Best Coaches of 2012

A coaches blog should celebrate coaching and coaches; seems natural, right? But most of the pundits, publishers and those that are members of the blogosphere seem to only put their focus in their wheel house.

So we’ll try to buck that trend. Please enjoy the Top 10 Coaches of 2012 presented by Arizona Sidelines.

10. John Speraw- UCLA Men’s Head Volleyball Coach

Speraw lead his University of California – Irvine Anteaters to their third NCAA National Championship in six years with a 3-0 sweep of USC at the Galen Center. Speraw accepted the head coaching position to his alma mater UCLA a few weeks after the Championship and hopes to live up to the high expectations that the retiring Al Scates left there. In addition, Speraw has been involved with the Men’s National teams, the Pan Am teams and is well versed in the International game. Had he made himself available, all fingers pointed to Speraw as the next Men’s National Team coach but he will be at the helm of the Bruins for the near future.

9. Jimmy Pedro- USA Olympic Judo Coach

Six years ago, Pedro brought together the 20 best Judo athletes in the nation and created a high performance plan in conjunction with USA Judo and the USOC. The fruits of that labor came together as Kayla Harrison won the first Olympic gold medal in Judo in US history. The back story is how Harrison, who was sexually abused by her previous coach, came to trust and finally credit Pedro for his efforts in her gold medal performance. Pedro showed both a long term vision and the ability to connect with individual athletes and has been the major force in putting judo on the US sports radar.

8. Lin Dunn- WNBA Indiana Fever Head Coach

The 65 year old Dunn won her first WNBA title guiding the Indiana Fever to an upset win over the heavily favored and defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx. Add to that her best post player and second leading scorer, Katie Douglas sprained her ankle and was unable to play. Dunn said about the upset and the fact her team rallied around the fallen Douglas, “A lot of emotional things came into play here that somehow overcame talent.”

7. Todd Schmitz- USA Olympic Swimming Coach of Missy Franklin

At 33, Schmitz can lay claim to guiding Miss Franklin to four gold medals and five total in her first Olympics, at the ripe age of 17. The secret of his success? It’s not what you would think. Schmitz is committed as a coach to rest and play. When his athletes get fried in a work out, he stops the laps and sets up an impromptu water polo match. "A lot of this is about simply playing around in the water," he said. "That's what kids do naturally, and the play engages the mind and gives the swimmer the tools to figure out the right way to move their body." Schmitz made sure Franklin attended her boyfriend’s prom at the expense of a workout. Clearly, Schmitz sees the potential pitfalls of burnout in young athletes and his training methods and priorities have a proven bag of gold in Franklin.  

6. Mike Krzyzewski- USA Men’s Olympic Basketball Coach

Tough to sell this choice, right? Think about this; in a world of athletes more concerned about the ‘me’ instead of the team, a world where the Olympic team made a combined $230 million in salary the YEAR before the games, a world where statistics are as tightly affixed to player’s mentality as a heavyweight title belt, Coach K got these mega stars to buy into a team mentality, playing tough defense, working together and putting aside personal gain for a gold medal for the United States. His job with the group is an amazing example of buy in and the implementation of a far greater goal of the team over the ‘me’. 

Check back in a few days to see the top 5 coaches of 2012. Feel free to give us your feedback on our selections at Region Outreach.