each of the last three off-seasons) for their head coach positions.
About The BDS Agency: Founded in 2013, The BDS Agency is a boutique agency that focuses on advising, marketing, and representing collegiate women’s basketball coaches to assist them in maximizing and protecting all aspects of their careers.