April 15, 2024 • 29 mins
Tim Cates talks with new Long Beach State Basketball Coach Chris Acker about getting his dream job in college hoops. After serving as an assistant coach at San Diego State the last five seasons, Coach Acker is excited about building the Beach program and taking it to new levels in the Big West Conference. He talks about the importance of mental health with coaches and players. Coach Acker is a graduate of the MCAA program at Concordia University Irvine and talks about his experience in the program and how it helped him in his growth as a coach.
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After years of coaching at the JClevel and as an assistant at the Division
IE level, he's now the headcoach at what he calls his dream job.
He is Chris Acker, and he'sthe new basketball coach at Long Beach
State, and he joins us nowon episode seventy of the Masters in Coaching
Podcast. Let's go. Well,welcome into episode seventy of the Masters in
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Coaching Podcast here on Ihear Radio orwherever you download your podcast. We appreciate
it. So excited to talk tothis week's guest, former player, including
professionally here in the States and overseas. He's been a coach now for sixteen
plus years, an assistant at theJC level here in Southern California, head
coach at West LA College, assistantcoach then at D one at Hawaii,
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assistant coach at Boise State, mostrecently five years of the assistant coach at
San Diego State, and just afew weeks ago here named as the head
coach at Long Beach State. Heis Chris Aker, and he joins us
now here on the Masters in CoachingPodcast. Coach, Congratulations, how you
doing. I'm doing fantastic. I'mdoing fantastic, Really appreciate the opportunity to
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be on absolutely just talk about thewhirl win of the last few weeks.
The season ends for you guys inSan Diego States, and then that carousel
starts with the coaching carousel in collegebasketball, and now you're you're back home
here in the LA area at LongBeach State. Talk about what it's been
like for you and your family.It's been amazing. You know, I
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got no complaints at all. It'sbeen exciting, and it's been hard on
both ends. Early on, whenI first found out I had a job,
it got put out there on socialmedia, and I hadn't had a
chance to tell the players yet,and so that was a little bit disheartening
because the guys that I was coaching, I think we were playing Yale,
we were going into that game,and I hadn't had a chance to tell
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him, and you know, itwas just a little awkward for a little
while. And then you know,I still didn't get a chance to tell
them when we got to Boston andwe ended up losing the un and then
on the bus ride home they hadalready heard, but I had the opportunity
to tell him then. So thatwas that was that was exciting. You
know, my family and I werespread all over the place. I'm literally
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sitting here in San Diego right nowbecause I wanted to get back and be
able to take my boys to theirpractices and and and you know, still
be a dad. But you know, now I got a program to run,
come running back and forth from SanDiego to Loan Beach and then eventually
will migrate completely over the Loan Beach. But it's been a whirlwind. It's
been exciting, but it's been ablessing. Nonetheless, kind of pull back
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the curd a little bit. Wasthis something you really pursue when the job
came open? Was was Long BeachState? Like, Hey, you know
every off season is different jobs openup. Maybe it's a fit, maybe
it's not a fit. Whatever timein your life it's just not right.
But was this the right time andthe right fit for you? It was
perfect for me, you know itwas you know before I even when I
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first got into coaching, you know, people would ask me all the time,
well, what's your dream job?Where do you want to be?
You don't really have an idea.And then you know, after I left
the university, of Hawaii going toBoise State, I said, well,
I don't want to keep traveling allthese different places like I want to find
a home. And Leon Rice atthe time was the head coach at Boise
State, asked me. He said, what is your dream job? And
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I said, you know, LongBeach State would be a great place.
I grew up kind of playing inthat pyramid, watching AU games in there
and playing AU games in there,and I just felt like the lineage of
players that have played there and thetraditions they had would be it could be
a place where I could live foreverbecause of the city and in this current
client with nil Even then, Ididn't understand what it was, but now
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having a job, it's a placewhere people will come and you'll be able
to retain players and retain coaches.So in the current climate, it's an
unbelievable opportunity from that standpoint as well. But you know, Lombe State has
always been a dream job for me, and I think the most exciting thing
and the reason why it was theperfect job for me was because I was
leaving San Diego State, where SanDiego State's and his own hub out in
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San Diego it's his own community ofpeople. People love being around each other.
It's vibrant, it's exciting, andLong Beach State, I mean,
it's very similar to San Diego Statein that regard. It's his own hub.
It's a community of people that loveLong Beach they love everything it has
to offer. They want you torecruit locally, they want you in the
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community, and they're excited. Imean, I'm walking on campus and people
from you know, there's a trackand field meet going on, and people
are running over saying hello and goodluck this season, coach. So it's
just a great place to be apart of and an environment to be in.
We'll get into your vision and whatyou hope to do, and we're
going to get into the nil conversationin a couple of minutes. Well,
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I want to go back to howyou got into coaching and why you decided
to get into coaching your playing careerends at that point. Did you have
other decisions other things you we wantedto pursue or was coaching Is that what
you wanted to do. No,I actually had no idea that I wanted
to coach. I was actually playingfor fashionally in Europe and I came home
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because of an injury, and Iwas kind of nursing a nagging injury in
my on my side and my rib. And I walked into a gym where
a buddy of mine was an assistantcoach at Citrus College and he said,
hey, you're rehabbing, you wantto come play with some of our guys
And I said, yeah, I'llcome play before I head back over.
And Rick Croyd, who's the headcoach at cal Baptist University right now,
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he reached out to me after thatworkout and he said, hey, if
you ever want to coach, youknow you can. You can coach here.
And I thought about it and thoughtabout it and molded over and I
was tired of going back and forthoverseas and I called him and I said,
coach, how much does it pay? And he said nine hundred dollars.
I said nine hundred dollars is likea day and he was like,
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no, nine hundred dollars for theyear. I said, I said,
I'm tired of it. I've saveda little bit of money. Maybe I
can make this work. And Ijust dove into it, and you know,
I dove in head first and Ijust aired on the side of aggression.
And you know, that year wewent through thirty five stage championship and
at that moment, as we weregoing through that that journey that season,
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I fell in love with it andI've never looked back ever since. You've
coached at the j C level asa head coach as well, and then
you go D one as an assistantcoach, and that first opportunity is out
there in Hawaii. Uh talk aboutthe different levels and coach at the JC
level and then taking that leap toDivision one? Was it just the right
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time? And then opening that thatwas the right fit for you to make
that jump to go to Hawaii.Well, I'll say this, I'm a
firm believer that God does everything fora reason and everything is is ordered.
It has always been that way inmy life. I've been very, very
blessed in that regard. And literally, you know, when I got the
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Juco opportunity to coach, you know, I was around people that I was
familiar with, and we all thrived. We were all about the same age,
and we just hit the ground runningand it was like deaf Com five.
There was no rules. You coulddo whatever you want and I just
always thought like, if you're goingto cut your teeth at a level to
learn how to do everything, it'sthe JC level, you know, because
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you get to do everything. Youget to coach, you get to recruit,
you get to be a manager,you get to be the physical trainer,
you get to do it, bea mental therapist. I mean,
you get to do everything at thatlevel, and it just prepares you for
whatever is to come, and itpush you in so many different situations and
you have to endure so many differentvariables to survive at the community college level.
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And literally we went ninety two andnine and that six year stretch that
we were together, and all ofthose guys currently right now are coaching Division
one basketball. Some of them arehead coaches at different Division one programs.
Now I'm joining that rank as wellas a head coach. So we had
a lot of success. And thedifference between the two really is the fact
that it's way more of a businessat the Division one level than at the
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community college level. But if youtreat it with the same respect that you
treated it at the men to collegelevel, meaning you're still pouring in the
lies and you're focusing on the thingsthat are critical, the things that are
important, and you're honest and you'regenuine, and you're really trying to develop
players and help them accomplish their ultimategoals. You can win a lot of
championships, you can take care ofyour family, but ultimately it's become more
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of a business at this level.But I've always been fortunate enough and had
people around me that the made sureI've kept the main thing, the main
thing. Your stend to Boise Stateand San Diego State and most recently with
the Aztecs and coach Dutcher down there, you guys had a heck of a
run and they're still having that runnow that you moved on. But talk
about being in San Diego State andseeing that program in the Mountain and West
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do what you guys did in thelast five years. COVID that first year
eliminated the NCAA tournament. You guyswere a thirty win team, to go
to the championship game, to constantlygo into the tournament of the Sweet sixteen,
and to what that program has become. I mean on the West coast,
we talk about the old twelve schools, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and San
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Diego State is now. I mean, you guys set you planted that flag
in the last five years as apowerhouse in basketball. Yeah, well,
I mean what Steve Fisher did fromthe very beginning running around. I mean,
if you know the stories of himrunning around and basically handing out tickets
and trying to fill that arena intorecruiting Kawhi Leonard and having you know,
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all of the players, Tony Bland, you know, you name it,
the guys that have played in thatprogram. Having those guys set the tone
and established tradition in that program.Take that program to a sweet sixteen and
Steve Fisher's tenure and then Brian Dutchertakeover, and I'd be fortunate enough to
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be there in his second year asa head coach and and help be a
part of taking the program to anotherlevel, which you don't even imagine that
you could surpass what's already been done. But it's just it's just a you
know, it was an honor tobe a part of that, and it
just goes to the people that arein that program, the administration that's in
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that program. People don't realize thatin order to be successful, you have
to have a great administration. Youhave to have people on board and people
that are motivated to do everything withinthe rules and with integrity to help that
program go to another level. Soit's just it's a multitude of people involved
with the success of the program.And what we did in the last five
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years, like you said, isamazing, but it started all the way
back from when Steve Fisher was walkingaround handing out tickets. It's just that
grind and so you know what they'vedone in the last twenty four to twenty
five years. This is the startfor us at Long Beach State, but
I've been very fortunate to be ableto identify what the model needs to look
like. Yeah, at leads meto my next question about taking over a
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program and setting that foundation from whereit already is and Coach Munson and the
coaches over the years that have putLombi State on the map and made it
a tournament team and this year goingto making a tournament runs. What's the
first couple of things you want todo to put your stamp on this program
and take it to that next level. Obviously it's a building block. You
can't get there necessarily in one year, but are there certain things you want
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to establish right away to put thatstamp that is your program. The most
important thing is is to recognize what'shappened before I got there and not shy
away from the fact that they've hadsuccess in coach months and seventeen years.
And to embrace the fact that there'san alumni there that we need to bring
back into what we're doing and justtouch all of the people that have made
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an impact there and let them knowthat, you know, I'm coming into
your territory and I want to bea family member and I want to get
this thing going and take it backto when Coach Tark had it going to
a sweet sixteen and you know,but we got to do it all together.
And so you know, I justI'm just one of those guys that
I just put my head down everysingle day. I I move forward.
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I have the end in mind,but I enjoy and I embrace the process
of all of that. And soit's the individual daily meetings that you have
with a missions compliance, athletic directors, deans, the people on campus that
you know you need to have asallies and order for you to set the
tone with the guys and then it'sthe meeting with the players and retaining those
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players and getting those guys to comeback, and getting those guys excited and
behind you so that you can moveforward together and capitalize on the momentum that's
already been established. You hit onsomething right there about the current players and
keeping them around and this world ofcollege athletics that we're in right now,
and it's not just college basketball,it's college football as well, and the
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transfer portal and how it's just constantlyopen. It feels like, and you
know, it's like the Southwest.You're free to move abound wherever you want
to go and there's no repercussions.And that's a whole other story, but
for you as a coach, itfeels like every year you've got to re
recruit everybody. And as an assistantin San Diego State, where it's an
I yel the last couple of yearsand trans report has really taken off,
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how hard is that to not onlygo out and recruit for next year or
maybe the next couple of years,or look in the portal for instant guys
that can come in, but youhave to re recruit your guys that's already
here how tough is it to coach? Now, Well, it's the beautiful
thing about the experience of being ajunior college coach. You know, I've
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been through this, and you know, as long as I stay true to
my core values, I hire staffthat's diligent, that enjoys every aspect of
this job and embraces the new challenges, and we don't shy away from it.
Then you just move forward every singleday and you try to recruit and
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find guys that you know want tobe in families, that want to be
a part of what you're building.And one of the things that I've always
learned in San Diego State is thatyou know, you have to have young
guys. They grow up in yourprogram and you get it to the point
to where you can piece in guysthat are in the portal, that want
to be in your programs for theright reasons, and that are that they
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add value to what you already arebuilding and established. So we're starting from
the beginning with that. But we'regonna have some young guys and we're gonna
give them opportunities to play because Ithink it's important that you have four year
guys. I mean, in SanDiego State. We had Lamont Butler.
You know last year we had whenwe went to the National Championship game,
you had a quicker rope. Youhad Adam Saikoh, you had Lamont Butler,
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you had you know, Jay Ladiehad been there multiple years. I
mean this year you had Elijah Saunders, Miles Burd. I mean, you
got to have young guys that arereally good players that you can trust and
throw in the fire, because thoseare the guys that set the tone for
even the transfers that are coming toyour program, and they set the standard
on this is how we do things. So I don't I don't shy away
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from it. You know, itis what it is. I mean,
at the end of the day,like we have to raise it. I'm
happy the players are getting paid,so you know, we just got to
find ways to make our situation thebest it can possibly be so that we
can provide things for our players inour program and keep them excited and keep
them motivated about being here. Iwatch your introduction press conference from a week
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ago, and I loved how youtalked about the foundation of your program and
the values, and the first thingyou mentioned was mental health and the mental
health of the players. And Ithought that was a big thing that you
talked about. How important is thatright now? And you know, being
a coach having to mold these guyson and off the court, because there's
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a lot of outside noise for theseguys, good and bad for these student
athletes, and mentally it can wearon these guys. And you know,
we're in a social media age nowwhere things are constantly talked about and seeing
instantly how important? Why is thatimportant for you? The mental health part
of it, Well, it's it'sthe most important piece for me. I
talked to a parent today whose sonis a freshman and didn't get highly recruited,
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and he's had other people tell himthat at the end of the day,
he's a guy that's on their radar, but they're really into the portal
right now, And so that's amental health deal like that. You hear
that enough as a young eighteen yearold not ready to yet endure what's really
happening in the world, you hearthat enough, it can knock you down
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or pick you up, depending onthe people around you. You got guys
that you know have girlfriends or havechildren in college, you have coaches in
this community of basketball that are promisingguys money, and guys are thinking they're
gonna get that money, and thenit doesn't pan out to be what it
is, and now these guys areleft to figure out what they're gonna do.
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You have guys that think they're really, really good. They get into
portal expecting things, and then theyget hit with the reality that you know,
there's flaws in your game or there'sflaws in whatever conversations you have with
other coaches that are keeping people awayfrom you, and now you know you're
in during that without even knowing asa coach, and now this kid is
coming in with baggage. I'm cominginto this situation as a brand new head
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coach. I have players that aretrying to figure me out who just lost
their head coach. So there's justso many different levels of mental even outside
of the social media and the pressures. Once you get in the program of
succeeding and selling, you have guysthat are dealing with all kinds of different
things that that they have to dealwith before they even get on the court.
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And so it's the most important pieceto anything mental health and academics.
If those two things are in linewith each other, then you can play
freely. And you know, it'son us as leaders to ensure that our
student athletes are safe and that they'remotivated every single day. And my biggest
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thing that I tell recruits is thatI want you to know where you are
when you leave the floor every singleday. I want you to know how
I feel and why things are goingthe way they're going, so there's no
questions I leave, I lose sleepingnight when you know, I get into
it with a player and we don'taddress it in that moment or after practice
and I just go home. Ican't do that because then I'm affecting you
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know, them walking on eggshells thenext day, and so I just it's
just it's vital when you're dealing withyoung people nowadays because everything is out in
the open and there's agents pulling atyou. There's so many different things coming
at you at once that as leadersof programs, we have to make it
a safe space for these student athletesto talk about their mental health, check
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in on them, and make surethat the administration is put in support around
them so that they can go talkto people and make sure They're okay,
so well, said coach Chris Acker, head coach Long Beach State, joining
us here on the Masters and Coachingpodcast. Coach, when you get the
job and you kind of take adeep breath maybe and chance to relax a
little bit, do you think aboutsome of the mentors in your coaching career,
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maybe on or off the court,that have helped mold you in to
who you are now as the headcoach at Long Beach State, And what
are those thoughts that are going throughyour mindor some of those people that you
think about. Well, you know, I haven't really had a chance to
think about basketball yet. I wasin my office at the house and I
was watching some of the players thatwere recruiting, and I got excited watching
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some of that. And the excitingpart about the question you're asking is when
I took my first head coaching jobat well West, LA, all I
knew is one way and that waswhat we did at Sinru's College. And
now having worked for all these differentpeople and having had my own experiences and
being on staff with so many differentdynamic coaches, I've learned that there's multiple
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ways to do things, and soI'm excited to figure out what this team
that we're putting together it's gonna beabout, and utilize some of the strengths
of some of the coaches that I'vehad before to mold this team. And
in the future as I get differentteams, I think I'll be able to
adjust based on the roster that wehave year to year. So, I
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mean, I'm so blessed to havethe people that have gotten me to this
point. And I just know that, you know, I wouldn't be here
without Rick Croyd, without Leon Rice, without Iron Gannott, without Brian Dutcher,
without Steve Fisher, without Dave Alasquez, j d Luster, Bill Beckner,
I mean, Mike Burns. Thelist goes on. For all of
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the coaches I've worked with, allof the administrators, administrators I've worked with,
I consider them all mentors to somedegree because they all had an impact
in my life. Coach this LongBeach State program, Where where do you
see it in a few years fromnow? Where can it go from where
it's at right now? What kindof level can you take it to?
You think, Yeah, I don't. I think you put a limit on
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it. You know, last yearwhen we were competing in the NCAA tournament.
I tell people all the time,I walk in the gym and I
say national championship or bus. Thatwas like my thing. I would tell
the guys every day. It's anational championship or bus. Winning a conference
championship, conference tournament championship, makingit to the NCAA tournament, making it
to the Fleet sixteen, making itto the final four. It was never
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enough. And so I'm not goingto put a limit on this. I
do this for these guys so thatwe can so that they can experience something
they've never experienced in their life.And the guys that went to that National
Championship game, aside from holding upthat last trophy, they went further than
any team in that program's history.And so I just feel like if we
put a group of guys together andthe staff together that wants to accomplish the
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ultimate go and stay is true tothe process, we can do whatever we
want. I don't know if itwas thirteen fourteen years ago you made the
decision to pursue your master's degree withConcordia University, irvineuate from the program in
twenty twelve. Talk about why atthat point in your life on and off
the court coaching career, you feltlike you needed to take that next step
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and get the Masters And what hasmeant to you after graduating from the Coaches,
Athletic Coaches and Administration program. Well, I jumped into the Masters program
because Rick krou said, if youever want to coach at this level in
California, you have to have amaster's degree. And I just thought the
community college level was the greatest leveland the highest level I would ever coach
at. I really did. Ididn't even have as admirations towards going to
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the Division one level, but thingschanged as you go through life. So
that was the initial reason why Ijumped into the Masters program. And then
as I went through the Masters program, I still remember it like it was
yesterday. I was able to articulateexactly who I was and figure out what
I valued, and I was ableto write my coach in philosophy, my
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recruiting philosophy. I was able totalk about my career like what I envisioned
my career to be, and itkind of opened me up as to man
if I really talk through these thingsand I really think about these things,
there's another level I can climb toand it led me into thinking outside the
box and thinking that Chris Acker fromLos Angeles and the inland Empire of California
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could one day be a head coach. And it started with the Concordia's Master's
program. And the beautiful thing aboutit was I can't remember the people exactly
who put me into the program orallowed me to get in because I wasn't
the greatest student at finishing my bachelor'sdegree, but they gave me an opportunity.
They gave me a chance, theylistened to my story and allowed me
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into the program. I didn't letthem down. So I feel very fortunate
for the people of Concordia that gaveme that opportunity. You know something I
hear a lot and doing the podcastand talking to coaches at every level that
have gone through the program at Concordiais you know, whether it's a basketball
coach, of volleyball coach or abaseball coach, They're like, yeah,
yeah, I go in and Ilearned about other sports and I don't think
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it's going to help me at thetime. Why am I learned about baseball?
What am I learned about this?But you learn philosophy's learn how to
deal with situations, how to manageand even though there are different sports,
coaching is really similar no matter whetherit's a ball, a bad a soccer
ball, or a basketball or afootball. Absolutely we're all trying to get
somewhere, and we all have differentways to get there. And I think
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the more you talk about your journey, the more you talk about your philosophy,
it only makes the next person betterand vice versa. And so,
you know, all of the peoplethat I had to share ideas with in
the program and you know, listento speak and group work with, you
know, I just I remember alot of that and how much it made
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me more well rounded in articulating exactlywhat I was going to be able to
do when I got my opportunity.Because when you go through the hiring process
to get one of these jobs,you have to lay it out there and
you have to do it, youknow, without being broad. You have
to be very concise. You haveto have bullet points, but you have
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to have layers and depth to whatyou're talking about. And you know,
I give a lot of that creditto my experience with the Concordium Master's Program.
Well, thank coach. I wantto circle back to a little basketball
talk with you because watching your pressconference and you know, knowing your background
and talking about defense first, that'sI love hearing the style of play.
We're gonna play defense first. We'regonna be aggressive on defense, and then
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we're gonna get out and run.We're gonna be downhill and we're going to
attack. And that's the that's thestyle that you're going to have at Long
Beach State. And I look aboutacross basketball and I look, you know,
Mick Cronin is very similar. Defense. First, you know, we're
gonna get out and run. We'renot gonna just shoot forty threes, you
know, like Steph Curry and theWarriors. Is it hard to get these
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seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year oldkids that are coming to your program to
buy into that because of the cultureof basketball as it is now, when
it's running gun. We're gonna getout and play aau basketball and we're gonna
score forty here, we're gonna score'sgonna be over one hundred. To get
kids to buy into defense? Isthat hard right now? In the culture,
in the style of basketball we have, no it's about who you are
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to your core, and you know, I coached offense at San Diego State
for the last five years, butto my core, when I was at
Citrus West, La, Hawaii,Boise State, I coached defense. And
even at San Diego State, youknow, Dave had the defense, I
had the offense. But if Isaw anything I didn't like defensively, and
vice versas with him, if hesaw anything he didn't like offensively, then
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we had something to say about it. Because to our core, I believe
that in order to win championships youhave to defend and rebound. And you
know, I'm not in this towin basketball games. I'm in this to
have these kids win championships because there'sno greater feeling than cutting down a net.
But you can't do that unless youare a superior defensive team. And
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people talk about defense, but there'sa level of IQ you have to have
when you play it. And alot of the things that I've picked up
working under Brian Dutcher has been tremendous, and the way he watches film,
the way Iron Cannot watch his film, the way Leon watches film. You
take all of those things and youincorporate that into how you watch film and
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what you value and it just makesyou a more dynamic coach. And so
I'm true to my core values.Guys know and I tell him in every
conversation. If you do not defend, do not come to lonb State.
Like that's I don't care who youare. If you do not want to
play defense, do not come tolongbe State. And that's a stable of
(27:42):
Brian Dutcher's as well. But youhave to believe that, and you got
the whole guys accountable to that,and they have to know that. I'll
play a guy that doesn't shoot thebasketball at twenty percent and you can shoot
it at forty if he guards,and if he's in the right place and
he's not getting killed on screens andhe's not getting bullied in the post,
he's probably gonna play. That's thereality of it. Love it, Coach.
(28:06):
Enjoyed talking to you so much,was looking forward to speaking you and
following your career and now as thehead coach of Long Beach State, so
excited to see what this program isgoing to be doing moving forward and your
stamp on this program and your levelexcitement, and I'm fired up and I
can't wait to watch you guys inthe fall in your first season. Thank
you so much for joining us onthe podcast, sharing your story, your
(28:27):
background, and your experience at Concordiain the coaches an Athletics administration program.
We really appreciate your time. Iappreciate you guys for having me on.
Thank you so much for allowing meon your platform. Go Beach, Go
Beach in d There he is ChrisAcker, the new head basketball coach at
Long Beach State, longtime assistant coachat San Diego State, Boise State,
(28:49):
Hawaii, former head coach at WestLA College. He has done it all,
he has seen it all, andnow he's got his dream job as
a head coach at Long Beach State. We wish him all the best with
the program and getting it going backin the right direction. Maybe another NCAA
appearance. Long Beach State just wentto the tournament just a few weeks ago,
hopefully to get back to many morenow under his leadership. Chris Aker,
(29:11):
what a great story player, gotinto coaching now his dream job at
Long Beach State. And a manwho went through the program at Concordia University,
Irvine, got that master's degree incoaching at Athletics Administration. You heard
his story. Find out more atCUI dot edu slash coaching. Find out
if it's the right fit for you, if it fits your schedule, different
start times throughout the year. CUIdot edu slash Coaching Until next time.
(29:37):
Thanks to Chris acker Head coach nowat Long Beach State. Thanks to you
for listening and watching episode seventy ofthe Masters in Coaching podcasts now in the
books. Until next time, Solong, Everybody,
After years of coaching at the JClevel and as an assistant at the Division
IE level, he's now the headcoach at what he calls his dream job.
He is Chris Acker, and he'sthe new basketball coach at Long Beach
State, and he joins us nowon episode seventy of the Masters in Coaching
Podcast. Let's go. Well,welcome into episode seventy of the Masters in
(00:25):
Coaching Podcast here on Ihear Radio orwherever you download your podcast. We appreciate
it. So excited to talk tothis week's guest, former player, including
professionally here in the States and overseas. He's been a coach now for sixteen
plus years, an assistant at theJC level here in Southern California, head
coach at West LA College, assistantcoach then at D one at Hawaii,
(00:46):
assistant coach at Boise State, mostrecently five years of the assistant coach at
San Diego State, and just afew weeks ago here named as the head
coach at Long Beach State. Heis Chris Aker, and he joins us
now here on the Masters in CoachingPodcast. Coach, Congratulations, how you
doing. I'm doing fantastic. I'mdoing fantastic, Really appreciate the opportunity to
(01:07):
be on absolutely just talk about thewhirl win of the last few weeks.
The season ends for you guys inSan Diego States, and then that carousel
starts with the coaching carousel in collegebasketball, and now you're you're back home
here in the LA area at LongBeach State. Talk about what it's been
like for you and your family.It's been amazing. You know, I
(01:29):
got no complaints at all. It'sbeen exciting, and it's been hard on
both ends. Early on, whenI first found out I had a job,
it got put out there on socialmedia, and I hadn't had a
chance to tell the players yet,and so that was a little bit disheartening
because the guys that I was coaching, I think we were playing Yale,
we were going into that game,and I hadn't had a chance to tell
(01:51):
him, and you know, itwas just a little awkward for a little
while. And then you know,I still didn't get a chance to tell
them when we got to Boston andwe ended up losing the un and then
on the bus ride home they hadalready heard, but I had the opportunity
to tell him then. So thatwas that was that was exciting. You
know, my family and I werespread all over the place. I'm literally
(02:12):
sitting here in San Diego right nowbecause I wanted to get back and be
able to take my boys to theirpractices and and and you know, still
be a dad. But you know, now I got a program to run,
come running back and forth from SanDiego to Loan Beach and then eventually
will migrate completely over the Loan Beach. But it's been a whirlwind. It's
been exciting, but it's been ablessing. Nonetheless, kind of pull back
(02:34):
the curd a little bit. Wasthis something you really pursue when the job
came open? Was was Long BeachState? Like, Hey, you know
every off season is different jobs openup. Maybe it's a fit, maybe
it's not a fit. Whatever timein your life it's just not right.
But was this the right time andthe right fit for you? It was
perfect for me, you know itwas you know before I even when I
(02:54):
first got into coaching, you know, people would ask me all the time,
well, what's your dream job?Where do you want to be?
You don't really have an idea.And then you know, after I left
the university, of Hawaii going toBoise State, I said, well,
I don't want to keep traveling allthese different places like I want to find
a home. And Leon Rice atthe time was the head coach at Boise
State, asked me. He said, what is your dream job? And
(03:14):
I said, you know, LongBeach State would be a great place.
I grew up kind of playing inthat pyramid, watching AU games in there
and playing AU games in there,and I just felt like the lineage of
players that have played there and thetraditions they had would be it could be
a place where I could live foreverbecause of the city and in this current
client with nil Even then, Ididn't understand what it was, but now
(03:36):
having a job, it's a placewhere people will come and you'll be able
to retain players and retain coaches.So in the current climate, it's an
unbelievable opportunity from that standpoint as well. But you know, Lombe State has
always been a dream job for me, and I think the most exciting thing
and the reason why it was theperfect job for me was because I was
leaving San Diego State, where SanDiego State's and his own hub out in
(03:58):
San Diego it's his own community ofpeople. People love being around each other.
It's vibrant, it's exciting, andLong Beach State, I mean,
it's very similar to San Diego Statein that regard. It's his own hub.
It's a community of people that loveLong Beach they love everything it has
to offer. They want you torecruit locally, they want you in the
(04:18):
community, and they're excited. Imean, I'm walking on campus and people
from you know, there's a trackand field meet going on, and people
are running over saying hello and goodluck this season, coach. So it's
just a great place to be apart of and an environment to be in.
We'll get into your vision and whatyou hope to do, and we're
going to get into the nil conversationin a couple of minutes. Well,
(04:40):
I want to go back to howyou got into coaching and why you decided
to get into coaching your playing careerends at that point. Did you have
other decisions other things you we wantedto pursue or was coaching Is that what
you wanted to do. No,I actually had no idea that I wanted
to coach. I was actually playingfor fashionally in Europe and I came home
(05:01):
because of an injury, and Iwas kind of nursing a nagging injury in
my on my side and my rib. And I walked into a gym where
a buddy of mine was an assistantcoach at Citrus College and he said,
hey, you're rehabbing, you wantto come play with some of our guys
And I said, yeah, I'llcome play before I head back over.
And Rick Croyd, who's the headcoach at cal Baptist University right now,
(05:23):
he reached out to me after thatworkout and he said, hey, if
you ever want to coach, youknow you can. You can coach here.
And I thought about it and thoughtabout it and molded over and I
was tired of going back and forthoverseas and I called him and I said,
coach, how much does it pay? And he said nine hundred dollars.
I said nine hundred dollars is likea day and he was like,
(05:43):
no, nine hundred dollars for theyear. I said, I said,
I'm tired of it. I've saveda little bit of money. Maybe I
can make this work. And Ijust dove into it, and you know,
I dove in head first and Ijust aired on the side of aggression.
And you know, that year wewent through thirty five stage championship and
at that moment, as we weregoing through that that journey that season,
(06:05):
I fell in love with it andI've never looked back ever since. You've
coached at the j C level asa head coach as well, and then
you go D one as an assistantcoach, and that first opportunity is out
there in Hawaii. Uh talk aboutthe different levels and coach at the JC
level and then taking that leap toDivision one? Was it just the right
(06:25):
time? And then opening that thatwas the right fit for you to make
that jump to go to Hawaii.Well, I'll say this, I'm a
firm believer that God does everything fora reason and everything is is ordered.
It has always been that way inmy life. I've been very, very
blessed in that regard. And literally, you know, when I got the
(06:46):
Juco opportunity to coach, you know, I was around people that I was
familiar with, and we all thrived. We were all about the same age,
and we just hit the ground runningand it was like deaf Com five.
There was no rules. You coulddo whatever you want and I just
always thought like, if you're goingto cut your teeth at a level to
learn how to do everything, it'sthe JC level, you know, because
(07:08):
you get to do everything. Youget to coach, you get to recruit,
you get to be a manager,you get to be the physical trainer,
you get to do it, bea mental therapist. I mean,
you get to do everything at thatlevel, and it just prepares you for
whatever is to come, and itpush you in so many different situations and
you have to endure so many differentvariables to survive at the community college level.
(07:30):
And literally we went ninety two andnine and that six year stretch that
we were together, and all ofthose guys currently right now are coaching Division
one basketball. Some of them arehead coaches at different Division one programs.
Now I'm joining that rank as wellas a head coach. So we had
a lot of success. And thedifference between the two really is the fact
that it's way more of a businessat the Division one level than at the
(07:54):
community college level. But if youtreat it with the same respect that you
treated it at the men to collegelevel, meaning you're still pouring in the
lies and you're focusing on the thingsthat are critical, the things that are
important, and you're honest and you'regenuine, and you're really trying to develop
players and help them accomplish their ultimategoals. You can win a lot of
championships, you can take care ofyour family, but ultimately it's become more
(08:20):
of a business at this level.But I've always been fortunate enough and had
people around me that the made sureI've kept the main thing, the main
thing. Your stend to Boise Stateand San Diego State and most recently with
the Aztecs and coach Dutcher down there, you guys had a heck of a
run and they're still having that runnow that you moved on. But talk
about being in San Diego State andseeing that program in the Mountain and West
(08:41):
do what you guys did in thelast five years. COVID that first year
eliminated the NCAA tournament. You guyswere a thirty win team, to go
to the championship game, to constantlygo into the tournament of the Sweet sixteen,
and to what that program has become. I mean on the West coast,
we talk about the old twelve schools, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and San
(09:03):
Diego State is now. I mean, you guys set you planted that flag
in the last five years as apowerhouse in basketball. Yeah, well,
I mean what Steve Fisher did fromthe very beginning running around. I mean,
if you know the stories of himrunning around and basically handing out tickets
and trying to fill that arena intorecruiting Kawhi Leonard and having you know,
(09:26):
all of the players, Tony Bland, you know, you name it,
the guys that have played in thatprogram. Having those guys set the tone
and established tradition in that program.Take that program to a sweet sixteen and
Steve Fisher's tenure and then Brian Dutchertakeover, and I'd be fortunate enough to
(09:46):
be there in his second year asa head coach and and help be a
part of taking the program to anotherlevel, which you don't even imagine that
you could surpass what's already been done. But it's just it's just a you
know, it was an honor tobe a part of that, and it
just goes to the people that arein that program, the administration that's in
(10:07):
that program. People don't realize thatin order to be successful, you have
to have a great administration. Youhave to have people on board and people
that are motivated to do everything withinthe rules and with integrity to help that
program go to another level. Soit's just it's a multitude of people involved
with the success of the program.And what we did in the last five
(10:30):
years, like you said, isamazing, but it started all the way
back from when Steve Fisher was walkingaround handing out tickets. It's just that
grind and so you know what they'vedone in the last twenty four to twenty
five years. This is the startfor us at Long Beach State, but
I've been very fortunate to be ableto identify what the model needs to look
like. Yeah, at leads meto my next question about taking over a
(10:54):
program and setting that foundation from whereit already is and Coach Munson and the
coaches over the years that have putLombi State on the map and made it
a tournament team and this year goingto making a tournament runs. What's the
first couple of things you want todo to put your stamp on this program
and take it to that next level. Obviously it's a building block. You
can't get there necessarily in one year, but are there certain things you want
(11:16):
to establish right away to put thatstamp that is your program. The most
important thing is is to recognize what'shappened before I got there and not shy
away from the fact that they've hadsuccess in coach months and seventeen years.
And to embrace the fact that there'san alumni there that we need to bring
back into what we're doing and justtouch all of the people that have made
(11:39):
an impact there and let them knowthat, you know, I'm coming into
your territory and I want to bea family member and I want to get
this thing going and take it backto when Coach Tark had it going to
a sweet sixteen and you know,but we got to do it all together.
And so you know, I justI'm just one of those guys that
I just put my head down everysingle day. I I move forward.
(12:01):
I have the end in mind,but I enjoy and I embrace the process
of all of that. And soit's the individual daily meetings that you have
with a missions compliance, athletic directors, deans, the people on campus that
you know you need to have asallies and order for you to set the
tone with the guys and then it'sthe meeting with the players and retaining those
(12:22):
players and getting those guys to comeback, and getting those guys excited and
behind you so that you can moveforward together and capitalize on the momentum that's
already been established. You hit onsomething right there about the current players and
keeping them around and this world ofcollege athletics that we're in right now,
and it's not just college basketball,it's college football as well, and the
(12:46):
transfer portal and how it's just constantlyopen. It feels like, and you
know, it's like the Southwest.You're free to move abound wherever you want
to go and there's no repercussions.And that's a whole other story, but
for you as a coach, itfeels like every year you've got to re
recruit everybody. And as an assistantin San Diego State, where it's an
I yel the last couple of yearsand trans report has really taken off,
(13:07):
how hard is that to not onlygo out and recruit for next year or
maybe the next couple of years,or look in the portal for instant guys
that can come in, but youhave to re recruit your guys that's already
here how tough is it to coach? Now, Well, it's the beautiful
thing about the experience of being ajunior college coach. You know, I've
(13:28):
been through this, and you know, as long as I stay true to
my core values, I hire staffthat's diligent, that enjoys every aspect of
this job and embraces the new challenges, and we don't shy away from it.
Then you just move forward every singleday and you try to recruit and
(13:48):
find guys that you know want tobe in families, that want to be
a part of what you're building.And one of the things that I've always
learned in San Diego State is thatyou know, you have to have young
guys. They grow up in yourprogram and you get it to the point
to where you can piece in guysthat are in the portal, that want
to be in your programs for theright reasons, and that are that they
(14:11):
add value to what you already arebuilding and established. So we're starting from
the beginning with that. But we'regonna have some young guys and we're gonna
give them opportunities to play because Ithink it's important that you have four year
guys. I mean, in SanDiego State. We had Lamont Butler.
You know last year we had whenwe went to the National Championship game,
you had a quicker rope. Youhad Adam Saikoh, you had Lamont Butler,
(14:35):
you had you know, Jay Ladiehad been there multiple years. I
mean this year you had Elijah Saunders, Miles Burd. I mean, you
got to have young guys that arereally good players that you can trust and
throw in the fire, because thoseare the guys that set the tone for
even the transfers that are coming toyour program, and they set the standard
on this is how we do things. So I don't I don't shy away
(14:56):
from it. You know, itis what it is. I mean,
at the end of the day,like we have to raise it. I'm
happy the players are getting paid,so you know, we just got to
find ways to make our situation thebest it can possibly be so that we
can provide things for our players inour program and keep them excited and keep
them motivated about being here. Iwatch your introduction press conference from a week
(15:16):
ago, and I loved how youtalked about the foundation of your program and
the values, and the first thingyou mentioned was mental health and the mental
health of the players. And Ithought that was a big thing that you
talked about. How important is thatright now? And you know, being
a coach having to mold these guyson and off the court, because there's
(15:39):
a lot of outside noise for theseguys, good and bad for these student
athletes, and mentally it can wearon these guys. And you know,
we're in a social media age nowwhere things are constantly talked about and seeing
instantly how important? Why is thatimportant for you? The mental health part
of it, Well, it's it'sthe most important piece for me. I
talked to a parent today whose sonis a freshman and didn't get highly recruited,
(16:06):
and he's had other people tell himthat at the end of the day,
he's a guy that's on their radar, but they're really into the portal
right now, And so that's amental health deal like that. You hear
that enough as a young eighteen yearold not ready to yet endure what's really
happening in the world, you hearthat enough, it can knock you down
(16:30):
or pick you up, depending onthe people around you. You got guys
that you know have girlfriends or havechildren in college, you have coaches in
this community of basketball that are promisingguys money, and guys are thinking they're
gonna get that money, and thenit doesn't pan out to be what it
is, and now these guys areleft to figure out what they're gonna do.
(16:52):
You have guys that think they're really, really good. They get into
portal expecting things, and then theyget hit with the reality that you know,
there's flaws in your game or there'sflaws in whatever conversations you have with
other coaches that are keeping people awayfrom you, and now you know you're
in during that without even knowing asa coach, and now this kid is
coming in with baggage. I'm cominginto this situation as a brand new head
(17:18):
coach. I have players that aretrying to figure me out who just lost
their head coach. So there's justso many different levels of mental even outside
of the social media and the pressures. Once you get in the program of
succeeding and selling, you have guysthat are dealing with all kinds of different
things that that they have to dealwith before they even get on the court.
(17:41):
And so it's the most important pieceto anything mental health and academics.
If those two things are in linewith each other, then you can play
freely. And you know, it'son us as leaders to ensure that our
student athletes are safe and that they'remotivated every single day. And my biggest
(18:03):
thing that I tell recruits is thatI want you to know where you are
when you leave the floor every singleday. I want you to know how
I feel and why things are goingthe way they're going, so there's no
questions I leave, I lose sleepingnight when you know, I get into
it with a player and we don'taddress it in that moment or after practice
and I just go home. Ican't do that because then I'm affecting you
(18:27):
know, them walking on eggshells thenext day, and so I just it's
just it's vital when you're dealing withyoung people nowadays because everything is out in
the open and there's agents pulling atyou. There's so many different things coming
at you at once that as leadersof programs, we have to make it
a safe space for these student athletesto talk about their mental health, check
(18:48):
in on them, and make surethat the administration is put in support around
them so that they can go talkto people and make sure They're okay,
so well, said coach Chris Acker, head coach Long Beach State, joining
us here on the Masters and Coachingpodcast. Coach, when you get the
job and you kind of take adeep breath maybe and chance to relax a
little bit, do you think aboutsome of the mentors in your coaching career,
(19:12):
maybe on or off the court,that have helped mold you in to
who you are now as the headcoach at Long Beach State, And what
are those thoughts that are going throughyour mindor some of those people that you
think about. Well, you know, I haven't really had a chance to
think about basketball yet. I wasin my office at the house and I
was watching some of the players thatwere recruiting, and I got excited watching
(19:33):
some of that. And the excitingpart about the question you're asking is when
I took my first head coaching jobat well West, LA, all I
knew is one way and that waswhat we did at Sinru's College. And
now having worked for all these differentpeople and having had my own experiences and
being on staff with so many differentdynamic coaches, I've learned that there's multiple
(19:53):
ways to do things, and soI'm excited to figure out what this team
that we're putting together it's gonna beabout, and utilize some of the strengths
of some of the coaches that I'vehad before to mold this team. And
in the future as I get differentteams, I think I'll be able to
adjust based on the roster that wehave year to year. So, I
(20:15):
mean, I'm so blessed to havethe people that have gotten me to this
point. And I just know that, you know, I wouldn't be here
without Rick Croyd, without Leon Rice, without Iron Gannott, without Brian Dutcher,
without Steve Fisher, without Dave Alasquez, j d Luster, Bill Beckner,
I mean, Mike Burns. Thelist goes on. For all of
(20:37):
the coaches I've worked with, allof the administrators, administrators I've worked with,
I consider them all mentors to somedegree because they all had an impact
in my life. Coach this LongBeach State program, Where where do you
see it in a few years fromnow? Where can it go from where
it's at right now? What kindof level can you take it to?
You think, Yeah, I don't. I think you put a limit on
(21:00):
it. You know, last yearwhen we were competing in the NCAA tournament.
I tell people all the time,I walk in the gym and I
say national championship or bus. Thatwas like my thing. I would tell
the guys every day. It's anational championship or bus. Winning a conference
championship, conference tournament championship, makingit to the NCAA tournament, making it
to the Fleet sixteen, making itto the final four. It was never
(21:22):
enough. And so I'm not goingto put a limit on this. I
do this for these guys so thatwe can so that they can experience something
they've never experienced in their life.And the guys that went to that National
Championship game, aside from holding upthat last trophy, they went further than
any team in that program's history.And so I just feel like if we
put a group of guys together andthe staff together that wants to accomplish the
(21:48):
ultimate go and stay is true tothe process, we can do whatever we
want. I don't know if itwas thirteen fourteen years ago you made the
decision to pursue your master's degree withConcordia University, irvineuate from the program in
twenty twelve. Talk about why atthat point in your life on and off
the court coaching career, you feltlike you needed to take that next step
(22:10):
and get the Masters And what hasmeant to you after graduating from the Coaches,
Athletic Coaches and Administration program. Well, I jumped into the Masters program
because Rick krou said, if youever want to coach at this level in
California, you have to have amaster's degree. And I just thought the
community college level was the greatest leveland the highest level I would ever coach
at. I really did. Ididn't even have as admirations towards going to
(22:36):
the Division one level, but thingschanged as you go through life. So
that was the initial reason why Ijumped into the Masters program. And then
as I went through the Masters program, I still remember it like it was
yesterday. I was able to articulateexactly who I was and figure out what
I valued, and I was ableto write my coach in philosophy, my
(22:56):
recruiting philosophy. I was able totalk about my career like what I envisioned
my career to be, and itkind of opened me up as to man
if I really talk through these thingsand I really think about these things,
there's another level I can climb toand it led me into thinking outside the
box and thinking that Chris Acker fromLos Angeles and the inland Empire of California
(23:21):
could one day be a head coach. And it started with the Concordia's Master's
program. And the beautiful thing aboutit was I can't remember the people exactly
who put me into the program orallowed me to get in because I wasn't
the greatest student at finishing my bachelor'sdegree, but they gave me an opportunity.
They gave me a chance, theylistened to my story and allowed me
(23:44):
into the program. I didn't letthem down. So I feel very fortunate
for the people of Concordia that gaveme that opportunity. You know something I
hear a lot and doing the podcastand talking to coaches at every level that
have gone through the program at Concordiais you know, whether it's a basketball
coach, of volleyball coach or abaseball coach, They're like, yeah,
yeah, I go in and Ilearned about other sports and I don't think
(24:04):
it's going to help me at thetime. Why am I learned about baseball?
What am I learned about this?But you learn philosophy's learn how to
deal with situations, how to manageand even though there are different sports,
coaching is really similar no matter whetherit's a ball, a bad a soccer
ball, or a basketball or afootball. Absolutely we're all trying to get
somewhere, and we all have differentways to get there. And I think
(24:26):
the more you talk about your journey, the more you talk about your philosophy,
it only makes the next person betterand vice versa. And so,
you know, all of the peoplethat I had to share ideas with in
the program and you know, listento speak and group work with, you
know, I just I remember alot of that and how much it made
(24:47):
me more well rounded in articulating exactlywhat I was going to be able to
do when I got my opportunity.Because when you go through the hiring process
to get one of these jobs,you have to lay it out there and
you have to do it, youknow, without being broad. You have
to be very concise. You haveto have bullet points, but you have
(25:08):
to have layers and depth to whatyou're talking about. And you know,
I give a lot of that creditto my experience with the Concordium Master's Program.
Well, thank coach. I wantto circle back to a little basketball
talk with you because watching your pressconference and you know, knowing your background
and talking about defense first, that'sI love hearing the style of play.
We're gonna play defense first. We'regonna be aggressive on defense, and then
(25:30):
we're gonna get out and run.We're gonna be downhill and we're going to
attack. And that's the that's thestyle that you're going to have at Long
Beach State. And I look aboutacross basketball and I look, you know,
Mick Cronin is very similar. Defense. First, you know, we're
gonna get out and run. We'renot gonna just shoot forty threes, you
know, like Steph Curry and theWarriors. Is it hard to get these
(25:52):
seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year oldkids that are coming to your program to
buy into that because of the cultureof basketball as it is now, when
it's running gun. We're gonna getout and play aau basketball and we're gonna
score forty here, we're gonna score'sgonna be over one hundred. To get
kids to buy into defense? Isthat hard right now? In the culture,
in the style of basketball we have, no it's about who you are
(26:14):
to your core, and you know, I coached offense at San Diego State
for the last five years, butto my core, when I was at
Citrus West, La, Hawaii,Boise State, I coached defense. And
even at San Diego State, youknow, Dave had the defense, I
had the offense. But if Isaw anything I didn't like defensively, and
vice versas with him, if hesaw anything he didn't like offensively, then
(26:37):
we had something to say about it. Because to our core, I believe
that in order to win championships youhave to defend and rebound. And you
know, I'm not in this towin basketball games. I'm in this to
have these kids win championships because there'sno greater feeling than cutting down a net.
But you can't do that unless youare a superior defensive team. And
(26:59):
people talk about defense, but there'sa level of IQ you have to have
when you play it. And alot of the things that I've picked up
working under Brian Dutcher has been tremendous, and the way he watches film,
the way Iron Cannot watch his film, the way Leon watches film. You
take all of those things and youincorporate that into how you watch film and
(27:21):
what you value and it just makesyou a more dynamic coach. And so
I'm true to my core values.Guys know and I tell him in every
conversation. If you do not defend, do not come to lonb State.
Like that's I don't care who youare. If you do not want to
play defense, do not come tolongbe State. And that's a stable of
(27:42):
Brian Dutcher's as well. But youhave to believe that, and you got
the whole guys accountable to that,and they have to know that. I'll
play a guy that doesn't shoot thebasketball at twenty percent and you can shoot
it at forty if he guards,and if he's in the right place and
he's not getting killed on screens andhe's not getting bullied in the post,
he's probably gonna play. That's thereality of it. Love it, Coach.
(28:06):
Enjoyed talking to you so much,was looking forward to speaking you and
following your career and now as thehead coach of Long Beach State, so
excited to see what this program isgoing to be doing moving forward and your
stamp on this program and your levelexcitement, and I'm fired up and I
can't wait to watch you guys inthe fall in your first season. Thank
you so much for joining us onthe podcast, sharing your story, your
(28:27):
background, and your experience at Concordiain the coaches an Athletics administration program.
We really appreciate your time. Iappreciate you guys for having me on.
Thank you so much for allowing meon your platform. Go Beach, Go
Beach in d There he is ChrisAcker, the new head basketball coach at
Long Beach State, longtime assistant coachat San Diego State, Boise State,
(28:49):
Hawaii, former head coach at WestLA College. He has done it all,
he has seen it all, andnow he's got his dream job as
a head coach at Long Beach State. We wish him all the best with
the program and getting it going backin the right direction. Maybe another NCAA
appearance. Long Beach State just wentto the tournament just a few weeks ago,
hopefully to get back to many morenow under his leadership. Chris Aker,
(29:11):
what a great story player, gotinto coaching now his dream job at
Long Beach State. And a manwho went through the program at Concordia University,
Irvine, got that master's degree incoaching at Athletics Administration. You heard
his story. Find out more atCUI dot edu slash coaching. Find out
if it's the right fit for you, if it fits your schedule, different
start times throughout the year. CUIdot edu slash Coaching Until next time.
(29:37):
Thanks to Chris acker Head coach nowat Long Beach State. Thanks to you
for listening and watching episode seventy ofthe Masters in Coaching podcasts now in the
books. Until next time, Solong, Everybody,
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