Nick Birkey Reviews

The polar opposite of a “players coach”. Even his best players that never leave the floor and have been NAIA all-Americans say he sucks as a coach if you talk to them privately and confidentially. It’s clear that he was a “low skill, high effort” type of player because you see it in his coaching…. He uses drills in practice that do not translate into success during game situations and he loves to play kids who have HS (or even middle-school) level ball-handling skills, shooting skills, and just a very low-level understanding of game situations like spacing or how to read a ball screen…. but “try really hard”. He NEVER makes adjustments in games and anytime they’re down, his half-time and huddle speeches always boil down to 1 thing - “we need to try harder”. Not the school you want to come to unless you’re minimally skilled and want to play in the same system that Olivet used 30 years ago. The one thing Birkey IS really good and consistent at is sapping a player’s love for the game. Again, this is something you will consistently hear from both his bench warmers and starters alike.