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On February 24, 2025, the latest AP Rankings for NCAA women’s basketball showed that the Texas Longhorns were the nation’s top-ranked team, marking the program’s first No. 1 AP ranking for the first time since February 16, 2004, which is over 21 years ago.

It has taken Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer a long time to bring his program to this point. Schaefer is a two-time National Coach of the Year, and boasts a 109-32 overall record in four seasons as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. 

If someone were to ask Schaefer how he has brought the Texas program to this point of being the country’s top-ranked team, he’d surely cite the team culture he has built. And in his ‘It’s Not What We Do, But How We Do It - Vic Schaefer, Univ. of Texas’ clinic, Schaefer reveals some of the core lessons he has learned about building team culture that has turned his program into a perennial national championship contender.  

Three Adjectives All Coaches Want For Their Team

Three Adjectives All Coaches Want For Their Team

Coach Schaefer explains that a team’s identity can often start with the ideals that a coach wants their team to encompass. And in his opinion, three adjectives are a great place to start when it comes to building team culture.

“If they describe your team as a tough, physical, aggressive team, I’m gonna say you’re gonna like that,” Coach Schaefer says in the clinic. 

Coach Schaefer loves these three adjectives because they don’t convey anything about your team's talent, win-loss record, or place in the standings. This is also why these three adjectives are great for any sports team (not just basketball) to strive for. 

By building a culture that can genuinely be described as tough, physical, and aggressive by someone on the outside looking in, your team will only attract and retain players who don’t want things easy and are willing to work for their role. 

Celebrate the Little Victories (Even in Losses)

Celebrate the little victories

Coach Schaefer discussed how, while any coach wants to win every game, the reality is that losses will occur. But as the cliché goes, you either win or you learn. And Coach Schaefer asserts that there aren’t just learning opportunities in losses, but little victories that can be found that will help build team culture. 

For example, a basketball team could lose a game by 15 points but still win the rebounding battle. Or if one player had a standout game, they should still be praised despite losing. Celebrating little victories like these will build confidence and increase morale in tough moments, which can work wonders for building a winning team culture. 

Coach Schaefer also shared a message one of his coaches shared with him, that conveyed how sometimes a coach’s best job in a season is getting a basketball team that was supposed to win five games in a season to win 10. In other words, only one team can win a championship each season. 

Therefore, a coach can’t hinge their success on that lone outcome. Even if a winning season isn’t in the works, Coach Schaefer asserts that the building blocks to success can still be laid each day. 

Never get out coached,

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P.S. If you are craving more from Coach Schaefer you can see all of his clinic talks here Vic Schaefer Coaching Excellence Bundles