Taking Advantage of Turnover

Turnover. It’s an inevitable fact of coaching any sport at any level. Assistant coaches move on to bigger roles. Head coaches advance to higher-profile teams. Graduate assistant coaches, well, graduate.

According to the 2025 Salary Survey of the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association, the average tenure of an associate head coach/first heavyweight assistant coach ranges from three to five years. For second assistant coaches, just two to three years. That makes for a lot of movement each year. Turnover isn’t something to be feared but rather understood as a fact of life and embraced for the opportunities it presents. For the coaches just now settling into a new role or those adjusting to new members of their staffs, there’s a real opportunity to hit the ground running, reinforce positive culture, or jump-start changes to get things moving in the right direction.

If done well.

This is a common topic of discussion among coaches I work with in my leadership coaching practice as well as younger coaches I mentor as they take the first steps in their professional coaching careers. One head coach I work with cited hiring his new assistant coach as the single biggest decision he had to make this summer. He had to fill the gap left by a much beloved assistant who had moved on to lead his own program and ran a real risk of losing team buy-in and setting back the advances the team had made in the past year, from both a performance and culture standpoint. He was right to take this decision very seriously.

Often, though, the focus is squarely on the actual hiring process—finding the right assistant coach or the right next job—and the next steps get overlooked. But the reality is that the real hard ongoing work comes after that. And that’s where the biggest opportunity for positive growth exists.

Building trust and getting into a collective rhythm take time. Finding your footing as the new coach in town or figuring out how to rebuild the structures of a high-functioning staff takes focus and flexibility. A few good practices can help everyone get off on the right foot and begin building momentum.

The first step is to establish roles early. Clear responsibilities reduce unnecessary friction and allow everyone to focus their limited attention on what matters most. Ambiguity around who handles inbound recruit emails or orders lunch while the team is traveling will just lead to frustration. (But don’t overlook the need for flexibility to allow for coaches to do work that they are especially skilled at or interested in when the time comes.)

Next, create early wins together. As with a crew or across a whole team, trust isn’t created in one grand moment. Instead, it is hard won through an accumulation of small wins. Having opportunities to get some wins individually and as a staff, and to have those wins acknowledged publicly and celebrated, go a long way toward building confidence in each other’s competence.

Finally, communication, and especially listening, need to be prioritized. New coaches should approach a situation with curiosity and humility. Yes, sometimes things are going to be done differently here. Give it a try and see how it goes, remaining open to the idea that this may be a better way to run things or an opportunity for you to offer a respectful suggestion.

Returning coaches can model the same by being open to fresh ideas and asking for contributions. The best staffs I’ve been a part of were those where everyone had an opportunity for input that was taken seriously. Of course, it can never all be implemented, but the best ideas and the most satisfaction come from a staff that is open-minded and valued. And it’s simply more fun to work with people you like, trust, and value—and who have the same attitude toward you.

Turnover is going to happen. But if you approach it not as a disruption but as an opportunity, you can strengthen culture and performance. Just like athletes adjusting to new lineups, coaches who embrace transition with a clear vision and trust in each other will be the ones whose teams move fastest in the long run.

Madeline Davis Tully competed as a lightweight rower at Princeton and on the U-23 national team before coaching at Stanford, Ohio State, Boston University, and the U-23 national team. Now a leadership and executive coach, she is the founder of the Women’s Coaching Conference.

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