Longtime assistant coaches create stability, success and family | Women's Hoops World

For many, if not most, the tireless job of a collegiate assistant coach is a stepping stone to a head coaching position. And to be sure, every great coach has a “coaching tree” of head coaches who once worked for them.For others, however, the job in itself is a career. Some assistant coaches are as vital to a program as the head coach, and it would be hard to imagine a team running without them.So it is no surprise that some of the most successful programs in Division I history have retained assistant coaches for a decade – or two or three. Members of this elite group are their head coach’s right hands and co-pilots. Their duties are many and their rest is hard to come by, but their hearts are big for the head coach, the players and the program. Niele Ivey and Carol Owens have coached with Muffet McGraw for combined total of 31 years. Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics.Notre Dame IrishCoach Muffet McGraw has seen her share of players come and go in almost 33 years at Notre Dame’s h...