Geno Auriemma has led UConn women’s basketball to nine national championships and counting, presiding over arguably the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport. He is a man who is able to relate to women at a championship level.
Pat Summitt sits atop the all-time women‘s college basketball wins list, collecting 1098 victories over 38 remarkable seasons at Tennessee. And while the Lady Vols ruled during her reign, the men’s team was often mired in mediocrity, running through nine different head coaches. Summitt loyally held her post, but the question was often asked, wasn’t she the best woman for the men’s job?
Caryl Smith Gilbert was an assistant track coach at Tennessee for five years, and she absolutely believes Summitt would have made a tremendous leader of men. Now the Director of Track and Field at USC for both the men’s and women’s programs, Smith Gilbert gets to run the experiment, although she does not see it that way.
“They‘re all athletes,” Coach Caryl says, underplaying the moment. Dig a little deeper though, and her Master’s in sports psychology comes out.
“The women are a little more social. The men are a little more egotistical,” Smith-Gilbert has observed. “Most of the time, you are calming the men down to relax and concentrate, and you‘re trying to get the women to be more serious.”
Upon taking the job, she did not really address gender differences with the team, but as a mother of three boys, she already knew that her approach would have to change.
“Young men don’t have real good memories,” she laughs. “You can’t beat them up all the time about everything. You have to give them some encouragement, but you also have to stand firm about what you say. Clear, concise direction and expectation, and they always come through.”
Smith Gilbert, a six-time Conference USA Women’s Coach of the Year at Central Florida, has been coaching track & field for more than 20 years now, so while she recognizes the differences between men and women, she focuses more on the relationship between coach and athlete. The commonality has to be respect.
“I do believe that respect is absolutely earned, I think by telling the truth,” Smith Gilbert digs into her core philosophy. “Sometimes the truth doesn’t sound good. Sometimes it hurts. But in those moments when the truth is positive, they trust you and believe you because you told them the truth when it wasn’t pretty.
“Respect comes from trust and truth. If you get those two things, you get performance. There’s X’s and O’s of coaching, but then there‘s personality management. If your athlete does not come to you personally about something away from the sport, then you are not getting through to him. If you don’t get through to him, it’s going to be hard to get the performance.”
Entering year two, Smith Gilbert has already made an impact at USC. In her first season, she was named the MPSF Women’s Coach of the Year, guiding the Women of Troy to the conference indoor championship. She then pushed the men’s team to a fourth place finish nationally at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, which was the program’s highest standing since 2003.
Coach Caryl ticks more than one minority box in the profession, so she views her success through several different lenses. As a woman, she commands the respect of a coach, no matter the athlete’s gender.
“A lot of people still don’t respect women at the same level as they respect men, and I see that in all areas,” she states plainly. “But, it is very important that I do well for other women and for the women on our team. And, I think it helps the men on our team to know that you can respect women and trust women for later on in life. There are strong women that will help you succeed.”
And as an African-American, joining fellow USC head coaches Cynthia Cooper-Dyke and Keidane McAlpine, she is looking to inspire more than her race. She desires a greater victory for inclusion as the prevailing mindset in collegiate athletics.
“It is important that we become role models for everyone, so African-American people can see what we are doing, but also, all the other cultures and personalities and people and genders. When we succeed, it just breaks down another barrier for everybody not just one group in particular.”
Smith Gilbert knows the stakes of this experiment, but instead of feeling the burden of pressure as one of the nation’s only women to coach men at a high level, she is lifted by the two qualities that put her in the spotlight, sincerity and determination. While she lacks Pat Summitt’s track record, Coach Caryl just might be a perfect test case because her split personality matches her dual role.
“I like it better because of the personality differences. I can go out and be emotional with the women and give a rah-rah speech, but then I can kick the men in the butt, but they like that, and that‘s more my personality anyway,” she says with a wide smile. “I’m learning a lot about people.”
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