What happens when a coach leaves a place he loves for the right reasons? I sat down with the brand-new Marian University basketball coach, Steve Drabyn, to find out. After seven years as head coach at Bethel, he’s moving his family of six (four kids, ages 12, 10, 8 and 6) to be closer to grandparents, cousins and a program built on faith and character.
Coach Drabyn is refreshingly honest about it. He shares what it was like telling his kids and his players, including the moment his 10-year-old daughter overheard the news and started crying. Then he tells me what he said in his very first team meeting: the basketball part? He “could almost care less about right now.” Culture comes first.
We also get into something I’m seeing everywhere. A recent article said nearly one in three Indiana high school coaches is turning over this year. I think a big reason is burnout, and a lot of it is driven by parents and the pressure to win. Drabyn explains why coaching has to be about the process and about helping young people grow, not just the scoreboard.
What we talk about:
- The tough decision to leave Bethel for Marian, and the family factors behind it
- How he told his kids and players, and how they took it
- Why culture is “what you emphasize and what you allow”
- Why coaches recruit parents too (and why mom and dad can make or break a recruiting decision)
- How he reads a recruit’s character: warm-ups, body language, how they react to being coached hard, and calls to opposing coaches
- The role question: “Can you accept 20 to 25 minutes a game?” and the answer that made him say, “That’s the right question”
- Why he celebrates the extra pass in front of the whole team
- His core values: faith, unity, humility, leadership and process
- A fun fact: he shot 95.1% from the free-throw line in one season at Belmont. His career mark? 92.9%. (We had some fun with that one.)
- What he wants people to say about his program five and ten years from now
For parents and young athletes: Coaches are watching more than your stats. They notice how you warm up, how you respond when you get coached hard, and whether you care more about the team winning than your own points.
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