Transcript: Kevin Stallings discusses his first 100 days and his transition to Pitt

If you missed it yesterday, I had a story on Kevin Stallings and his first 100 days as Pitt’s coach. When beginning a new job, especially one with that kind of a leadership role, the first 100 days can be critical and I wanted to examine how those went for Stallings. He has done a nice job in that time, keeping Pitt’s roster intact — largely thanks to Sheldon Jeter — hiring a good group of assistant coaches and not losing any of the Panthers’ 2016 recruits. More than anything, though, I wanted to examine how a coach whose hire was pretty universally panned goes about changing the perception of himself, if he even tries to at all.

Part of my reporting for that story involved a 30-minute sitdown with Kevin where we talked about his work in those first three-plus months and how he has transitioned to a new venture at this point in his career. Below is a transcript of that conversation. If you’ve got any questions or anything, as always, feel free to respond in the comments, hit me up on Twitter (@CraigMeyerPG) or shoot me an email (cmeyer@post-gazette.com).

What was the first thing you wanted to do or accomplish when you took over?

“My first thing was to integrate myself with the players and the recruits. I felt like my first job was to get with the guys on the team and not have anyone leave and get with the recruits and make sure they showed up. I felt like that was job one. I was 100 percent on that. I was able to get that done in pretty short order. That didn’t take as long as I thought it might. I basically had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish in essentially the first three months or first 100 days I was here. That’s still a work in progress, but a lot of the things I thought were really important we’ve been able to accomplish. There will be some we probably won’t get done in the first 100 days, but the first thing I wanted to do was get with the guys on the team, try to make them comfortable with the idea of a new coach coming in and get with the recruits and make sure they understood they were still wanted and welcome here.”

What was tenor like in the room when you first met with the players?

“It was understandably one of apprehension, not knowing and not sure. One thing that really helped me was Sheldon [Jeter] having played for me for a year. He was able to let the guys know ‘Hey, here’s what he’s about, you’ll like playing for him.’ It was nice for me because he was able to say ‘I liked playing for him’. That, I thought, was a big help. He was and still is able to communicate some off-court expectations to them and how I might be similar and how I might be different from what they’ve been used to. That’s been helpful. I think, honestly, the buy-in of all the seniors -- not only Sheldon, but Mike [Young], Chris [Jones] and Jamel [Artis] – has been critical to the transition for me. Those guys have really bought into me and my staff and our culture. I think that has set the tone for everyone else in the program. They were, like every team is when a new coach is coming in, unsure and tentative. We were able to knock down some walls and apprehensions very, very quickly. That was really pleasing for me.”

How surprised are you that everyone stayed?

“What it spoke to was the quality of the experience they were having here. It spoke to the connectedness they felt with each other, the connection the players felt amongst themselves. Was I surprised? I don’t want to say I was surprised. I was pleased we were able to keep everyone. I didn’t know if we would lose someone or not. I really took the approach that if you didn’t want to be here, we’ll be supportive and we’ll help you go. We want you here and we want you to stay. I did that with the current players and the incoming recruits. We want you to come and we want you to be here. If you don’t want to, we’ll help you go elsewhere. We’re not going to stand in your way. Fortunately for me, they all wanted to be here. When they listened to what we were talking about and how they felt things were going to be, they all decided they wanted to be here.”

For a new coach, how important are those first 100 days?

“It’s critical. You’ve got to get your staff in place, which is always a very difficult thing. It’s very difficult to assemble an entire staff and get people put together like that. That may be the most important decision or decisions you’ll make. That took a little bit of time. Setting the standards and expectations for off the court, whether it be classroom performance, off-the-court behavior and social-type things. Obviously, and ultimately, the expectations of what’s happening on the court. Culture is a term that I think gets thrown around pretty loosely these days, but I think the program culture, next to my staff, was the preeminent thought for me going into those first few weeks.”

How have you approached trying to establish relationships with players so quickly?

“The first thing I did was met with them collectively and then met with them individually. Beyond that, it has been a continuation of encounters both in a group setting and a one-on-one setting. It might not be up here in my office. It might be someone comes into shoot and I’ll go down on the court and have a 20-minute conversation with them. It’s communicating to them what my expectations are and what I see in them and how I see they can bring value. I think, more than anything, my approach, and they know this, is to be blunt, forthcoming, transparent and honest. I think they’ve appreciated my transparency. They know I feel, they know what I think, positive and negative. They trust what I think because I tell them both good and bad. I try to praise them more than I criticize them. I told them early on I can either be the encourager or the enforcer. Every day I come to work, all I desire to be is the encourager. I’ll only be the enforcer when you put me in a position where I have to be the enforcer. I think, after some time, they see what I’m saying and believe what I’m saying. I’ve really challenged our seniors to step up their leadership game. We’ve got guys who have been really good in terms of leading themselves, playing within themselves and working on their game themselves. But we need a little more inclusion. We need a little bit more ‘we’. I don’t think we have a lot of ‘I’. But we don’t have enough ‘we’ yet. By that, I mean someone may say ‘I’m going to go to the gym and work on my game’. Okay, that’s great. Why don’t you bring somebody with you? Why don’t you get a teammate and push your teammate and get your teammate here with you so now we’re working on our game? We are getting better instead of just me. Honestly, I asked them when I first got here…I told them here are two things that are non-negotiable – we’re going to play hard and we’re going to communicate. We’ve hit those things every time we’re together. We talk about them every time and emphasize them every time. I really like their chemistry. It’s interesting because they really like each other. Yet, and I’ve told them this over and over again, I know in reality you guys really like each other, but that’s got to show up on the floor. We’ve got to have that communication and have those good feelings out on the court to where we don’t become self-indulged. That’s what I mean by being inclusive and getting out of the ‘me’ territory and into the ‘we’ territory.”

You were talking about your staff. When coaches take on these new endeavors, do you have a short list of guys who you want with you who you target?

“As I knew this was becoming a possibility, I had to make a list of guys that were potential candidates for me. Interestingly, things worked out as well as they could have. There was a lot of interest and things worked out great for the guys I was able to bring with me and for the guys I was able to hire from elsewhere. We kind of did all three things. We kept a guy, we brought some guys and we hired some guys. I couldn’t – and I mean this, this isn’t just rhetoric – be more pleased and happier with the team of guys I’ve been able to assemble here. I’m really, really high on my staff. Really high.”

When you pick these guys, do you try to get guys who address certain blind spots you may have as a head coach?

“Absolutely. I want guys that are smarter than me. That’s probably not all that difficult, honestly, but I want guys who are team guys, not me guys. The same thing goes for my staff as it does for my team. I want team-oriented people, guys that are honest and hard-working. I really value intelligence, guys who are smart. Smart people solve problems. That’s what I want. I want guys who can solve problems, whether it’s recruiting problems or problems on the team or problems in any way. I want guys who can solve problems and help kids grow. That’s our job, is to help these guys get better, not only on the court, but off the court. It’s very difficult for me to hire someone I don’t know. The only guy I hired that I didn’t know was Jason Richards, who was on the staff and had been here with Jamie and he’s been a phenomenal addition. That was my approach. As you put it together, it’s like a team. You figure out what roles guys are going to play and what you think they’ll play and you add based on strengths and weaknesses and how they’re going to come together and be the best as a group that you can make them, just like a team. It is a team. I knew Tom would be with me and I knew Dan Cage would come with me in the ops role. It was a matter of getting a couple of other guys who were going to be in a recruiting capacity who had experience, toughness and knowledge of the ACC footprint. That was a big thing. I felt like I was able to do that well.”

What has the feedback and reception from fans and alumni been like since you took over?

“Overall, the reception has been phenomenal. The tone and the tenor of the press conference notwithstanding, the reception from recruits, coaches, families, our fan base, the people in the city… I’ve been out there a lot and I’ve gotten nothing but really, really positive comments. I’ve experienced the friendliness of the city of Pittsburgh and it has really been an awesome thing. I’ve been told, and I’m sure I’ll have a greater appreciation for it a year from now than I do after two or three months, but it’s there. It’s real. It’s not imagined. It’s not something people just talk about. It’s real. That part has been really enjoyable. It’s nice to encounter so many really, truly nice people. Some of them don’t even know what you do or who you are. The nature here is nice and friendly. I’m very excited about that.”

There was a lot of criticism of the hire. How aware of that were you and how much did it bother or hurt you?

“Honestly, until the press conference, I wasn’t. I’ll be judged on the job I do. I’m not worried about anything other than doing the best job for these players that I can do. It’s about these players. It’s not about me. If people are critical of me, that’s okay. At least they’re not being critical of them. I would rather people criticize me than criticize the players. Not that that was an instance where they would criticize the players, but I’m wired in such a way…it’s like recruiting. People will ask you how recruiting went. I don’t know. I’ll tell you in a couple of years. The job I do will speak a lot louder than the words I say. It’s like I tell the players – people won’t always believe what you say, but they’ll believe what you do. That’s kind of my modus operandi.”

When you’re new somewhere, do you take extra steps to try to ingratiate yourself to the community? Like if you’re going out to a restaurant, do you maybe tip 25 percent instead of 15 or 20? Small things like that?

“No, not really. I’m not good at being fake. I’m only good at being real. As stiff or old-fashioned as it may sound, I’ll tip based on the service. If I get good service, I’ll give a good tip. Honestly, I enjoy getting good service and I enjoy giving a good tip.”

That’s just one example.

“I hear what you’re saying. I’ve done a few things that are probably a little bit out of my nature. I came into the airport the other day and there was a gentleman who had a Pitt cap on and a Pitt shirt on. I just had some regular clothes on, nothing that said Pitt on it. I just walked over and said ‘Hey, I’m Kevin Stallings. I’m the new basketball coach at Pitt. I just saw your attire and I wanted to say hello’. Then he showed me he had a Pitt watch on, as well. That’s a little bit forward for me. I don’t just run up to people who I’ve never seen before and have never seen me before and do such things. I’m a little more private and a little more shy than that. I think I only did that because I want all Pitt fans who want to know me meet me. If that’s a way to promote our program, then that’s my job is to promote our program. Stuff like that. I’ve enjoyed being out at Penguins games and Pirates games and can’t wait to see the Steelers play. I’m excited for that. But I’m also excited to see our football team play. I’m just trying to be who I am and be real because that’s who I am. But, at the same time, with an eye on reaching out to people I know care about the University of Pittsburgh.”

You were given a short list of people, I think boosters, to reach out to. What were those initial conversations like?

“I actually made the offer to Scott and to the other people that if there are people you want me to reach out to…I got a couple of lists, actually. One turned into two, which turned into three. I did better with the first and second lists than I did the third list. I say list. It was three or four, maybe five, people. The calls were easy and people were really nice and receptive and helpful. I wouldn’t want to get into specifics of any particular conversation, but generally speaking, they’re obviously very supportive of the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh basketball.”

What has been the most difficult thing about the past few months?

“Leaving a place that was home for the past 17 years. It’s been a little more emotional than I thought it would be. I’m a little bit emotional anyway. My kids laugh at me because, as they say, I don’t cry at the movies, I cry at the previews they show before the movie starts. I think the emotional part of being at a place for a long time like that and then sort of uprooting. I underestimated…I never really had a difficult time of leaving. You’re always sad about leaving friends behind, but this one has been a little bit different because 17 years is quite a long time.”

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG