Retaining Talent: Lessons For Business Leaders from College Sports Coaches

Written By Sara Plett

Gallup’s decades-long research has consistently shown one thing: money matters. In their 2022 study, over eight thousand employees said that “a significant increase in income or benefits” is the most important factor in deciding whether to accept a position with a different organization. Income and benefits as job features have only grown in significance – in 2015, Gallup ranked it as the fourth most important factor in job selection, but by 2022 it had risen to employees’ number one priority.(1)

This shift is not surprising given the growing presence of Millennials and Generation Z in the workforce. According to this study, Millennials are one of the first generations of Americans to be worse-off than those before them. Over 90% of children born in 1940 earned more money than their parents. Today, only 50% of millennials will secure salaries that eclipse those of their parents.(2)

Nearly 1 out of 3 Gen Z individuals live with their parents, and even those who don’t are not necessarily financially independent. This Pew Research Center report found that over half of adults aged 18 to 34 still rely financially on their parents.(3) As income inequality grows, business leaders can expect employees’ consistent emphasis on salaries and benefits.

The Parallel Challenges of College Sports Coaches and Business Leaders

The United States’ college sport network, the only hyper-commercialized collegiate sports system in the world, is said to generate over $17 billion in revenue annually.(4) Even in an extraordinarily profitable industry, college basketball and football coaches face the same money-related retention battles business owners face.

1) Team members searching for a new team.

In college sports, most players are open to exploring other programs that may offer better opportunities. During the 2023-2024 school year, over 11,000 college football players added their name to NCAA’s transfer portal, which allows other schools to recruit them. Following the 2023 season, 1 in 4 scholarship players transferred schools.(5) The business realm experiences the same phenomenon, and Gallup found that 1 in 2 employees are actively searching for or open to a new job.(6)

2) Competitive pay is not an option.

While being a student athlete can pay well–the top-paid college athletes make anywhere from $500,000 a year to $3.2 million a year–98% of collegiate athletes are completely unpaid. Unpaid or not, players work hard. According to the NCAA, Division 1 athletes dedicate 35.5 hours per week to academics and 33 to athletics–68.5 hours total.(8) That’s more than 89% of U.S. adults work, with this Gallup poll finding that only 11% exceed 60 hours per week.(9) While coaches may have little say in student athlete payment, they still have the responsibility to retain the players.

3) Competitors “poach” players.

Student athletes can now legally profit in college sports due to NIL–or Name, Image, and Likeness. Because student athletes are not paid by their universities, it creates an opportunity for boosters and recruiters to “poach” high-performing players by offering the facilitation of brand deals. Famously, quarterback Jaden Rashada reportedly committed to the University of Miami under a $9.5 million offer but rescinded his registration after the University of Florida approached him with an astonishing $13.5 million deal. This is reflected in the business world, and leaders can expect over half of their workers to consider leaving if offered a higher-paying role.(10)

The plight of a college sport coach is that they must retain students who are largely overworked, unpaid, and receiving recruitment offers from other schools. If coaches lack money, one of the most important factors in holding onto their team members, how do they keep top talent? After reviewing records of the most influential college coaches, the answer is clear: coaches must provide their students athletes with an exceptional team environment, with hope, and with responsible leadership.

Building an Exceptional Team Environment

“Championship teams are a measure, among other things, of their inner solidarity”

- Sally Jenkins, sport columnist for The Washington Post

Dawn Staley was not interested in coaching when originally approached.(11) Although reluctant, she eventually accepted and became one of the most accomplished women’s basketball coaches of all time. When asked about her coaching philosophy, Staley emphasized the importance of building strong relationships. Once the team has a tight-knit bond, “the basketball part becomes very easy because everyone wants to win for each other. We want to work for one another.”(12)

Leading from the top or leading from within?, a research study that interviewed over 300 athletes, found strong leaders inspire a feeling of “us” opposed to a group of individual “I’s”. Leaders who cultivate an “us” environment will be rewarded with a more confident and cohesive team.(13)

More than X’s and O’s, Players Need Hope

Gallup surveyed workers in over 50 countries and asked participants to list three words that describe what a good leader contributes to their life. Over 50% wrote “hope”.(14)

NCAA-level athletes have been playing basketball for more than a decade. Logically, they know everything there is to know about the game. It’s impossible for a coach to teach them a new rule or regulation. These players, more than instruction, require hope, motivation, and direction. Adolph Rupp, late Kentucky basketball coach, argued, “There are no secrets in the game. The only secrets, if there are any, are good teaching of sound fundamentals, intelligent handling of men, a sound system of play, and the ability to instill in the boys a desire to win.”(15)

Hope is a “foundational need” for team members and successful coaches excel at providing it.(16)

Leadership Responsibilities

“...When you accept the opportunity to be a leader, you accept the responsibility.”

- JW Rayhons Watch related video →

It was Baylor v.s. Louisville and the former lost, just barely. The press had quite a bit to say: “...let's call it accurately: [Brittney] Griner had a lousy game” and “There will be no triumphant finish for superstar Brittney Griner, who struggled in her final game for Baylor.”(17)(18) While the public seemed to place the full blame on a player, Baylor's basketball coach, Kim Mulkey, took the responsibility for the loss saying: “Put it right here on these shoulders. Don’t you point one finger on those kids, you put it right on me.”(19)

In his study Responsible Behavior: Stamp of the Effective Manager, Dale Miller studied two groups: executives deemed ready for a management role by their peers, and executives that at first glance seemed prepared, but upon further evaluation were found to be not ready for a promotion. Each group had to prioritize statements regarding topics such as delegation, time management, or staffing. The management-ready executives collectively ranked “accepts full responsibility for the performance of the work unit” as the most important statement, whereas their less successful peers placed significantly less value on this assertion.(20)

Money Isn’t the Only Thing that Matters

While benefits and salary are important facets maintaining team members, these coaches prove there are other ways to meaningfully increase retention. Business leaders who want to increase retention can learn from their examples: by baking solidarity, confidence, and cohesion into the team’s environment like Dawn Staley, by providing a vision, a direction, and hope like Adolph Rupp, and by shouldering the responsibility like Kim Mulkey.

Citations:

(1) Ben Wigert, “The Top 6 Things Employees Want in Their next Job,” Gallup.com, February 21, 2022, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/389807/top-things-employees-next-job.aspx#:~:text=As%20our%20findings%20suggest%2C%20pay,path%20for%20future%20growth%20opportunities

(2) Raj Chetty et al., “The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility since 1940,” Science 356, no. 6336 (December 2016): 398–406, https://doi.org/10.3386/w22910

(3) Rachel Minkin, “Parents, Young Adult Children and the Transition to Adulthood,” Pew Research Center, January 25, 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/01/25/parents-young-adult-children-and-the-transition-to-adulthood/

(4) “Division I Athletics Finances 10-Year Trends from 2013 to 2022,” NCAA Research, December 2023, https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/Finances/2023RES_DI-RevExpReport_FINAL.pdf

(5) Hale, David, Andrea Adelson, and Chris Low. “How North Carolina Football Landed a Coaching Legend in Bill Belichick.” ESPN, March 7, 2025. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44123456/bill-belichick-coaching-legend-north-carolina-scenes-hire

(6) “Indicator: Employee Retention & Attraction.” Gallup.com, February 20, 2025. https://www.gallup.com/467702/indicator-employee-retention-attraction.aspx#:~:text=Line%20chart.,actively%20seeking%20a%20new%20job

(7) Shannon Doyne and Jeremy Engle, “College Athletes Can Now Be Paid. But Not All of Them Are Seeing Money. Is That Fair?,” The New York Times, February 6, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/learning/college-athletes-can-now-be-paid-but-not-all-of-them-are-seeing-money-is-that-fair.html

(8) “Time Management: What Student-Athletes Should Expect,” NCAA Eligibility Center, 2019, http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Student_Resources/Time_Management_DI_DII_DIII.pdf

(9) Megan Brenan, “Women, Hourly Workers Less Satisfied with Some Job Aspects,” Gallup.com, October 4, 2019, https://news.gallup.com/poll/267206/women-hourly-workers-less-satisfied-job-aspects.aspx

(10) Shannon Doyne and Jeremy Engle, “College Athletes Can Now Be Paid. but Not All of Them Are Seeing Money. Is That Fair?,” The New York Times, February 6, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/learning/college-athletes-can-now-be-paid-but-not-all-of-them-are-seeing-money-is-that-fair.html

(11) Dan Wolken, “South Carolina’s Dawn Staley Emerging as New Face of Women’s Basketball,” USA Today, March 14, 2016, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaw/sec/2016/03/14/south-carolinas-dawn-staley-emerging-new-face-womens-basketball/81760334/

(12) “Dawn Staley,” University of South Carolina Athletics, October 13, 2024, https://gamecocksonline.com/sports/wbball/roster/coach/dawn-staley/

(13) Katrien Fransen et al., “Leading from the Top or Leading from within? A Comparison between Coaches’ and Athletes’ Leadership as Predictors of Team Identification, Team Confidence, and Team Cohesion,” International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching 11, no. 6 (November 11, 2016): 757–71, https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954116676102

(14) Jon Clifton and Benedict Vigers, “What Do People Need Most from Leaders?,” Gallup.com, February 11, 2025, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/655817/people-need-leaders.aspx?utm_source=gallup_brand&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gallup_at_work_february_1_02112025&utm_term=information&utm_content=image_imagelink_1

(15) “John Thompson Quotes,” Washington Basketball, 2012, https://en.wbscsupercamps.com/area-coach/document-thompson-john-quotes-washington-basketball-181

(16) Jon Clifton and Benedict Vigers, “What Do People Need Most from Leaders?,” Gallup.com, February 11, 2025, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/655817/people-need-leaders.aspx?utm_source=gallup_brand&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gallup_at_work_february_1_02112025&utm_term=information&utm_content=image_imagelink_1

(17) Richard Kent, “Commentary: Kim Mulkey, Brittney Griner, and Loyalty,” Swish Appeal, May 27, 2013, https://www.swishappeal.com/2013/5/27/4370176/brittney-griner-kim-mulkey-baylor-lady-bears

(18) Mechelle Voepel, “Louisville 82, Baylor 81,” ESPN, March 31, 2013, https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/tournament/2013/story/_/id/9118534/women-ncaa-tournament-2013-louisville-cardinals-upset-baylor-lady-bears

(19) Richard Kent, “Commentary: Kim Mulkey, Brittney Griner, and Loyalty,” Swish Appeal, May 27, 2013, https://www.swishappeal.com/2013/5/27/4370176/brittney-griner-kim-mulkey-baylor-lady-bears

(20) Jack Zenger, “Taking Responsibility Is the Highest Mark of Great Leaders,” Forbes, July 16, 2015, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackzenger/2015/07/16/taking-responsibility-is-the-highest-mark-of-great-leaders/

Sara Plett
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