Collegiate Landscape
The introduction of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has upended collegiate sports. A head coach’s responsibilities have grown, regulations loosened, and virtually no guardrails exist. The line separating outsiders, agents, representatives and even bettors from the players themselves are nearly invisible. “People are recruiting my players from my team right now. Right now, and there are no rules, no accountability, no nothing,” Close says, her irritation clear.
The strain doesn’t stop there. “I am struggling with all that’s expected of us — recruiting, class checks, game management, the transfer portal, dealing with agents, marketing, brand building. All of it,” Close said. “Suddenly, you have no life. Zero.”
Close, 54, is tough, passionate, and outspoken. This time, her unfiltered honesty turns inward. “I’ve been honest with myself. I’m single. I never thought I would not be married by this point in my life. I’ve poured everything into building this program and this profession, and I’m realizing I can’t let my why get squeezed out. If I’m trying to serve people while my cup is empty, I’m not going to be able to live out my why.”
Close’s belief in the impact of sports on young adults remains the single most powerful force, helping her push through what she describes as the most challenging time in her career. “Name a better training ground for young people in leadership, self-esteem, work ethic, attention to detail. The stats are staggering about people in C-suite positions, especially women. Over 50% of them played sports in college. 75% played sports in high school or below. It’s equipping. I believe in it so deeply, but I can’t keep this pace up.”
For Close, “pressure is a privilege.” But when that privilege becomes a burden, coaching her players — who are navigating their own off-court battles — becomes twice as hard. “I am fighting for their attention and for their hearts. Coach Tasha (UCLA assistant coach Tasha Brown) always has them write down what’s vying for their attention today. We start with a circle, then another inner circle. On the outer rim we write down all the things vying for our attention that are out of our control. In the inner circle, we write things that are under our control and what we want our attention to be on. It’s a discipline.”
The discipline Close seeks to instill in her players mirrors what she demands in herself. In her office, a shovel and a broom hang on her wall as reminders when her focus wavers. “The broom comes from a book, Legacy, in which the team’s executives and captains swept the sheds every day. A reminder to always be a servant leader. That shovel reminds me to invest in people below the surface. If I do those things well, then the buy-in comes.” Together, these tools form the foundation of her approach to building an elite program.
