Better Way to Evaluate Your Program
How program evaluations and whiteboard sessions help coaches turn seasons into learning opportunities
We’re in Crossover Season—that time in college athletics when fall sports are wrapping up with conference and national tournaments, and winter sports are just getting underway.
With the end of the season, it offers an opportunity to evaluate intentionally how it is going within individual programs….how we can improve and where things are going well.
Coaches are often scared and defensive doing program evaluations. I know I was. However, evaluation, when done well, isn’t about criticism—it’s about clarity. It’s how we capture the lessons a season teaches before they fade into the next one.
Athlete Program Evaluations
When I was a younger coach, I dreaded program evaluations. They felt like report cards—something to get through, a place for kids to gribe about not playing, and not something to learn from.
Now, after a decade of using them as an athletic director, I see them as one of the most effective growth tools we have. At our institution, we ask every team to complete an end-of-season evaluation. It’s anonymous by design, because our goal is honest feedback—not flattery.
Coaches often express concern:
“They’ll just rate me based on wins and losses.”
“The kids who didn’t play much will tank the scores.”
But after reading thousands of these evaluations, I can confidently say that’s not the trend. Most student-athletes are thoughtful, fair, and honest—especially when they understand the purpose.
Before athletes begin, I make expectations clear:
I genuinely want your feedback and will read every response.
This is a tool to help our programs grow, not to tear people down.
If a comment is written just to be hurtful, it won’t be shared. The AD is the sole judge of the intent of the comment.
Over the years, I’ve deleted fewer than fifty comments out of thousands. That’s because athletes rise to the standard we set. When we frame feedback as a shared act of improvement, not judgment, they take it seriously.
The real power of these evaluations lies in the data over time. Each program receives both individual and department averages, helping us identify trends. Those numbers drive our professional development efforts, guiding where to focus future training and resources.
And for coaches, the most revealing feedback often comes not in scores—but in the written reflections. How players describe their experience tells us far more about culture than any win-loss record ever could.
If a team that struggled competitively gives high marks for connection, communication, and care—that’s evidence of something healthy. If a winning team’s feedback reveals distrust or disengagement, that’s a red flag success might be masking deeper issues.
Evaluations aren’t about perfection—they’re about cultivating that kind of trust.
Whiteboard Sessions
One of the biggest traps in coaching is isolation. When a season ends, most coaches immediately go into planning, recruiting, or regrouping mode. But rarely do we stop to invite outside perspective.
That’s why we’ve built what we call Program Review Whiteboard Sessions. Every program does this once every 1-2 years.
Here’s how it works:
We gather a small group—usually four or five people outside the specific program—to talk through the year. We lay out the key elements: leadership structure, practice environment, communication habits, team culture, and athlete experience.
Then, together, we literally map it out on a whiteboard.
It’s not a performance review. It’s a conversation aimed at discovery.
The goal isn’t to defend—it’s to understand.
These sessions do three things:
Combat insularity. Coaches gain perspective that they can’t get from inside the day-to-day grind.
Build alignment. Departments start to see patterns across programs—what’s working, what’s not, and where shared challenges exist.
Normalize feedback. When evaluation becomes part of the rhythm of leadership, it stops feeling personal and starts feeling professional.
The best programs treat reflection as a habit, not an event.
The most impactful leaders pause long enough to ask:
What went well?
Where did we fall short?
What did we learn about our people, our systems, and ourselves?
Program evaluations and whiteboard sessions don’t just make teams better—they make cultures better. They help us lead with humility, listen with intention, and grow with purpose.
We write in depth about evaluation on our books. Click the link below to check them out.
Things That Are Making Us Think
“The key to happiness is not being rich; it’s doing something arduous and creating something of value and then being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor.”
-Arthur Brooks
“Establish trust in the quiet moment to create a foundation.”
-David Shapiro