A few weeks ago at practice, Texas women’s basketball head coach Vic Schaefer wasn’t on the sidelines barking orders. He was running the agility ladder with his players.
Schaefer, 63, grew up in Texas. He’s had two other head coaching positions since 1990, but in 2020, he found himself back in his home state tasked with molding a formerly dominant program back into shape. Since then, Texas women’s basketball has been to the Elite Eight three times, won two Big 12 tournament championships and gone 109-32 overall. But that is only part of what drives him. Schaefer focuses equally on the development of his players as people, not just as athletes.
When he arrived in Austin four years ago, the players on the court were not Schaefer’s recruits. He had to convince that Texas squad to trust his coaching techniques and philosophies. That year, the team advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in five years.
Fifth-year guard Shay Holle bought into Schaefer’s methods and stuck with him, even though he didn’t recruit her. She has watched as Schaefer’s trust and confidence in the team’s skill set has grown over the years, but emphasized that he cares about the players just as much off the court as he does on the court.
“He’s demanding, he challenges us, he holds us to a very high standard … and he’s very passionate, and that shows,” Holle said. “But at the end of the day, he is kind of like our dad … he cares about us so much.”
Early in his career, Schaefer believes he focused on the wrong things.
“When you’re young, it’s all about winning,” Schaefer said. “I worried about what everybody else had and what I didn’t have.”
After almost losing his son in a 2010 wakeboarding accident, everything was brought into perspective for Schaefer. Now, he only worries about what he can control.
He enjoys getting to know his players and learning about their lives. He wants to be their first call if they get into trouble. It makes him happy to see his team blossom into good people who hold the door for others, thank waiters at restaurants and interact with kids at games.
“That’s when you know you’re making an impact in their life,” Schaefer said. “I have as much pride in them doing things like that as if they go (and) get 20 (points) or get the game winner.”
When Schaefer is out on the court doing warm-ups with the team and cracking jokes, it’s a side of him that the players constantly see, Holle said. Schaefer provides discipline and structure for his team, but also wants them to know they have someone in their corner who cares for them.
“We’re going to be in a lot of fights together,” Schaefer said. “We’re going to be in that fox hole together, and I want them to know I got their back and they got mine.”
