Emily Wilson | Feb. 26, 2008
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| Photo by James Brosher |
| ABC and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin talked to students Monday about making the transition from fired coach to network broadcaster. |
“In 12 Angry Men, Henry Fonda was trying his best to get at the truth,” said Lavin, currenlty an ABC and ESPN sports analyst. “That’s what journalism should be about.”
Lavin addressed almost 200 attendees, including a few members of the men’s basketball team, in the Ernie Pyle Auditorium with his talk, “Coaching, College Sports and the Media.” The event was co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
Lavin had a front row seat for some of the drama surrounding Sampson’s eventual resignation last week. As an ESPN sports analyst, Lavin covered the IU-Purdue game, which ended up being Sampson’s last as IU coach.
But Lavin said he could view the events from a personal as well as professional level. He talked at length about his termination at UCLA in 2003 after seven years as head coach.
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| Photo by James Brosher |
| "I went from the bottom to the top to the chopping block," Lavin said of his coaching experience. |
“I went from the bottom to the top to the chopping block,” he said.
Sometimes more is learned when you lose, he said, than when you win. Lavin learned about human nature, integrity and compassion when he was fired and it has influenced him as a sports commentator.
“I’m a more sensitive as a broadcaster because of what I went through,” he said.
Lavin described his strategies to crack the secret of great coaching as well as those he used to transition to broadcast – namely, learning from masters.
In 1987, after writing countless letters to the top coaches in the Midwest, he was allowed to observe former coach Bob Knight and the men’s basketball team for three weeks, before heading up to Purdue University to observe its program. He described his experience at IU as a “crash course seminar in basketball coaching.”
After returning to Bloomington in the summer, Lavin eventually took an assistant coaching position at Purdue. However, he still feels a connection with Bloomington and the IU campus.
“There’s a gravitational pull that keeps bringing me back to Bloomington. I don’t know what it is, but I like it,” he said. His job has brought him to IU and Bloomington several times lately, and he’ll be courtside for ESPN at Tuesday night’s IU-Ohio State game.
Broadcast journalism has been a great learning experience, Lavin said, and a second wind of sorts after coaching for 15 years. While Lavin admitted that he was rough around the edges when he transitioned to broadcasting, he said one of his mentors, fellow sports commentator Brent Musburger, has helped him improve greatly.
One of the things he realized is that coaching and broadcasting has a definitive bottom line: Deliver results—either with wins or ratings.
In order to improve his skills, Lavin Tivos broadcasts from all major news networks to pick up tips from anchors. He made it clear that leaving the coaching arena didn’t stop him from keeping on his toes.
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| Photo by James Brosher |
| Lavin talked often about his mentors, who include his parents and former UCLA coach John Wooden. |
Lavin explained the need to mentor and be mentored in order to succeed in life and work. His parents and John Wooden, the Indiana native who led UCLA teams to 10 national championships, were the two main influences in all of Lavin’s major life decisions. Whatever your passion or interest, he said, you can’t start finding your mentors too soon.
Audience members said they appreciated Lavin’s story.
“It was amazing he had so many mentors so early,” said Reid Heeke, a junior nuclear medicine major.
Others, like Mark Shuller, a junior sports communications major, thought he simply had “great insight” into the world of coaching and sports broadcasting.
Asked if he’d consider coaching IU in the future, Lavin paused.
“I enjoy what I’m doing. If I go back, it’s going to have to be a fit,” he said. “It’s not about bigger, it’s about balance.”
