Feb. 28, 2017
What is it like being a head coach at the school you graduated from?
This is the town and school that I've always just loved. I feel like it's mine. It's probably one of my greatest joys to hear about people talking about this Auburn program all over the country. To know that the school you loved and the sport you loved is being talked about and that you had a hand in that is an awesome feeling.
Do you feel that going to school here has influenced your coaching?
I feel like I'm very fortunate to have this opportunity. When I go home at night, there is just no other place I want to be. Sometimes that creates a lot of pressure because I don't want to go anywhere else. This is where I want to be. For me the success has to be here because this is the only place I want to coach.
What is your favorite thing about Auburn?
I have a hard time putting it into words. If I had to pick one thing it would have to be the people. But to generalize it, I would have to say the feeling. Some people call it the Auburn Spirit or the Auburn Family. There is simply something magical here. One of my fellow coaches that now coaches somewhere else tells me that people still talk about how special Auburn is. Everyone talks about how great Auburn is. He has coached all over and told me that Auburn is the real deal. There are a lot of universities that claim tradition and claim family and spirit, but it is so genuine and real here.
What's relationship like with your alumni?
First I would mention the girls who have left but then come back. Lindsay Neubarth was one of the very early ones when we were a club team and then when we went varsity I was able to hire her as an assistant coach. She's on the walk of fame downtown so that meant a lot to me. Jessica Braswell is our current assistant coach, she rode here and I remember her in high school. She was the first grad assistant in our system. She's the only coach that I know that's won a national championship as a player, a grad assistant and as a coach. Our alumni are important to us.
What is your favorite part about being a coach?
Hands down, the team. The girls on the team. I love watching them grow up. Our mission statement is to empower young women. Watching some of them embrace that, take care of each other and develop skills and personal confidence, that's by far the best.
How are you approaching this season, coming off such a huge season last year?
We have high expectations for this season. We are a very young team and the one thing that hitting a lot of them is that last year came really easy to them. We have a lot of freshman and sophomores competing that do not have any experience losing in college. We had a pretty big eye opener this season where we realized we could flat out lose. I like that now because we are going to be riding with a chip on our shoulder and riding with something to prove.