Cota talks leadership, Ohio State field hockey
Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) student Patrick Cota has spent the past year and change steeped in Buckeye culture, serving as an assistant coach for Ohio State’s field hockey program.
A veteran NCAA coach, Cota spent two years behind enemy lines at rival Michigan in Ann Arbor before taking his talents west to Stanford, where he worked as an assistant with the Cardinal for over a decade. A double Bruin, having also earned a history degree from UCLA, the Camarillo, Calif. native took time from his busy schedule earlier this month to chat with the School of Education and Information Studies about the landscape of college sports, how the TCL program renewed his love for coaching and what the Buckeyes have planned for the future…
What originally interested you in the UCLA Transformative Coaching and Leadership program and what were your biggest takeaways from your studies?
“I was really at a point of reflection coming out of the COVID shutdown. Being at a transition period at Stanford around that time, with our head coach leaving and the possibility of having sports programs eliminated, I took a lot of time to work on myself and reflect back on my experiences as both a coach and athlete.
“I went back to my roots, learning a little more about John Wooden, coaching and the parallels to teaching. Finding the TCL program, with access to faculty members that aren’t just successful coaches, but also leaders from the prominent school of education in the country – that was something I couldn’t pass up.
What has it been like, having been involved with three of the largest and most successful NCAA programs in the nation at UCLA, Stanford and now Ohio State?
“The common (thread) in every one of these elite programs is that they pursue greatness.
“At Ohio State, you’ll often hear people call it ‘The Ohio State.’ And what we mean by that is Tradition, Honor and Excellence (THE) are our three principles we bleed across everything.
“Our entire program is committed to athletes being their best, on and off the playing field. And the more you know about yourself and your core principles, whenever you come to a tough decision in coaching or work or life in general, you can make those decisions based on your principles. It doesn’t necessarily make them easier, but you have a better idea.
“Elite programs realize that visiting and revisiting those core principles is important – finding areas where you’re doing well and discovering other areas where you might be challenged or struggling where you might need to adapt and change to fit the direction you want to go in.”
Tell us more about the Ohio State field hockey program and what the future holds for Buckeye nation?
“Right now, there’s no professional area of field hockey. You only have the national team program and the university level. But there are skill sets players can take with them regardless of the career they find themselves in after hockey.
“Sometimes we forget about the life skills we’re supposed to be teaching, from financial planning to changing a tire. I changed two tires for athletes during this past season. So we’ve added that to the list of off-the-field lessons we can teach them.
“We have a book club – together the players read three or four books last year – they read Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, Atomic Habits and The Energy Bus. Right now, we’re looking at new books that can help us continue to build the culture of the group.
Down the road, we’re also hoping to plan a team trip abroad to South Africa. Not just for hockey, but also to look at Nelson Mandela’s Way and find opportunities for education with a leadership lens so we can have a better understanding of the social context of life with apartheid and sports there.
No stranger to the Big Ten Conference, Cota had a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Michigan from 2004-05, where he helped guide the Wolverines to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back Big Ten Tournament championships. A member of the U.S. National Team (1999-2012), he was part of the U.S. National Indoor squad that participated at the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Indoor World Cup in February 2011. Cota has also competed on the U.S. Field Hockey men’s junior national team, playing with the U-18 and U-21 squads. In addition to his collegiate coaching, he is also highly involved in USA Field Hockey’s coaching education ranks and continues to develop national team players. Cota and his wife, Amber, reside in Columbus, Ohio.
Learn more about UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership Master of Education program.