College coaching has changed dramatically in the last decade. There are pressures at every level, whether it be Division III and using athletes to drive campus enrollment or Division I where the expectations to win surround a coaching staff every waking moment. But for Division I Olympic sports coaches, there is a third pressure lurking in the back of their minds—will my sport be dropped to accommodate the growing spending for football and/or the financial pressures as a result of the pandemic? College coaches are increasingly becoming fundraisers FIRST, and coaches after.

Recognizing that there is great strength in banding together, the Intercollegiate Coach Association Coalition (which has a website called “Save College Sports”) launched in Spring 2020. The group is comprised of 21 different collegiate and amateur sport  organizations.

My guests today are two of the leaders of that coalition, Greg Earhart and Kathy DeBoer. Kathy is the Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and Greg is the Executive Director of the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America. Both have worked to represent the interests of hundreds of coaches and teams. We discuss the Great Resignation, the challenges with keeping coaches and teams mentally strong, and their sports intact as the pandemic wears on.