(Air1 Closer Look) - March Madness 2025 has faded into April’s “One Shining Moment,” as college basketball champions will soon be crowned – but even the most casual fan tuning in might notice an intangible greater than physical competition. Character—on and off the court—still matters.
Nations of Coaches exists to equip 3,500+ college basketball coaches to help players connect character to sport.
Billy Graham once said that a coach affects more people in a year than anyone else in a lifetime. “The rest of that quote says, ‘so who’s coaching the coaches? Who’s pouring into our leaders?’ notes Tommy Kyle, Exec. Dir. of the ministry. Volunteers work as Character Coaches, leading biblically-based teachings for hundreds of team staff and student athletes nationwide. Eleven of the teams in the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 have Character Coaches.
“A round orange ball filled with air has allowed me to go all around the world and share Jesus.”
Kyle, himself a former coach, says he has seen the organization’s approach change even the hardest of hearts.
“Even the ones that say they don’t want it? We were made to want it,” he says. “We run to the light ...God is the light and we just want to put lights in dark places in let God be God.”
Founded in 2008 by Jim Haney, the former exec. dir. of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Nations of Coaches rests on the same principle stated by the inventor of the game. Dr. James Naismith said he hatched the idea of basketball when asking God for a means “to win men to the Master (Jesus) through the gym.”
Kyle and his staff approach the game with one eye on an eternal scoreboard, calling on every basketball coach in America to participate.
"It’s going to change every coach in their program, it’s going to change every staff member and we’re going to reach every young person that comes through their program,” assures Kyle. “They’re going to have an opportunity to know the Master Coach. They’re going to have an opportunity to change their life for eternity.”
Kyle says the Nations of Coaches approach includes mental health resources, addiction counseling and marriage enrichment programs, citing a high divorce rate in the coaching fraternity. The team leaders spend overwhelming time breaking down game film, devising game plans, recruiting athletes and promoting their programs, which puts massive strain on family life. Nations of Coaches established a hotline coaches can call if they need relationship counseling. The organization has offered successful and celebrated marriage seminars, including some tailored to coaches’ wives.
Nations of Coaches is also helping bring calm and clarity to a college basketball landscape changed dramatically by the advent of the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness allowing college athletes to sign lucrative endorsement deals. Coaches feel constant pressure to hang onto players who already signed scholarship agreements and to scour the transfer portal for the best-possible talent.
Kyle offers that despite the challenges brought on by this new era of college sports, some basic principles can continue to guide coaches.
“We like leaders who create a shared purpose,” Kyle says. “If you can win the hearts of those around you, whether it be the coaches, the people at campus or your student-athletes, when they trust you, that’s what being connected looks like.”
