When new Head Coach Chris Kielsmeier was introduced as the new head coach of the Bobcats, Texas State President Kelly Damphousse gifted him a unique item.
A pair of scissors.
“When we interviewed Coach on the first Zoom [call], he was sitting in his office, and he had a bunch of basketballs, trophies, nets, and stuff behind him,” Damphousse said. “I said, ‘Man, I want to cut down a net with you someday.’ So I want to give you this pair of scissors, so you can put it on your desk. When we win our next championship, I want you to cut down the nets with these pairs of scissors.”
Both a lofty gift and for Kielsmeier who takes over a program that has reached the NCAA Tournament twice and has won one conference regular season title since making the jump to Division I in 1984 while entering the newly configured Pac-12 Conference which looks to be one of the better mid-major conferences in the country.
But easy has never been in the vocabulary of Kielsmeier who isn’t afraid of the expectations set in front of him nor the reality of where the Bobcats are.
“I'm outspoken right now where the program's at, it's not where it needs to be,” Kielsmeier said. “That's not an indictment on the past coaching staff or anything like that. They had success. It just needs a new energy and a new life to it. I said it earlier, I know what we're in for. This isn't gonna be easy but I've never taken an easy job. I've never had an easy path to success and so it's going to require a lot.
“Everybody signs up for success. Everybody signs up for winning until you have to go through it and experience exactly what it takes to get to that level. It's a lot, and it's a lot for me. But I'm proud about what we do, how we go about doing it, and that's just not going to change. It's the chase. The chase is unlimited and you have to find a way to shut it down a little bit so you can do some other things, but you have to enjoy it. Enjoy the chase.”
It’s been a whirlwind for Kielsmeier who just last month was coaching Cleveland State in the WNIT Tournament to now having to recruit players to Texas State.
Ultimately, Kielsmeier felt Texas State was the right place for him.
“I was in a hotel room in Arkansas getting ready to play in the Great Eight of the WNIT on Monday just like 3 weeks ago,” Kielsmeier said. “Don, Kelly and I were working through that the entire weekend and you're trying to get ready to play a game. You're trying to make sure that you make the focus about everything that you're doing is Cleveland State and trying to win because you still don't know how everything's going to work out. It just came together and I felt like this was where we needed to be. I felt like this was a place that needed to be built.”
Another factor for Kielsmeier signing with Texas State is the passion both Damphousse and Director of Athletics Don Coryell have for athletics and their ability to let coaches manage their programs.
“They are passionate, driven and they get things done,” Kielsmeier said. ”One thing along this whole process that has given me a real comfort level with them is they have let me be. They have built a strong level of trust in me right away in ‘That he's our guy and let him work.’ They are there to support and they are there when needed.
“They have put me in a comfort zone because they have made me feel like they fully believe in me and they're all in with me.”
Kielsmeier is tasked with turning around a program that has appeared twice in the NCAA Tournament since making the jump to Division I in 1984.
With his success at Howard Payne, Wayne State and Cleveland State, Kielsmeier is both focused on developing a winning culture and gaining the trust of his players.
“You have to make sure [the players] are getting everything out of themselves off the court and really trying to install that,” Kielsmeier said. “You have to build a high level of trust. Players want to know that you have their best interests in mind so for me right now that's what we're doing with our current players.
“It's just building a level of trust with them and then just getting them to understand that every decision that you're going to make, you feel is what's best for them and what's best for the program. Just installing a level of confidence in them.”
