The Basketball Podcast: EP23 Matt Driscoll on Culture

In this week’s basketball coaching conversation, North Florida head coach Matt Driscoll joins the podcast talk about culture and passion in building a basketball program.

Matt Driscoll is the winningest coach in North Florida history. 

* 184-179 (.507) career record in 11 seasons (entering 2020-21)
* 103-77 (.572) record in ASUN play
* 11-12 (.478) in all postseason games (11-10 in ASUN Tournament)
* ASUN Regular Season Champions (2015 | 2016 | 2020)
* ASUN Tournament Champions (2015)
* Two National Postseason appearances (2015 NCAA | 2016 NIT)
* Three appearances in ASUN Tournament Championship game (2011 | 2015 | 2017)
* Guided Ospreys to 5 regular season tournament titles
* Coached UNF to victories over Power 5 foes (Purdue in 2014-15 | Illinois in 2015-16)
* Earned Top 20 final ranking in CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll (2014-15)
* Twice NCAA Div. 1 National Leader in 3-Pointers Made per Game (2016 | 2020)
* Responsible for 12 of program’s 17 1,000 Point Scorers
* Teams own every single season program record (except steals)
* His squads have produced 18 of program’s 41 triple-digit scoring outputs
* Owns all of program’s 20+ win seasons (23 in 2014-15 | 22 in 2015-16 | 21 in 2019-20)
* Posted .500 or better record in ASUN play in 9 of 11 seasons at the helm including 7 straight
* Qualified for ASUN Tournament every season of his tenure
* UNF’s attendance has been on the rise throughout Driscoll’s tenure averaging near 2,000 per game in each of the last five seasons, highlighted by the program record 2,856 per game average in 2015-16
* For the past seven seasons, Driscoll has served as a voter for the USA Today/NABC Coaches Top 25 Poll
* Winningest coach in UNF program history

Learn more from Matt Driscoll:

Masterclass with Matt Driscoll on Defensive Drills

Matt Driscoll Quotes:

“You got to have a staff that’s on the same page. . you’ve got to have a staff that’s solidified and that’s not afraid to have a suggestion, that’s not afraid to say, ‘Change this.’”

“You have to know who you can coach. Too many times people like to go with a quick fix.”

“One of the biggest things on sustaining success is making sure that the talent you’re bringing in is continually improving, and fits in with what you do, and you can piece those parts together.”

“We tell our guys this all the time, ‘If you don’t want to know the truth, then don’t ask the question.’ But if you want to know . . then you’ve got to accept [the answer].”

“It really helps sustaining our success . . making sure that the culture is consistent.”

“I think it’s almost more important to educate the guys being criticized than it is the guys [about] how do you criticize. So many people take it so personal.”

“We have expectations and we have certain standards and we have things we want done a certain way.”

“The game doesn’t stop. Do the next right thing.”

“When we got here UNF stood for in the community . . ‘U Never Finish’ And when I first got the job it really, really, really bothered me . . We changed that to ‘Urgency Never Fails.’ It goes along with being passionate.”

“There are 5 pillars that separate ‘good’ from ‘great.’ Trust is, by far, the number one . . people skills are number two . . courage is number three . . the last two would be vision . . and passion.”

“If we can take, and cultivate and . . really help guys understand their strengths, their weaknesses, their talents, their treasures . .and make them become better men . . then we know the by-product is they’re going to be great basketball players.”

Click below to listen in if you listen on:

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Matt Driscoll Breakdown:

1:00 – Introduction
3:00 – Talking Opportunities
4:30 – Celebrate Small Victories
7:00 – Sustaining Success
8:30 – Coach Matt has a big Impact for Coach Chris
10:00 – Be Who You Are
11:00 – Formulating some Staffs that Works for Him
14:00 – Things that make him Sustain Success
15:30 – Anyone can be a Head Coach
17:00 – Best Approach to Head Coach To Disagree their Ideas
19:00 – Examples to Approaches to Disagree to Head Coaches
20:30 – “Don’t say your Opinion, Have Some Evidence to Support It”
22:00 – Knowing Who you Coach
24:00 – Making Sure the Talents are Continually Improving
25:30 – Good, Better, Best
26:30 – Brett Brown’s Quote
27:30 – Making Sure that the Culture is Consistent
29:00 – Example of Explaining Words
31:00 – “Iron Sharpens Iron” and “Value Your Pursuit”
32:00 – 5 Questions That Go Along with their Theme
33:00 – Disappointment
34:00 – Evaluation
36:00 – Reap What You Sow
37:00 – Player To Player Approach
38:30 – Educate Players Being Criticize
42:00 – Players are Being Taught for Life
44:00 – Bad Habits
45:30 – Agenda For Winning
47:30 – Honesty and Permission
49:30 – Bringing Up Valuable Points for the Players
50:30 – “Passion to Improve”
51:30 – Trust, People Skill, Courage, Vision, Passion
53:00 – Conclusion

Matt Driscoll Links:

Bio: https://unfospreys.com/coaches.aspx?rc=864&path=mbball

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/UNFBBALL

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