POWER PLAY 09: HIRED TO LOSE. BUILT TO WIN.

Edward Graves
Jun 19
2 min read

POWER PLAY 09: HIRED TO LOSE. BUILT TO WIN.

Theme: Never underestimate what they don’t say out loud.

Metaphorical Truth: Sometimes you’re not hired to succeed. You’re hired to clean up quietly, lose politely, or disappear peacefully. When you win anyway, you disrupt the whole design.

🔥 THE PLAY

When you’re brought in to replace someone with legacy power, you’re often expected to be quiet, grateful, and manageable—not dominant. That was the setup. A white athletic director, reluctant to confront a long-tenured coach, brought in someone new—someone Black, external, and likely seen as temporary.

But power underestimates what it cannot control. The program didn’t just stabilize—it started winning. And that win exposed the truth: they didn’t plan for success. They planned for slow exit and quiet compliance. When a complaint was raised about a racially charged comment, the silence got louder. Resources disappeared. Practice space vanished. The playbook changed—but you didn’t.

You didn’t flinch. You didn’t retreat. You built a culture, drove a team, and brought home the school’s first championship in half a century. That’s the danger of hiring a real leader to play a political role—you don’t get a pawn. You get a storm.

🧠 COACHES’ CORNER

If you're a coach of color walking into a legacy program, understand this: they may love your passion until it produces power. Culture change always sounds good in theory—until it threatens the people who benefit from dysfunction.

So protect your wins. Archive your results. Build team culture like it’s wartime. And when the politics come—and they will come—let your work speak louder than their whispers.

🏛 ATHLETIC DIRECTORS’ TABLE

This is the playbook not to follow: hiring someone to solve problems you’re unwilling to face. That’s not leadership—it’s outsourcing accountability.

When your silence follows a racial incident, or when you pull resources from a winning program, your actions reveal more than your words ever could. And make no mistake—coaches notice. Players notice. Parents notice. Recruits notice.

ADs are judged not by the hires they make—but by the support they provide once the hire is under fire.

💼 EXECUTIVE INSIGHT

This is bigger than high school sports. In business, politics, and athletics, people will recruit your skills while secretly betting on your silence.

When you outperform the limits they set for you, don’t expect applause. Expect backlash.

Winning isn’t always welcome. Especially when it comes from someone they didn’t think would succeed. That’s why strategy matters. Don’t just lead—document your leadership.

Protect your story. Protect your proof. Protect your power.