push when needed. vibe when it matters. LEVELS.
Why is Ime Udoka a good coach?
Let’s think about that in a sec. At RESET, we hold our coaches to a high standard of VERSATILITY. Renaissance thinkers. Able to mix it up on AP Gov and PreCalc and Morning Routines and Sleep Hygiene. Able to get tough if needed, but also gentle when it matters.
As Fred VanVleet once said about Coach Udoka on the Draymond Green podcast:
“You know how much NBA coaches beat around the bush and protect guys' egos and don’t address things? He’s the complete opposite. But it’s weird, because it’s only the two and a half hours during the game. Everything else is super light: it’s fun, it’s a great environment. Everybody enjoys coming in every day.
You just see his face and he’s yelling during the game, and he’s cussing the refs out and trying to fight LeBron. So you thinking it’s military all the time, but he’s pretty cool.”
We strive for that with our clients.
Not fighting LeBron, but the ability to push, and the ability to vibe. To find the right level.
Are RESET coaches are expected to be accountability partners? Yes. Tutors? Yes, sometimes that too. Cheerleaders and taskmasters? Double YES. They’re all of it depending on what the student needs in the moment.
So what does that actually look like, the “levels of help,” when a student is trying to do something?
LEVEL 1: Honestly, Sometimes It's Just Literally Tutoring
Take John, who was studying microeconomics.
Every problem was a battle, and he needed real academic support to get through it. We weren’t making plans to do the work. I was sitting with him, solving marginal cost questions one by one.
But his focus was locked in. And we still call that executive function coaching, a “doing skill.”
LEVEL 2: The Guy Helping You Get Through It
This is a step down from tutoring. More like screen-sharing on DeltaMath while the student talks me through problems.
I’m inputting answers, nudging when needed:
“Are you sure about that volume formula?”
But mostly, I’m just the accountability layer. The interface between them and the work.
Weirdly powerful. Some kids just need you to sit with them.
LEVEL 3: The Practice Test Facilitator
One of my AP Gov clients doesn’t need content help; he just needs help sticking with the process.
So we set up a test. He takes it and verbalizes his answers to each multiple choice question. I’m not teaching him the material. I’m creating space for him to think out loud, even if I don’t totally remember McCulloch v. Maryland. He talks through it, and we work it out.
LEVEL 4: The Silent Body Double
Sometimes it’s even simpler.
A client is reading Things Fall Apart. I’m just there. Mic off. Camera on. They know someone’s watching.
And because someone’s watching, they stay off TikTok.
***
Plans are great. Calendars matter. But often times EF coaching is similar to how Fred described Coach Ime. Sometimes you’re one way, sometimes you’re another way.
