Kevin Kuwik – A Doer. A Leader. And, a great fit to lead Army Basketball.

Kevin Kuwik was named Army West Point's Lee Anderson Head Men's Basketball Coach on March 29, 2023.  Kuwik becomes the 32^nd head coach in the program's 121-year history.   Coach Kuwik is a great fit for this opportunity, as you will hear on this episode.  As you will also hear, the reason for this goes far beyond his abilities as a coach.
 
Kuwik was a Distinguished Military Graduate in Notre Dame's Army ROTC program. He was able to serve 10 years in the military as he also began his coaching career.  While coaching at Ohio University, Coach Kuwik took an 18-month leave of absence as he was commissioned as second lieutenant at age 22 and soon became a platoon leader of 45 soldiers in Iraq.  While serving in Iraq, he earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service (the Army's highest merit award). He used leave time to return to the Bobcats bench and help Ohio win the 2005 Mid-American Conference Tournament title and reach the NCAA Tournament.  He received an honorable discharge from the military in 2006.   Prior to getting the call to become the head coach at Army, Coach Kuwik spent time on the coaching staff of high-quality programs including Ohio U, Butler, Ohio State, and Davidson.

Also included in Coach Kuwik’s story is a display of his great leadership skills as well as his drive to turn negative into positive during tragic circumstances. On February 12, 2009, the plane that was carrying Kevin’s then girlfriend, Lorin Maurer, crashed, taking the lives of all on board.  Kevin, driven by seeing his girlfriend’s father suffer, soon committed to turn a negative into a positive.  He spearheaded a crusade which became an organized effort to demand reforms to federal aviation safety standards that still stand today.  The safety legislation enacted as a result of their efforts is working….as Coach indicates in the episode, since the legislation, there have been no commercial airline crashes. 

Army is without a doubt getting a great coach to lead their basketball program.  He will produce wins on the court, but, more importantly, he will build and develop men we will be proud to have represent us all, not only as graduates of West Point, but also as sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, and leaders of our country in whatever endeavors they choose to pursue.

Takeaways:

1. Be a doer. Coach Kuwik mentions the difference between one who just complains and one who takes action.  Coach had every right to take time and just concentrate on his own suffering after the tragic plane crash that took somebody very close to him.  Taking the time to process such a difficult situation is more than acceptable.  However, there were safety issues that needed to be addressed and changed.  Coach could have just let it go and complained about how unfair life was.  Instead, he chose to act and turn a negative into a positive.  The result was one that continues to save lives today. 
2. Do the hard and right thing knowing that somebody will notice and be impacted. When Coach Kuwik got his notice that he was being deployed, there was some question as to whether he had satisfied his obligation and the thought crossed his mind to challenge it. Then, he thought of the impact that would have the current and future players he was coaching and how they would listen to him in the future about the concept of commitment. Coach Kuwik headed to Iraq to serve his country.
3. Balance having DRIVE and AMBITION for the NEST STEP with being PRESENT. As coach Kuwik describes, all assistant coaches want to be a head coach someday. He also recognizes that if you focus on that all the time, you will NOT do a good job in your current role as an assistant. Having ambition for the future is great and we all need that, but it should never come at the expense of the job we are currently doing. Be the best you can NOW, then work on making gradual progress toward the future.
4. APPRECIATE OUR COUNTRY. Coach Kuwik's service in Iraq made him appreciate how good we have it in this country. You can have differences with others, and it has never been and never will be perfect. However, it's pretty much as good as it gets in terms of how free and blessed we are. Let's always try to remember this and, as Coach Kuwik said, let's try to live in a way that would make those who sacrificed for us proud.

Links:

Kevin Kuwik - The Army West Point's Lee Anderson Head Men's Basketball Coach