Al Bean on Coaching, Leadership, and Why Great Coaches Change Lives

Grab your coffee, grab your tea, grab your water, whatever it is, and, um, get ready to have a conversation about what it means to be a student athlete, what it means to be a coach, and all this stuff.

But before we do that, um, we, we touched on the name Richard Rasmussen, and you having a Lifetime Achievement Award in, um, in his name, right? Is that how that is?

Yeah.

He gave that to you.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's named for him.

Yeah, named for him.

Um, tell us w- what he meant and means to you in your life.

Uh, when I first started as an athletic director and I was, you know, really trying to learn and become better at what I was doing, he was one of the key people in Division III.

Uh, he was the commissioner of the UAA, which is all the research institutions in the country.

Um, Washington University, Carnegie Mellon, all of the really, uh, highly academic institutions.

And he just seemed to be ahead of everyoneIn terms of his knowledge base, his ability to get through things, make positive changes.

So I spent a lot of time paying attention to him and, uh, his thought process and why he got to certain points.

And then, uh, later on I got to, uh, work with him in, uh, with the, uh, Division III Athletic Administrators organization, which he helped to create.

And I had an opportunity to work with him on that board and serve as president and chair, uh, vice chair for a couple of years.

So Dick and I continue to, uh, communicate on a regular basis.

He retired a couple years ago after a long time as commissioner of the UAA.

But a very bright guy, and a real honor to have something named after him.

Hmm.

That's awesome.

Do you-- Is there a secret to your success that you could bottle up and, and give to us? Like, uh, do you have, do you have like a, do you believe in networking is the key to it? Do you believe in being kind? All of, you know, what are, what are your, some of your little tricks for, you know, being who you are?

Well, I think, you know, most of what we do in life, uh, although it's hard, it's hard to always see this now, but, uh, athletics, like anything, is a people business, so you have to get to know people, you have to care about them, you have to listen to them and, um, try to work with them in a way that helps to, uh, move them forward, teach them, and get them to a better point in their life.

And I think if you can create that sort of an environment where people know that you are in their corner, but that you also will hold them accountable for their actions, then, um, I think, I think it helps everybody when you do that.

That sums that up so nicely, 'cause I feel that being around you.

You've given me a shot at a few things and, um, held me accountable and, and helped me and so forth, so I, I know what that feels like firsthand to be around your mentorship and leadership, so, um, you know, I, I really appreciate being able to know you.