By Collin Fehr
(October 18, 2022)
Coaches are often highly competitive people. They are driven to succeed both in and out of sport. A vital part of any coach’s job is to develop athletes to achieve optimal performance. To do this, every coach must first develop themselves. Although many outlets are available, an essential component of any coach’s development is a regular reflection on current practices. Not only does this activity benefit the reflecting coach, but other coaches can also benefit from observing the results. This article series aims to highlight three experienced coaches and their responses to a simple reflective exercise. Their replies are meant to stimulate reflection in other coaches who are then invited to emulate this same process. Each article in this three-part series will spotlight one coach’s simple reflective practice using a Question-and-Answer format.
Shaun Pohlman, Head Volleyball Coach, Lewis-Clark State College
How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in southern Idaho (Twin Falls). I went to the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) before finishing my bachelor’s degree at Idaho State University (ISU). During my time at CSI, I fell in love with the sport of volleyball. I started playing on my dad’s D-league recreation team which was basically backyard picnic volleyball. I was athletic enough to get the attention of some people who picked me up for some coed adult tournaments and eventually got into some higher-level club tournaments. At ISU, I played setter and became the president of the club volleyball team and was responsible for typical coaching duties including coordinating travel, planning practice, fundraising, and recruiting. We won the Bronze medal at the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Championship during my senior year.
After graduating, I landed positions in Filer, ID, as the 7th grade and varsity assistant volleyball coach. During the spring, I coached the school club team and started my own club, the Southern Idaho Volleyball Club. Out of seemingly nowhere, I was invited to apply for the Head Coach position at Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, KS. After three seasons there, I took a job closer to home at Northwest College in Powell, WY. In seven seasons at Northwest, the team earned four consecutive bids to nationals including back-to-back semifinal appearances at the national tournament. In 2018, I was fortunate enough to start my current tenure as the head coach of Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID.
What is your coaching philosophy/style?
In short, “Love ‘em and teach ‘em, don’t just leave ‘em.” This isn’t a saying I use – just came up with it now in fact, but it is something I feel inside me all the time as a coach. Young adults make mistakes, and every time I think an 18- to 22-year-old is mature enough to know better, I get a friendly reminder that they are still developing. Communication, conflict resolution, setting boundaries, asking for help, critical thinking, self-efficacy, interdependency, and the list goes on with the goals we have to help our student-athletes build life skills. It’s a holistic approach. Minnesota football head coach PJ Fleck said something to the effect of, “Other coaches may want to care about one thing – football, but we care about everything and expect our guys to care about more than just football too.” I relate to that so much. Every coach cares about their sport and winning, but not every coach is willing to put the person first. The other side to that is knowing you can’t always put 16-18 people’s individual needs first or everyone ends up unhappy. Thus, boundaries are important; still, I want to believe my student-athletes believe I care about them as people, students, and athletes. I am a huge fan of Simon Sinek and his take on putting people first, not numbers (or winning/losing).
What has worked well in your coaching career?
Outside of putting our people first, I would say being curious. I ask the question ‘why’ a lot. Our brains are made to put things in a proper order that makes sense to us. If we don’t do that, we either forget it or ignore it and there’s some extremely valuable information out there we could be using if we just create logic and understanding around it. I shamelessly asked coaches in my last conference what, how, and why they do things. This allowed us to be intentional in planning and practicing because we would know we were doing things on purpose. If it worked, we usually knew why; the same if it didn’t work.
This also helped in off-court areas. If a player seems off, I would be curious why that might be. In that vein, the approach is empathy and understanding which led to better interactions with my players. It sometimes created a self-awareness in our players so they, too, knew why they said or did something which also opened lines of communication and dialogue.
What has NOT worked well in your coaching career?
I must admit that much of my troubles, which are within my control, came from some sort of healthy boundaries not being set or followed. Whether it be the work-life balance or giving an irresponsible student-athlete too many chances because you really think they will turn the corner, even though it may negatively affect the team. A deeper example would be a situation where I wouldn’t balance process and outcome. Too much of the process removes flow state and competitiveness and too much outcome creates panic. Both are valuable but require intentional use and good judgment in timing.
I think healthy boundaries are demonstrated when people spend their time “caring.” Some student-athletes care about what their parents think so poor boundaries may lead to affected performances. Healthy boundaries would be a student-athlete discussing those needs with their parents. If a coach cares too much about winning, they need to set a boundary on what tactics/strategies will be used to keep a healthy mindset (i.e., cheating). For me, I love and care about the future of my student-athletes and coaching staff. Consequently, the boundary is in making sure I am taking care of myself in some situations, also in considering how the team might be affected by an individual, and finally, in empowering our student-athletes and not enabling them to be dependent upon others for things they can do themselves. If only this were a science, it would be easier!
What is one thing you wish you had known early on?
How do other coaches do things… which is my advice in the next question.
What is the best piece of advice you can give an aspiring young coach?
Don’t just “start coaching” because you played before. I remember my uncle letting me take the control of a plane while flying. It doesn’t mean I know how to fly just because I’ve experienced it. We would never let an accountant do our taxes without experience or formal training. There is a very easy way to get quality experience relatively quickly.
Travel the country and go to different gyms for a week at a time to learn how they do things. Most coaches are willing to open their doors to people. Take in as much as you can with how other coaches do their thing, but always keep a filter. Just because a bigger school does something with their 6’3” front-row hitters, it doesn’t mean our 5’9” players should be doing it. There are ways to take what people do and adapt it though; so, get out there and observe, ask questions (especially why), and find a way to modify it to your needs.
About Coach Pohlman: Shaun Pohlman is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Lewis-Clark State College Volleyball program. During his first four seasons, Pohlman displayed glimpses of a new future for Warrior Volleyball following suit to his successful junior college career that spanned 11 years.
In his short time at LC, 14 Warriors have been voted all-conference, six were tabbed as American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-West Region team members, and one earned both the NAIA All-American and AVCA All-American accolades. On the academic front, the 2018 Warriors had a First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American – a first for Pohlman and the first for the program since 2001. Pohlman’s holistic approach helped improve the team’s GPA from a sub-3.0 to a 3.24 in his first year.
Pohlman came to Lewis-Clark State by way of Northwest College (Powell, Wyoming), where he amassed a 168-49 (0.680) record over seven years. Upon taking over for the Trappers in 2011, the program grew into a national powerhouse with an Elite Eight finish in 2013, back-to-back Final Four finishes in 2014 and 2015, and a sixth-place finish in 2016 at the NJCAA National Championship. Prior to Northwest, Pohlman was the head coach at Dodge City Community College. Pohlman was born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho, where he attended the College of Southern Idaho. There he earned his Associate of Arts Degree in Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Pohlman completed his Bachelor of Science Degree in Educational Interpreting in Sign Language at Idaho State University.
