Is Autocratic Style Coaching Affect College Athletes In America?

The importance of athletics in college is illustrated by prominent NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who once said, “A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall”. As shown by this quote, college athletics is a significant part of colleges across America and helps fund schools. Morones and Heidt, certified accountants, report that colleges made $13.6 billion in 2022 from NCAA athletics. The NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, is the organization that organizes athletics on the collegiate level. Colleges are increasingly dependent on their athletic outcomes, as Tina Pamintuan, a professional in public media, finds that a win from one season could generate as much as three million dollars in revenue for colleges. This potential profit highlights the

Trine University finds that as NCAA athletics becomes more prominent, more coaches are adopting the autocratic style of coaching. The autocratic coaching style is a ‘my way or the highway’ coaching style, where players often have no input in decisions (Trine University). An increase in autocratic style coaching and economic gain from college athletics brings rise to the question: To what extent does autocratic style coaching affect NCAA athletes in America? An analysis through the social, psychological, and historical lenses shows that autocratic style coaching negatively impacts the social and athletic lives of NCAA athletes in America. Through a social lens, it can be seen that autocratic style coaching negatively influences important social factors of NCAA athletes, such as their academic and athletic performances. Academically, it is seen that the autocratic style of coaching typically creates a stressful and rigid environment for athletes. Nuttawuth Muenjohn and contributing authors describe in their book Leadership that autocratic leadership can be very restrictive in the demanding schedules it leads