Reference check questions for college coaches

Win-loss records, recruiting classes and conference titles are public. What happens at practice, on a recruiting visit and in the training room is not. References from the people who worked inside a program can tell you how the candidate talks to athletes after a loss, what they told recruits and their families, and whether they went to the compliance office before acting or after.

Coaching searches often move fast and run on informal calls between people who know each other. Treat those calls as references: ask the candidate first, ask everyone the same questions and write down what you hear. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s guidance on reference checking makes the same case: asking every reference the same structured questions makes the answers more useful.

Who to ask

• The athletic director or sport administrator the candidate reported to, for results, budget habits and how they handled problems in the program.
• The compliance director at a current or previous institution, with the candidate’s consent, for their rules record and whether they asked before they acted.
• An athletic trainer or team physician who worked with the team, for how the candidate treated injuries and decisions to hold an athlete out.
• Former athletes who have finished their eligibility, including some who played little, and for a head coach, an assistant who worked under them.

Questions to ask, by competency

Choose the competencies that matter most for the position and two or three questions from each. Ask every reference the same set, and when an answer is a rating, ask for the example behind it.

Recruiting conduct

Recruits and families commit on the strength of what a coach tells them, and promises about roles, playing time or scholarship terms follow the coach into the locker room.

1. How did the candidate describe playing time, roles and scholarship terms to recruits and their families, and did athletes later feel misled?
2. How did the candidate check a recruiting contact, visit or offer with the compliance office before making it?
3. Tell me about a recruit the candidate stopped pursuing. What led to that, and how did they tell the family?

Student-athlete welfare

A coach controls practice, playing time and much of an athlete’s week, and athletes may hesitate to complain while they still need the coach’s approval.

1. How did the candidate respond when an athletic trainer or team physician held an athlete out of practice or competition?
2. How did the candidate handle an athlete who was struggling emotionally, in class or with teammates?
3. What did the candidate do to prevent hazing or bullying on the team, and how did they respond when a problem came to light?
4. Based on what you saw at practice and after games, how would you rate the way the candidate treated athletes during a losing stretch? (rating)

Rules compliance and staff oversight

A program’s rules record depends on what its coach asks before acting and on how closely they watch their own staff.

1. Tell me about a time the candidate was unsure whether something was allowed. Whom did they ask, and was it before or after they acted?
2. Did the candidate ever report a possible violation by their own program? How did they handle it with their staff?
3. How closely did the candidate oversee assistant coaches’ contact with recruits, families and boosters?

Academics and eligibility

Athletes who fall behind in class put their eligibility and their degree at risk, and a coach’s practice and travel decisions shape whether they keep up.

1. How did the candidate work with academic advisors on athletes’ class attendance, grades and progress toward a degree?
2. When practice, travel or competition clashed with an exam or lab, how did the candidate resolve it?

Close the reference

End every reference the same way: ask whether they would hire or work with the candidate again and why, what support would help the candidate do their best work, and whether there is anything else you should know. The general question bank explains why the first of these matters most.

Checks a reference does not replace

• The candidate’s rules history. With the candidate’s consent, ask the compliance office at each institution where they coached whether they were involved in any violation, and read any public decision involving their programs.
• Any certification your athletic association or institution requires before a coach recruits or works with athletes, such as a recruiting rules test or first aid and CPR, where your rules call for one.
• Titles and seasons with each athletics department. Assistant, associate head and interim titles are easy to blur in a coach’s listed history.

Warning signs to follow up

• A run of athletes leaving the program that references explain only as "not a fit".
• A compliance officer who says the candidate usually asked questions after acting rather than before.
• References drawn from boosters, fans or media rather than from the athletic director, compliance or medical staff.
• Hesitation when you ask how the candidate reacted to a medical decision to hold an athlete out.
• A departure in the middle of a season or contract that no reference will explain.

One warning sign is a reason to ask another question, not a verdict. Reference check red flags covers how to check a concern fairly.

Questions to leave out

Ask only about the work. Before an offer, the EEOC’s guidance says an employer may not ask a third party, such as a former employer, any question it could not ask the candidate directly. Leave out health, medical leave, age, family plans and other protected characteristics. What to leave out has the full list.