Podcast: Speaking of Quality: Wealth Management Insights with Hank Smith
Season 1 Episode 7 Title: Succession Planning and Leadership Lessons from the Court: An Interview with Jay Wright
Host: Hank Smith, Director, Head of Investment Strategy at Haverford Trust
Guest: Jay Wright, former head coach of the Villanova Wildcats and current CBS Sports analyst  

Description: In the penultimate episode of the season, we have the privilege of speaking with Jay Wright, the former head coach of the Villanova Wildcats and a CBS sports analyst. Jay’s remarkable career in college basketball includes two national championships, eight Big East regular-season titles, and a gold medal as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. Join us as we explore Jay’s coaching philosophy and the valuable lessons we can apply to wealth management. 

We delve into the intricacies of succession planning, uncovering how Jay meticulously prepared for his retirement from Villanova and offering advice to business leaders who are just beginning to consider this critical process. We also explore Jay’s approach to evaluating progress and performance, learning how he measures the success of his succession plan and the metrics he uses to ensure its effectiveness. Additionally, we uncover his strategies for identifying and nurturing talent, retaining top performers, and maintaining a strong organizational culture. This episode provides a unique perspective on leadership, talent development, and the importance of balancing continuity with fresh ideas. 

Tune in as we gain insights from Jay’s experiences and delve into the intersection of coaching, leadership, and wealth management. Prepare to be inspired and equipped with valuable insights that can be applied to various aspects of life and business.

Episode Summary 

[3:02] How success begets success and how it transcends athletics at Villanova
[5:07] Reflecting on Jay Wright’s coaching career: The importance of culture and “buying in”
[10:25] Jay Wright’s tough decision to leave college basketball: Delving into the factors and challenges that led Jay Wright to make the difficult choice of leaving college basketball.
[12:45] The importance of succession planning in sports, business, and life: Examining the critical role of succession planning and its significance in various domains, including sports, business, and personal life.
[15:03] Recruiting true student-athletes: Discussing the value of recruiting student-athletes who align with the core values and culture of a program.
[19:54] Being a head professional coach vs. being a head college coach: Contrasting the roles and responsibilities of a head professional coach and a head college coach, highlighting the unique aspects of each position.
[22:09] Transition to college basketball analyst with CBS: Exploring Jay Wright’s transition from coaching to his current role as a college basketball analyst with CBS and the insights gained from this experience. 

 

Episode Transcript:  

Maxine Cuffe  00:02 

You’re listening to Speaking of Quality, Wealth Management Insights with Hank Smith, a podcast by the habit for Trust Company. On Speaking of Quality, Hank chats with authors, influencers and wealth management experts to bring a sense of clarity and calm to the complexity and stress of personal finance. And now, here’s your host Hank Smith. 

 

Hank Smith  00:24 

Hello, and Welcome to Speaking of Quality, Wealth Management Insights. I’m your host Hank Smith, Director and Head of investment strategy at the Haverford Trust Company. On this podcast we explore topics ranging from quality investing, retirement resilience, stock market trends, estate planning, behavioral psychology, and more. On this episode, we’re speaking to a 2021 Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame college basketball coach whose resume includes two national championships 2016 and 2018, eight Big East regular season titles, and a gold medal as an assistant for the US Olympic men’s basketball team. Our guest for this episode is Jay Wright, former head coach of the Villanova Wildcats and current CBS Sports analyst. We explored Jay’s approach to coaching, succession planning, and the lessons we can apply to wealth management. Jay, welcome to the show. 

 

Jay Wright  01:21 

Great to be here with you, Hank. 

 

Hank Smith  01:22 

Jay, I’ve just been dying to ask this question of you. You were considered the best dressed college basketball coach. In fact, in 2016, the Los Angeles Times described your dress as cooler than James Bond. Then a couple of years later, you’re in athleisure wear, what happened? 

 

Jay Wright  01:46 

Well, COVID. First COVID hit and we went casual. There was no one in the stands. We wore, you know, just kind of golf pants and, and kind of sweatshirts. And really, Hank, it made sense, because we’re always driving me crazy. You know, you’re you’re at the game and you’re in a huddle, and the guys are leaning over and they’re dripping sweat on the back of your suit. You’re like, what? Why am I in his suit here? But as long as that was the tradition, I was going to try to do it well. So there’s always been a tradition in coaching of wearing suits. So once we had the vote, and what’s funny is they in our Big East meetings, they said alright let’s, let’s let Jay decide. JL decide on suits. And I said, Now let’s go casual. Everybody was in shock. 

 

Hank Smith  02:31 

Well, just for our audience, we’re still in suits here at The Haverford Trust Company. But if you’re working from home, you can be as casual as you’d like. Well, Jay, you certainly must have saved 1000s on your dry cleaning bill with that change. Another thing I’d love you to comment on, when you came to Villanova in 2001, the endowment was about $170 million dollars. Today, it’s over $1.2 billion. And I’ve got to believe that your success with the basketball program played a large role in the growth in that endowment and the fundraising. 

 

Jay Wright  03:12 

Well, thank you, Hank, that that is something that we take great pride in, the growth of the entire university while we’ve been there, and the part that the basketball program has played in that, and the Business School has done the same, the engineering school, Arts and Sciences, the Law School has grown. And it’s really something that our leadership Father Peter Donohue, most recently, Father Edmund Dobbin, before him realize that, instead of having little fiefdoms that try to compete against each other within, within our university, that the overall University mission was going to be grown by everyone being successful, and really investing in everyone and all of us taking pride in each other. And it really has shown to be impactful. And as as our basketball team has grown, our business school’s become a top in the country, our nursing school is one of the top in the country. And the endowment, as you mentioned, is really important. And that’s growth. 

 

Hank Smith  04:14 

So it sounds like the adage, success begets success. And it transcends not just in athletics, but also academics. And the whole university life. 

 

Jay Wright  04:25 

So true, you know, high tide right raises all boats. And it’s so true and it’s but it’s hard within an organization, as you know, when you seem, you have budgets, right, and you’re trying to compete for funds, but there’s got to be an understanding from the leadership that we’ve all got to help each other become successful because it’s going to, it’s going to help one another and, and the Business School is a simple example. Our recruits were always interested in being a part of the business school probably couldn’t get in there on their own if they weren’t basketball recruits. So we know the business school helped us. And obviously, they always let us know how much we help them. 

 

Hank Smith  05:07 

Jay, let’s, let’s transition to your coaching career. And as a preface, I might just add, you know, at Haverford, we’re always looking for top talent. But when we recruit new employees, first on the list is will they fit into the culture and DNA of our firm, because if that isn’t first on the list, it’s almost impossible to create a cohesive team effort. And I suspect, that is true of your coaching career at Villanova, where you placed a priority on cultural fit in buying into the DNA of the Villanova basketball program, 

 

Jay Wright  05:51 

Right on, Hank. To use your example, you know, obviously, Haverford Trust has to look at a level of talent and intelligence so that you’ve got your pool, right, of people that are talented and intelligent. And within that pool, some are more talented, more intelligent than others, but there’s a certain level you have to have. Same way with basketball, there’s a certain level of talent, so let’s not, let’s not avoid that. But once you get to that level, that you have to choose which ones you really want to make a part of your program, and ultimately, your culture. And as the head coach or a leader like yourself, everyone’s counting on you to bring in people that fit that culture, because if everyone’s buying in while they’re there, and you’re bringing in people that don’t fit, your actions and your choices are making a statement to the people that are involved at the time that it’s really not that important. We’re just going for talent, right. And so we have a saying that, when you come out of the locker room, there’s, there’s a big sign that says “Be a part of people that are on the same mission as you.” And that’s our job as leaders to constantly enhance the mission and make sure that everyone’s committed to our mission. But then as we recruit talent, make sure we’re finding talent that doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect fit when they get there. But we have to discern that they have the ability, and, and the desire to want to learn our culture, right. And sometimes you get real talented people that don’t look like a great fit in the beginning. But they want to learn, and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. 

 

Hank Smith  07:39 

How much harder today is it to build that kind of team, with athletes leaving early to the pros, with the transfer portal, and now the N I L, and if you could describe to our audience what the NIL is, that’d be great. 

 

Jay Wright  07:57 

It is a grand new challenge. The goal is still the same that we want to keep our culture strong. And we want to be committed to our culture and our mission, not necessarily the results. We feel like if we keep our culture strong and we’re committed to our mission that we’ll live with the results of that. And to your question, now in college athletics, the student athletes can receive payment for their name, image and likeness, which is really covering a broad spectrum of opportunities for them. They can make a lot of money. The transfer portal portal is such that a student at the end of every season, can just decide to go to another school and they can play immediately for the other school. In the past, you used to have to sit out a season, which would deter a lot of transfers. And then obviously, leaving early for the NBA, which I think has been affected by NIL. Guys are staying a little bit longer. But that creates incredible challenges for us in finding new talent, definitely retaining talent. And then keeping our roster strong, which you know, in relation to Haverford Trust that would be keeping our roster strong would be keeping continuity in your, in your leadership and the growth of people coming up through your, through your culture, right. That’s it’s really difficult now. But that’s where we’ve got to spend a little bit more time and maybe a lot more time on designing a new process to keep the culture the same. And maybe changing some previous actions that we might not do. Like a simple thing is you’ve got to change. We used to not allow any layups in the game. If anybody had a breakaway layup, we’d take a hard foul. Well, they changed the rules. That’s now that’s now a flagrant foul. And the penalty is such that you can’t do that anymore. So we had to change the way we played defense. But we still want to play great defense. And it’s the same thing with our culture, we still want guys that want to come there to be the best student, the best person, and the best player they can be. But understanding they can leave at any time. They’re going to make money while they’re there. But the culture has got to remain the same. 

 

Hank Smith  10:25 

I’ve got to ask you, did the transfer portal and the NIL play into your thinking about retiring – most people would think at a pretty young age – did that play into it at all? 

 

Jay Wright  10:38 

It did a little bit, Hank, and I don’t want to, to be honest, I don’t want to say, well, you know, college basketball was changing so I wanted to get out of it. It was a part of my decision in that I realized we had younger guys on our staff and within our system coming up behind me that I thought were going to be much better in that new era of college basketball than me. I could do it. And I did for a couple years. But I felt like that was part of the reason. Besides my inability to give what I deemed 100%, we, we had a saying that with our players, you’re either 100% in or you’re against us. And I felt like I wasn’t able to give 100% anymore. And our president was great. He said to me one time, “Well, 70% of you is better than anybody else. We’ll take that.” And I said, I said “That’s very flattering. And I really appreciate that. But I can’t ask our guys to give 100% if I know that I’m not doing it every day.” That was the main part of it. But to your question, I was always monitoring where college basketball is going. And I knew at some time, our younger guys were were so much more comfortable and creative in this new era than I was. There was part of my experience that helped us in this new era. But going forward, and I think Kyle Neptune, now our head coach, he is much more creative, much more aggressive in this new culture, I think than I would have been. And that’s one of the things that led me to believe it was time for a change. 

 

Hank Smith  12:37 

So your retirement wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. You had actually been thinking about it for a while. And, and you had actually had a succession plan with your with your assistants. That’s got to be very important for the transition of, you know, a great program. 

 

Jay Wright  12:56 

Yeah, I learned that from fellow members of our Board of Trustees of Villanova. Some CEOs that I knew were always concerned about succession plans with, with our president, you know, with our athletic director, you know, with their companies. And so it made me always think our staff was built where our assistant coaches were always being groomed to be head coaches. I was always looking to create leaders that could take over for me. I didn’t want them to take over from me for a long time. But I was always watching to see who would grow into the type of assistant coaches and then eventually associate head coaches, then they will go off and get their own head coaching job. But myself and our athletic director, were always discussing who was in position to take over one day. And really, Hank, we would have that discussion, thinking that I was a long way from retirement. But what was valuable, valuable about those discussions was it kind of hit me quick. The summer of the Olympics, and I think the way the Olympics were set up in Japan, it was it was really difficultin that way it was, you know, no one could come with us. No family members, no fans, we were quarantined in Tokyo. The basketball part of it was a dream for me, but it was difficult. Then I came home. And immediately it was the Hall of Fame. And then we started another season. We went to the Final Four it was I think it all just built up on me and I just knew, but we were prepared because of those discussions we always had and, and I also knew I could do it at that time because we actually had three gentlemen who were all prepared, they were different spots. One was our Associate Head Coach. Two are former assistants who are head coaches. The most difficult part was picking one of them. And then keeping the other two engaged. And what came to be really beneficial to us is one of those guys is Kyle Neptune. He’s the head coach. One of those guys is Baker Dunleavy. He’s come back to be the general manager. And one of those guys has gone on to the University of Buffalo, George Halcovageh, and has become a head coach on his own. So it worked out for everyone. I don’t know if it always works that way. But I’m very pleased that it did. 

 

Hank Smith  15:29 

You alluded to this earlier, Jay, but Villanova recruits true student athletes, and I think you mentioned that you have a 100% graduation rate, which is extraordinary when you think of big time division one college athletics, whether it’s basketball or football, a lot of them aren’t students at all. Yet, that’s something that you really valued. And it must be real. Of for those graduates that don’t go to pro basketball, they are so much better off for it. 

 

Jay Wright  16:07 

Yeah, Hank, that is what I’m most proud of. You and I talked earlier about the growth of our university, but individually to the people that played for us, I’m so proud that every one of them that stayed four years, got their degree. And they all stayed four years, we had a few leave earlier for the NBA, and they’ve come back to work on on getting their degrees. So that was the basis of why I got into coaching as an educator, and I loved every part of that. That’s an area that we talked about in the future for us at Villanova. That’s got to continue to be a core part of our culture. And how do we do this with the transfer portal now? Can we still have 100% graduation rate? I think of the guys that stayed for stay for four years, yes, we can do that. Will everybody stay for four years now? I don’t know. And then if you do bring in a transfer, we’ve got to still determine that they have the ability to get their degree or it’s not worth coming in. And you don’t want to pick Villanova. Unless that’s your goal is to get your degree. And so part of that transfer process for us now, and this is all new, as we talked about is when you’re looking at a transfer, we have to put together a plan that you can get your degree and that’s got to be part of the purpose you come to Villanova. 

 

Hank Smith  17:36 

Throughout your coaching career at Villanova, you were approached at different times by professional teams to be a head coach, you were approached by a different division one college programs to coach, did you ever seriously entertain the NBA? And why did you stay at Villanova for the 22 years, you were there? 

 

Jay Wright  18:00 

It’s interesting to have that conversation now, Hank, because no one will use it against me in recruiting. So I can tell you the real stories. I never could say this one when I was coaching because another coach would say, See, he did think about going to the NBA, he’s not going to be there if you go there. But when Ed Stefanski was the president of the Sixers, there was one time I was seriously considering it, it was my hometown team. And, and I really thought highly of Ed. He was the president, I thought we’d work really well together. And I had talked with him. And all the time I did that I you know, our president Father Peter Donohue knew. But in the end, that that was the most serious of all the opportunities I had. But in the end, I always thought maybe I would like to coach in the NBA one day, but usually those jobs are short lived, you can make a lot of money, but they’re short lived. And then what would I want to do if one of those jobs ended? Well, I’d want to coach at a place like Villanova. And I thought, I’m here, right? Why take that chance? You know, maybe for ego or a little bit more money when I’m doing what I love, and I’m definitely being compensated well, I’ve got enough, right. So I never wanted to leave Villanova to take the chance somewhere else because I knew I loved being a part of the Villanova mission and I didn’t want to mess with happy. I did think maybe at some day, I would finish coaching college and if anything ever changed at Villanova, I might try the NBA and end my career in the NBA. But as we discussed earlier, it hit me that I did not have the the energy to give 100% to coaching. And I wanted to try new things and it’s fun doing these things discussing leadership, culture, and mission with executives and leaders like yourself. 

 

Hank Smith  20:07 

Am I right in in this observation that being a head professional coach is not as much work as a head basketball coach, because you’re working year-round, you’re when you’re not coaching, you’re recruiting, you’re being pulled by the development team, you’re being pulled by the academic programs. And so really, it’s 365 days a year. 

 

Jay Wright  20:32 

Yeah, exactly. They’re completely different jobs. Being a head basketball coach in the NBA and a head coach in college are completely different jobs. And it’s funny I’ve friends of mine who have come from the NBA, to be head coaches in college. And after a while, they’ll say to me, there’s Wow, I did not know it was all this. Because in college, you’re, you’re almost like a parent, also. To your point, 365 days a year, you’re concerned about these student athletes, and you’re responsible for them, you know, any thing that they do, you’re responsible for, and their development and their growth every day on and off the court, you’re responsible for like your own children. Whereas in the NBA, you’re responsible for what they do on the basketball court and coaching. If someone gets involved with something off the court, that’s, that’s not you’re responsibility, and you don’t, you know, in the offseason, they’re the grown men, they’re doing what they do, you’re off, you’re away from them. There’s never that time. We had time in May and August, about there was two or three weeks in May or and August where we would give our guys free time to come home. Other than that, we were with them all the time. But even at that time, when we were when they were home, we were responsible for them. And we were in communication with them. And we had a plan for what they should be doing when they were home. So it was 365. That’s part of my retirement idea. It was that I didn’t have the energy every day to be committed to them. And I think you need that as a college basketball coach. 

 

Hank Smith  22:09 

Well, let’s talk a little bit about your transition. Your new career with CBS, you just finished the first year as an analyst. Did that meet your expectations, exceed your expectations and talk about the different kind of preparation that you had to do to be an analyst. 

 

Jay Wright  22:28 

It’s been really interesting, Hank, because I have a combined contract with CBS and Warner Brother discovery sports. Who is everyone knows as TNT. So during the season with CBS during the regular season, I’m doing games with Bill Raftery, and different play by play guys, which is one part of the broadcasting world. And then with Warner Brothers discovery during the NCAA Tournament, I’m doing their their studio shows with Kenny the jet Smith and Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley, which is a totally different broadcast experience. So it’s interesting how the professionals in broadcasting have thrown me into this. And they know the business and I’ve learned after going through a year. They don’t want you thinking too much. They, they kind of hired you to be yourself. But being a coach, I came into it, to answer your question about expectations, thinking they’re going to teach me everything about broadcasting, right. And they they, I figured out after this first year, they were smart enough to know if you’re trying to teach someone in their first year what these other broadcasters like when you’re when you work with a play by play guy like Ian Eagle or Tom McCarthy, you know, or Jim Nance. Those guys are so well trained. You can’t approach it like they do. You’ve got to be more off the cuff using your experience. So I learned the balance of preparation. And really being yourself. I still have a lot to learn, but it was a lot of fun. I love doing the games and being at the different venues and atmospheres. Being at a game like you’re at Purdue, they’re number one in the country, Michigan State’s coming in and the place is rockin and you’re down on the floor that was so much fun. Being at the NCAA tournament at the final four not having to worry about losing the game and just being able to enjoy it with Kenny and Charles and Ernie and Greg Gumbel that that was a lot of fun too. 

 

Hank Smith  24:47 

Yeah, you know, it reminds me whenever I listened to some of my interviews with the business programs like CNBC or Bloomberg TV, I speak in slow motion compared to the anchors. So, like you said, Jim Nance, he’s so trained, so experienced. And there’s no way I’m going to keep up, you know, with Joe Kiernan, or Becky Quick 

 

Jay Wright  25:19 

And I know exactly what you’re talking about. I was trying to do the same thing. And it was interesting. The producers were always saying to me, you know, don’t don’t worry about your preparation. I remember one producer Mark Wolf, who does the Final Four. He called me at Friday at five o’clock. And we had a Saturday noon game, we were in a hotel together, and he said, Put your preparation away, put your computer away. Let’s go to dinner. Let’s forget about the game. Let’s just have some fun. And be yourself tomorrow. And that was early. And at the beginning, I thought he doesn’t know me, I have to work, I have to prepare. But I realized he does know me and he does know the business. And just be yourself. Right that they have you on there for your knowledge, and not for you to be a great broadcaster. 

 

Hank Smith  26:09 

What was the critical advice you got upon entering arena to do it a game? 

 

Jay Wright  26:18 

Bill Raftery is the best. Find the scoreboard so you can always look up and know where it is and find the bathroom because at halftime you only have one chance and you can’t leave if you got to go the bathroom. 

 

Hank Smith  26:31 

Well, Jay, thank you so much. I want to end, tell us- Has retirement been good for your golf game? 

 

Jay Wright  26:39 

Not as good as I thought it would be. Hank, I thought as soon as I started putting some time into this game, I would get big time results immediately. It’s like everything else in life. It is coming slowly. I’m making steady progress. I got a lot of work to do. But I am playing golf with a clear head. And I’m sure you know this. Even when you play golf, you’re always worried about what’s going on in Haverford trust and where I’ve got to be next. I’ve got a little clearer head, I’m not worried about what’s going on in recruiting, getting ready for the next game. So, it’s a lot more enjoyable. 

 

Hank Smith  27:15 

You’re right. And a lot of golf courses won’t let you take out a cell phone and check the stock market and return calls. Some do, but most don’t. Well, thank you so much, Jay, for joining us today and sharing your insights on the critical role of succession planning, and managing a basketball program and the culture around that. It’s been a real pleasure. 

 

Jay Wright  27:38 

It’s great being with you, Hank. 

 

Maxine Cuffe  27:42 

Thanks for listening to this episode of speaking of quality, Wealth Management insights with Hank Smith. To hear future episodes of speaking of quality, please subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To learn more about the habit for Trust Company, please visit www dot Haverford quality.com. This podcast is provided as general commentary and market overview and should not be relied upon as research a forecast or investment advice and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt an investment strategy any opinions expressed are as of the date this podcast was recorded and may change at any time, and are the opinions of that commentator not have affords any opinion or information provided are believed by have preferred to be reliable at the time of this podcast recording, but are not necessarily all inclusive or guaranteed for accuracy. before making any financial decisions. Please consult with an investment professional