After one year as women’s basketball head coach, Brittany Lindhe has resigned her position effective Mar 12.
Lindhe’s time was being split between two part-time jobs: one as a head coach and the other in human resources for “Title Nine,” a company that specializes in women’s athletic clothing.
“Both [jobs] are great, but it was too much” Lindhe said.
As a head coach, Lindhe compiled a 14-14 record, going 2-8 against conference opponents. She started her career as an assistant at the University of Portland, before joining the USF Dons as their no.1 assistant and chief recruiter.
“It was a fabulous experience, there was definitely some heartbreak there for me,” Lindhe said in regards to her leaving Skyline.
“I think she felt she couldn’t do justice to the program,” said Joe Morello, Interim Athletic Director.
Between the full-time demands of both positions, as well as the commute from her home in Castro Valley to her jobs in Emeryville and San Bruno, Lindhe was unable to make both jobs work.
“I was as bummed as I think I have ever been when someone said they aren’t coming back,” Morello said. “It is a loss for the profession.”
The loss could have been avoided if Morello’s request for the head coach position be a full-time job was a higher priority, within the school.
“If this was a full-time position it would be very different,” Lindhe said, adding that “Title Nine” opened up the company to her and expressed their desires that she work there full-time.
If coaches aren’t being adequately paid for their time and efforts, the school will have a hard time keeping well qualified head coaches like Lindhe.
“Coaches put in a tremendous amount of uncompensated time,” Morello said. “It is a process,” he adds with a sigh.
The hiring process is grass-roots and self-governing. Department deans have to, as Morello said, “[convince] faculty that your needs are vitally important,” with regards to the needs of all the other departments. The faculties hiring needs are then prioritized.
The president makes the final decision on hiring based on the recommendations from the full-time equivalent faculty allocation committee which prioritizes the departments hiring needs, and with input from the College Budget Committee, sets the amount of money is available to hire people based on the fiscal budget set by the state governor.
“It is the way things have to go,” Lindhe said, “these are realities that we have to deal with.”