Amanda Butler referred to the UF women’s basketball program as a family.
It’s not hard to see why given the fact that Butler has worked with all of her assistants at stops prior to Gainesville.
“We are together all the time,” Butler said of her coaching staff. “We take care of each other, disagree like family, and at the end of the day, we all have a common goal and a common purpose. It’s a group of people that I’m very privileged to work with.”
When Butler returned to her alma mater to fill the head coaching position, she brought members from her coaching staff at UNC Charlotte that guided the school to a share of the 2006 Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship.
Coaches Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, David Lowery and Butler’s assistant Janna Magette all made the trip to Gainesville.
But the young staff led by the youngest coach in the Southeastern Conference needed some experience.
Butler brought in Susie Gardner, whom Butler had been an assistant under at Austin Peay, to round out her staff.
In her time there as a budding assistant coach, Butler noticed Gardner’s attention to detail and organization. The two built a trust factor inherent with success — an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title in 2001 — that made Gardner an easy choice to complete Butler’s staff.
Gardner honed her SEC knowledge at Arkansas from 2003-2007 and brought that to a youthful coaching staff.
The reversal of roles between Butler and Gardner has helped Butler as a head coach, working for her previous boss.
“It certainly gives me a greater appreciation, when we’re having debates about how we want to do things, where she’s coming from because I feel like I have insight into how she thinks,” Butler said.
The history and comfortability between Butler and her aides got them on the same coaching page, which translated to the players.
“Definitely the familiarity with one another helps,” Butler said. “It helps in terms of communication and just being effective and efficient.”
In conference play, when there’s a quick turnaround between games, the exchange of communication is invaluable.
“I think they’re definitely comfortable with each other,” sophomore guard Jordan Jones said. “You see it with the way they pick on each other. They expect certain things out of each other. They know their roles and they play them well.”
Whether it’s Butler, as the enforcer barking out directions, or Gardener patting a player on the back on one of her good days, the staff’s familiarity is something that has trickled down to the players and bred success.
“My challenge was to put together the best staff that I possibly could, to not just compete in the SEC, but to win championships in the SEC,” Butler said. “I chose them to be on staff because they were exceptional: exceptional recruiters, great basketball minds and above all things, exceptionally loyal and hard workers.”
