Labar: What Good Leadership in College Sports Looks Like

By Abby Labar
Sportmoney Columnist

I’ve spent the bulk of my 10 year broadcasting career covering college sports, witnessing firsthand the changes over the last decade when it comes to recruiting, the transfer portal, NIL and the impact social media has on all of it. 

Imagine being 18 years old again and being faced with the decisions that some of these student-athletes have to make – in addition to the pressures of the spotlight and now navigating the financial aspect of it all. Leadership, and I mean GOOD leadership, in college sports is more important now than ever. But what are examples of that good leadership these days?

Living in Raleigh, North Carolina, as a graduate of NC State University, tobacco road was the mecca for college sports and I covered a number of them at different schools and at different levels. As a Wolfpack fan through and through, my heart was broken numerous times by UNC and Duke…especially in basketball. But I always admired and respected the long tenures of Coach K and Roy Williams. 

Before the transfer portal in football, a lot of controversy in college sports centered around “one and done’s” in basketball. NC State had its fair share of those, so I would always get frustrated when Coach K and Williams always seemed to find a way to recruit and keep some of the stars around on a more consistent basis.

NC State football coach Dave Doeren is a more recent example of a coach that’s adapted to the changes. He’s learned how to recruit and sell his program in this new era. Guys like Alim McNeill, Germaine Pratt, Bradley Chubb and Drake Thomas, among others, are players he recruited that did not transfer, were built up through the program, and went on to be an example for other players. Those players even started recruiting guys themselves to come to the school. 

You can see off the field in the way Doeren conducts interviews and press conferences why players stay with him. He’s stoic when he needs to be, but he’s passionate and not afraid to speak his mind in protecting his players, smoking a cigar and holding a red solo cup throughout the process. 

This hard work has paid off, as Doeren recently signed an extension through 2029 and is entering his 12th season as the head coach of the Wolfpack football program. That will tie him for the 6th-longest tenure in college football. 

You know who else is tied for the 6th-longest tenure coaching his respective college sport? Elliott Avent. He just wrapped up his 25th season as the head coach of NC State baseball. Okay I know – we’re going NC State heavy here, but that’s because it’s what I was exposed to the most, and quite frankly they really are good examples. 

The NC State Baseball program has always been an attractive spot for highly touted recruits and talent. I covered the team closely for four years while in college and saw the passion Avent had for his team and the passion the players had in playing for him because he cared so much. 

In today’s world where these young kids hear a guy like Jim Schlossnagle say point blank he would “never” leave Texas A&M for another program and then turn around and betray his word the NEXT day by taking a job at the school’s biggest rival – it’s hard for players to trust what they are being sold. 

The timing of this column was actually inspired by the conclusion of the College World Series. Watching what Tony Vitello has been able to do for Tennessee is admirable and a true example of leadership in college sports in an even more modern way than the previous coaches I’ve mentioned. Forty-five-year-old Vitello, who just won American Baseball Coaches Association National Coach of the Year and led Tennessee to their first national championship, was hired by the Volunteers in 2018 and completely turned the program around. 

How? Take one look at the postgame content following the CWS and you will know the answer. People criticized him for his “childish” antics in how he acted in celebrating the win, jumping into the crowd and handling his postgame interview the way he did. But here is the deal: His passion is unmatched. Put yourself in the shoes of that 18 year old I mentioned in the beginning. Who would you want to play for? Of course a young college student wants to feel that a leader cares the way Vitello does. 

My MLB Network colleague Greg Amsinger is good friends with Tony Vitello and has seen what makes him unique. “Tony Vitello has his finger on the pulse of what makes players tick. He won’t beg anyone to join his program,” Amsinger said. “If you’re not oozing passion like him, he’s not interested anyway. Baseball at Tennessee has become a national party and you HOPE you’re invited.”

I could give so many more examples of great coaches in this modern day that are active on social media, supportive of their players and most importantly passionate about their programs. Sure it’s a business, I understand that and I’ve seen it myself. We live in a world of instant gratification where boosters and AD’s expect coaches to win and win right now. 

I’m not undermining any of that. But that’s why these types of coaches and this kind of leadership are more important now than ever. The coaches that understand these student-athletes are the reason that this is even a business in the first place, and ultimately that they are kids and human beings first. Those are the leaders we need more of.