4-H Career Chat with Basketball Coach Jermieke Cliatt

• Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Alabama 4-H ESPN page. This is your host Warren J. Williams. And my next guest is one of my local coaches, who is the coach of the Eufaula High school Girls’ basketball team, Coach Jermieke Cliatt. Mr. Jermieke Cliatt, could you say hello? - Hey, hello. How are you doing? My name is Jermieke Cliatt. Eufaula high school here at Varsity Girl’s Basketball Coach. - Okay. So how are you doing Coach Cliatt? - I’m doing well. How about you sir? - Doing good, doing good.

00:39 - Are you ready for the next season? - Hey, we’re ready. We’ve been working hard, so, hey, we’re ready, we’ve actually got practice here in about two more hours, but we’re ready. We’re working hard and looking to come up to the big goal this year. - That’s good, that’s good. So in this interview, I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind, if I ask. - All right. - All right. So one, the first question, actually, what was your major in college? - My major in college was Physical Education.

01:08 - I have a bachelor’s from Troy University, where I graduated in 2013. Then two years later, I decided to go back to school and I obtained my Masters in Athletic Administration. And currently I’m back in school again to get my second masters, which I’m interning currently at the moment here at Eufaula High School. My second master’s is in Instructional Leadership where I can be an administrator in the school system. I’ll actually be graduating in December. I’m in my last intern. Well, while my first intern clears now, my second intern will start in the fall.

01:48 - I’ll be graduating in December, from the University of West Alabama in Instructional Leadership. - That’s nice. I didn’t know that. Well, class of 2020. - Moving in silence, moving in silence. - Hey, I know what you talking about. All right. Well next thing. Next question is, what is a day like as a coach? - Wow. First thing I will say it can be stressful if you live, but you know, my day like a coach man, to be honest, I was just speaking with my former player who I’ve coached in the past, man, just giving her some words of encouragement as far as what to major in, because she’s headed to Wichita State and I was telling her “Hey, what you going yo major in?” And she was like, “I don’t know.” I said, well, “What you like to do?” She was like, “Plays basketball.” I said well, “If you can’t play one day, that ball’s gonna stop dribbling so you might as well be a coach.” She was like, “Yeah. Yeah.

” 02:44 - So, you know, I say that to say this, a day being a basketball coach, it’s like you’re doing a hobby. It’s something you doing for fun. And I told her this, I said, “If you can do something without pay, then it’s not a job to you.” So I’ve been coaching basketball for well about maybe 14 years and I’ll say seven pay years, seven unpaid. So I did it for seven years for free. So again, it’s something that I enjoy doing it, but the life of a coach, man, it’s rewarding because you’re able to help kids through sports, discipline kids through sports. I love every minute of it. I got a passion for it. You know, again basketball teaches life skills. I’m very big on teaching life skills.

03:36 - My team that I have currently, they’ll tell you, I use the game of basketball to teach them life skills because the game of basketball is like you want to succeed in life. You’ve got to go through trials and tribulations in life, just as well as on the basketball court, you’re gonna play teams that are better than you. Teams that’s gonna beat you. You’re not gonna win every single game. I don’t know a coach in this world that has won every single game that he has coached. Just like life. You’re not gonna win every single battle. You’re gonna have some speed bumps, gonna have some obstacles in life. But again, how you face those obstacles, how you face adversity, it’s the true definition, of where your heart lies and how you make it far in life.

04:16 - So man, the life of a coach, man, it’s rewarding, man. Like I get phone calls every day from all types of coaches from the college level, high school level. So man, you meet a lot of people, networking. It’s kind of like a fraternity. It’s a brotherhood slash sisterhood. So you meet other coaches, Hey, you coach here, you coach there, man and it’s a great feeling. It’s really rewarding. - Yeah. I consider basketball one of the best, I guess you could say social sports.

04:45 - This is where you can really make friends out on the court. Everything’s competitive. Yeah. Well next thing, what is the best thing about your job that you like to do? - Wow. The best thing. That’s a good question. The best thing about my job again, is interacting with my players, getting more personal building relationships. That’s the biggest thing because you know, basketball versus football where football, you got maybe 50, sometimes 50 to 100 football players out there. You got to get to know a kid, but basketball, you talking about dealing with eight to 12 kids or 13 kids, So you begin to form a bond with them, a relationship where you can get personal with them, man.

05:31 - And when you get personal, it’s about helping them become, productive citizens in the world that we living in here. Basketball, man you know, it’s a sport where you gain a lot of social skills because you got to interact with people. You gain a lot of business skills because again, everything is not gonna go your way. You gain some motivation. You gotta play a lot of games. So you’re fatigued, you’re tired. So again you gotta go back to, it goes back to adversity. Life is about adversity, how you respond to it, when things are going well in life, that’s where you don’t have any problems.

06:11 - You’re living a good life, but boom, the minute you come to a speed bubble or the minute something happened and you face adversity, how you going to respond to it? So. - Oh yeah, definitely. There’s a lot of players in the NBA and in college level, who’ll always go back to their coach and say, they had to build a good relationship. They always keep training. And even sometimes they’ll come back like Tony Johnson, he’ll sometimes come back to our school and practice, get some reps up. - Definitely man, like I said, building those relationships, that’s the most exciting and enjoyable thing to me is building that relationship and seeing them basically get somewhere that they never thought they could, I push them, push all my players and things that they say they can’t do, they got up and they can do. Things that where they lack confidence, they leave with confidence, self-esteem low self-esteem they leave with confidence, So the thing is man, building relationships it’s the thing that really really gets me as far as coach man and just really makes me feel good when I see that smile, when I see, “Hey coach, I did it.

” 07:19 - And then, I don’t mind sharing a story with you though, I had a kid that I never thought, who I thought would never would get it. I would tell her to do this, tell her to do that. She have attitude or I thought she wasn’t getting it and she would have problems, whatever. But later on when she went to college, she sent me a text message. She was like, “Coach, I just wanna say thank you for being hard on me, Thank you for dissing me. Thank you for teaching me life skills and the things that you taught me. Because I’m way out here in this part of the United States. And the first thing I got to remember is the things that you taught me on and off the court. So that goes back to building relationship. I built a relationship with her on and off the court, not just her basketball coach, but a father figure, being a brother, being a mentor, all the roles.

08:10 - So it was very important building the relationship. - That was good. That’s nice. All right. So this one question, I feel this is a very good question. What advice would you give a youth interested in your job as coach? - Wow. The best advice is number one, patience. Even coaching in sport, you gotta be patient. When I say patience, patience with players, patience with parents, patients with administration.

08:47 - Because again, when I say patience with players, You’re just not gonna have ready-made players, you know, players are already good. You gotta develop, and you gotta build your court, to build your great program. When I say patience with parents, you should know, it gotta work both ways, hand-in-hand. Patience with the coach, coach patient with the parents. You should know you don’t have parents that want their kids to play. You’re gonna have parents who are gonna be giving you, that look and they’re like “Hey, well, my child’s gonna play.” But you gotta let them know that it’s different from we leave the high school, and then, so you gotta be patient with the coach. Because again, a coach, I believe it takes a coach three years to build a program, makes the program his or hers. So, you know, being patient with administration, things that you roll with, things that you need for your program. You might not need it firsthand. There was a couple of things that I didn’t have my first year, but as I began to be patient, the things that I needed or the things I asked for, I began to get it.

09:48 - So being patient in this sport, also being passionate. Love what you do. Again, nobody wants to work or nobody wants to do anything that they don’t like. So in anything you do, you gotta put some love in it. If I didn’t love the sport of basketball, I didn’t love coaching, I wouldn’t be doing it. Do something you love to do because again, it’s not a job then, it becomes a hobby. And everybody loves hobby. Everybody in this world have a hobby. So basketball is a hobby to me. Coaching is a hobby to me. I enjoy doing it.

I’ve coached it for free 10:24 - and now I’m coaching it and getting paid for it. So passionate, being passionate, being patient. And I’ll say this last thing, being confident. You got to be confident in yourself as a coach. And when I say confident, and I’m saying, you’re gonna hear things from the outside, You’re gonna hear things from the inside, but you gotta be confident and gotta trust the process, your vision, your values, your goals, what you have as a coach and what you have for your team. You gotta be confident in it. You can’t second-guess yourself.

10:58 - Just gotta remain confident and be strong and just keep it moving forward. - Yeah. I definitely know I need help with my patience. I snap at my brother, and so he makes me mad. - Oh yeah. - All right. So next question is who inspired you to do better in life? Who gave you that push in order to work as hard as you have, from, I guess you could say high school till where you are now. - Wow. Definitely have had several people play an important role in the man I am today. But if I can really pinpoint and stick my hand on one thing, it would be my mom.

11:41 - Seventh grade here you follow and see the schools in that more middle school a tragic happened in my life and I was in seventh grade my mom passed away. So when that day struck, there’s some things that I don’t wanna do. I want to quit in life. I want to stop going to school. I was just pressed. I was sad and I was mad. Mad at God, for taking my mom away at a young age. I didn’t know where to turn. Didn’t know where to go. But I met a young man by the name of Corey Jones. Was the Girls’ Club director, Who was very influential in my life and kind of steered me, kind of guide me.

I was a member, I was 13 years old 12:22 - at Eufaula Boys and Girls Club. And he know you poured into me, the stuff that poured into me that became a turning point in my life. And along with that stuff, and just thinking about my mom that gave me motivation to, you know, if mom was here, she would want me to do it this way. If mom was here, she would want me to be successful. The mom was here, she would want me to graduate and go on to college.

12:45 - So it was tough and difficult that mom wasn’t there for eighth grade graduation. It was difficult that mom wasn’t there for my high school diploma. It was difficult that mom wasn’t there for my college degree. So every degree that I get, I dedicate this for my mom. Every degree that I get is for my mom, it’s my motivation to do what I do. To do what I love to do. So she would definitely be, along with Mr. Corey Jones, and the Eufaula Boys and Girls Club staff definitely played a role in my life to be where I am today. - I get what you’re saying. I get it. Cause my grandma, she died in February and I was there, it just happened, but gotta pick yourself up. And I said, Lord knows my grandma, if she had a choice come down and slap me, be like, “Boy, you better get your butt out that couch. You better keep working.” Plus yeah, Mr.Corey– - How they ended up taking care, raised me up after mom left. - Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That is I know. But yeah. Mr. Corey, I know he’s helped a lot of people. He’s very wise. - Yeah.

13:59 - - Especially when he was at the Boys and Girls Club. - Oh yeah. Most definitely. - All right. So. All right. Last question. Oh yeah. Okay. All right. So who do you think is gonna be the hardest team You gonna face this season. The hardest team. - I’ll say this right here, I don’t feel like nobody is hard for us. I feel like it’s a challenge. Feel like confident that we’re the better team this year, and that goes back to being confident. Well, I told you before, so I’ll say the most challenging teams would be, I will say, I’m going to some tournaments that’s in Hoover, Alabama, some place with really good teams up there.

14:48 - Also going down to Mobile, Alabama to play some six and seven, eight schools down there. So those games will be challenging. Also, we’re moving into a different area this year, with three new teams. So again, that area will be a little bit challenging for us, but again, I’m the type of coach where I respect all, fear none. So, we’re gonna take it one game at a time and the results will speak for itself. - You’re right. You’re right. You guys got a good team. - I appreciate it. - Yeah, I can see I’ve been working on, I can’t wait to see y’all progress and see the record y’all hold, gotta get that championship. - Oh yeah. - It’s been a long time coming.

15:34 - Well, Coach Cliatt, that was the end of questions. I appreciate you coming on here, speaking your mind and answering these questions. I liked all these answers. Very inspirational. And before you leave, what would you like to, I don’t know, as inspiration to kids, what would you like to leave as an inspiration for kids going through probably what you’ve been through, or just going through life in general? - Gotchu. Well, I’ll say this right here, that best motivation that I can give to a kid, the best encouragement is, everyone can succeed in their own way. And that’s something that matter. Everyone can succeed. Whether you’re working on a garbage truck, you’d be the best garbage truck man.

16:24 - Whether you work in a janitor in the lunchroom, you’d be that best lunchroom Whether you are a truck driver, you’d be the best truck driver. If you a lawyer, you’d be the best lawyer. If you’re the doctor, you’d be the best doctor. Everybody has their own niche where they can succeed in. So be good at it. Also, in life, again there’s going to be speed bumps, there’s going to be obstacles, there’s going to be adversity. Everybody has, I don’t know, one person life that hasn’t been through any speed bumps or adversity or obstacles. The question is how you’re gonna respond to it. Always having a plan, because guess what? Your plan A is not gonna always work. The plan A was not work for me, I’ll be a swing in the NBA. That’s everybody’s dream. So, NFL player, NBA. So you gotta have a plan B. What’s your plan B? How you’re going to respond to adversity when plan A don’t work. You can’t just give up.

17:24 - If I didn’t have a plan B, then my plan A would be nothing. When my tragedy struck for me, I had a plan B. I went on after school. So, never give up, keep your head up. Again how are you gonna. That goes back to the road of adversity. That means a lot adversity. How are you gonna handle adversity? And we have a hashtag, I sit here with my team, and my best logo is “Power, outwork everybody” “Power, outwork everybody.” If you’re in the classroom, outwork your classmate. Hey, if you’re on the football field, basketball court, if you own a baseball field, outwork your teammate.

18:08 - If you have a job, if you’re a salesman, outwork your employee. Outwork your colleagues. Outwork them in everything. Be the first person to get up in the morning. When I was in college, I would get up at five, 5:30 in the morning because I wanted to beat the sun up. I believe that, you know, I believe that people, If you wanna be successful, you gotta work in the morning, when everybody’s asleep. You get a head start over your day. A lot of times, people like to sleep in and college students nine, 10, 11, 12 o’clock.

18:39 - But hey, I’m up at five and 6:00 AM in the morning. I’m working, I’m doing schoolwork. I’m writing down my goals, I’m writing down my business. You gotta work when everybody else is asleep. So you gotta power outwork everybody in every aspect of your life. - I get what you’re saying. I woke up and I wake up every day around six. I woke up today at 6:30. - Yeah. - I get to work every morning around 7:00 AM. I wake up about 5:30 to six o’clock. I don’t set alarm clock. My passion wakes me up. Me coaching basketball is my passion. I’m trying to believe, hey, I don’t have to set alarm clock. My passion wakes me up. What I love, I wake up every morning and love what I’m doing. You know, the moment that I don’t love what I’m doing, that’s the moment I’ll give it up. But again, I don’t set alarm clock, My passion wakes me up.

Again, I’m really I’m in that mode, 19:35 - I’m ready to outwork. - Oh yeah. Me to me, some people would be like, I wake up at eight, at nine o’clock. To me, I’ll be like, dang, that’s late. I don’t like myself if I wake up at nine o’clock. It’s just like wasting a day away. I say, live life to the fullest, wake up at six, get your life started. And I think that’s the end of it. Well, thanks Coach Cliatt for your time. .