Results of a 2009 scheduling survey of Division 1 Men’s Basketball Coaches who also enjoy the dual responsibility of scheduling concluded that around 20% of that coach’s time is dedicated to scheduling. Responsibilities include countless phone calls to other institutions, back and forth emails and text messages with other potential schedulers, working with university budget constraints, and keeping up-to-date with RPI and future recruiting commitments for potential opponents. Finally the lead scheduler must continually pursue the athletic director and head coach whom may have differing opinions on strength of schedule and teams they would like to compete against.
Game scheduling is vital to the success of every program. Maintaining a schedule that will keep your head coach, your administration, local and national media, along with your boosters and fans happy is constantly challenging. The unknown is when does a staff determine the best time to schedule opponents, and how far in advance is it necessary to coordinate scheduling?
According to our survey, over 60% of the schedulers concluded it is best practice to schedule 2-5 years in advance. Surprisingly, that leaves almost 40% of coaches who focus only on the upcoming season’s schedule. This group feels it is best to have all your focus on the approaching season and not to get consumed by future seasons. The latter group may not reject a discussion beyond the upcoming season, but typically will not complete any agreements more than two years out or until the upcoming schedule is complete.
The majority of schedulers at the Division 1 level conclude scheduling in advance is paramount, but is one way really better than the other?
Planning Ahead
The most obvious reason the majority of coaches work on the schedule years in advance is because scheduling takes up a large portion of time. If not for the obligation of building a schedule, the coach would have more time to spend on recruiting, game preparation, scouting, and even family time. Working two or three years ahead may allow more devotion to those other areas.
As one scheduler put it, “I like to finish the schedule as early as possible so that we can release it and move on.”If the upcoming season’s schedule is finished a year in advance, there is less pressure caused by an approaching deadline and more available time. All college coaches have plenty of things to keep them busy, finishing the schedule as early as possible helps eliminate one of the many burdens.
Schedulers that complete early also are not perceived as desperate and may be able to schedule future games if opponents believe the school will simply move on if not scheduled early. Also schools that complete early may have eliminated the concern of budget cuts that may in turn force scheduling decisions that are predicated on guarantees rather than the quality of the schedule. It may also prevent over spending for guarantee games later in the scheduling calendar.
All schools, but smaller institutions in particular, may benefit from completing a schedule prior to the season end because the release of the following years schedule typically generates continued interest in the program. Even if the schedule is not quite refined, an announcement of signed games, especially the marquee non-conference matchups, can cause excitement that will get fans and media talking about the basketball team during a time they otherwise may not be a vocal point.
