Sean Landry
By trade, new University of Alabama gymnastics head coach Dana Duckworth is a saleswoman.
After receiving a bachelor's degree and master's of business administration from Alabama in 1998, Duckworth spent nearly a decade as a sales representative for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, selling medicine to doctors across the state, all the while volunteering as an assistant coach under Sarah and David Patterson.
In 2008, after becoming a full-time assistant at Alabama, Duckworth made the transition from selling medical products to a pitch she said was much easier: selling her alma mater to recruits.
Now, as Alabama's first new head coach in 36 years following Sarah Patterson's retirement, Duckworth will have to make one more sale: convincing thousands of onlookers that she can continue the work of one of the most successful coaches in the history of Alabama athletics.
"There's a saying we live by: 'Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care,'" Duckworth said. "What I want our fans to know is that we care about them, and that they are our biggest and baddest competitive advantage to the success of this team, because it is an awesome environment when they step foot into Coleman Coliseum, and we need them to be there."
For 20 years, Duckworth worked with the Pattersons in some capacity, first as a national champion gymnast and later as a coach. In many ways, everything she knows about gymnastics, she learned from the Pattersons, she said. Even so, Duckworth is focused on making her own impact on the program.
Duckworth said she realized how important her own personality would be just days after her promotion last summer, after speaking with several coaches, including women's golf coach Mic Potter, softball coach Patrick Murphy and men's golf coach Jay Seawell - all national champions themselves.
"The announcement was made on July 15, and the press conference went on July 15," Duckworth said. "Within three or four days of that time frame, I made a list of the people that I wanted to ask advice, and I asked them the same three questions. I got to speak to Coach (Nick) Saban, I got to speak to Ozzie Newsome, I got to speak to all the other championship coaches down the hall. ... I can share that the third question I asked was, 'Just one word of advice?' Simultaneously, consistently, across the board, they said 'You have to be you. You can't be anybody else. You have to be you.'"
The first-year head coach said she can distill her objectives for the program into three bullet points, all stemming from her own personal sense of faith.
"We have three goals that I keep telling everybody, 'We will glorify God in all our thoughts, actions and words; we will help our young women learn the skills they need to battle life; and we're going to win,' " she said. "If you just keep it simple and focus on No. 1, you can't go wrong."
Duckworth will have several chances to prove her credentials this season, as Alabama takes on one of the toughest schedules in the country. In 2015, Alabama will host both defending co-national champions Florida and Oklahoma and 2014 third-place team LSU, while traveling to Athens, Ga., to take on 2014 fifth-place finisher Georgia.
"I think we have the hardest schedule of anybody in the country, personally," Duckworth said. "I think the best way to be prepared for the championship season is to compete against the best. If we're going to be able to compete every Friday night, we'll need challenging environments, stressful environments, environments where we'll be able to excel and just be amazing. I only think it makes us stronger as a team and prepares us better for the postseason.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1723646
By trade, new University of Alabama gymnastics head coach Dana Duckworth is a saleswoman.
After receiving a bachelor's degree and master's of business administration from Alabama in 1998, Duckworth spent nearly a decade as a sales representative for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, selling medicine to doctors across the state, all the while volunteering as an assistant coach under Sarah and David Patterson.
In 2008, after becoming a full-time assistant at Alabama, Duckworth made the transition from selling medical products to a pitch she said was much easier: selling her alma mater to recruits.
Now, as Alabama's first new head coach in 36 years following Sarah Patterson's retirement, Duckworth will have to make one more sale: convincing thousands of onlookers that she can continue the work of one of the most successful coaches in the history of Alabama athletics.
"There's a saying we live by: 'Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care,'" Duckworth said. "What I want our fans to know is that we care about them, and that they are our biggest and baddest competitive advantage to the success of this team, because it is an awesome environment when they step foot into Coleman Coliseum, and we need them to be there."
For 20 years, Duckworth worked with the Pattersons in some capacity, first as a national champion gymnast and later as a coach. In many ways, everything she knows about gymnastics, she learned from the Pattersons, she said. Even so, Duckworth is focused on making her own impact on the program.
Duckworth said she realized how important her own personality would be just days after her promotion last summer, after speaking with several coaches, including women's golf coach Mic Potter, softball coach Patrick Murphy and men's golf coach Jay Seawell - all national champions themselves.
"The announcement was made on July 15, and the press conference went on July 15," Duckworth said. "Within three or four days of that time frame, I made a list of the people that I wanted to ask advice, and I asked them the same three questions. I got to speak to Coach (Nick) Saban, I got to speak to Ozzie Newsome, I got to speak to all the other championship coaches down the hall. ... I can share that the third question I asked was, 'Just one word of advice?' Simultaneously, consistently, across the board, they said 'You have to be you. You can't be anybody else. You have to be you.'"
The first-year head coach said she can distill her objectives for the program into three bullet points, all stemming from her own personal sense of faith.
"We have three goals that I keep telling everybody, 'We will glorify God in all our thoughts, actions and words; we will help our young women learn the skills they need to battle life; and we're going to win,' " she said. "If you just keep it simple and focus on No. 1, you can't go wrong."
Duckworth will have several chances to prove her credentials this season, as Alabama takes on one of the toughest schedules in the country. In 2015, Alabama will host both defending co-national champions Florida and Oklahoma and 2014 third-place team LSU, while traveling to Athens, Ga., to take on 2014 fifth-place finisher Georgia.
"I think we have the hardest schedule of anybody in the country, personally," Duckworth said. "I think the best way to be prepared for the championship season is to compete against the best. If we're going to be able to compete every Friday night, we'll need challenging environments, stressful environments, environments where we'll be able to excel and just be amazing. I only think it makes us stronger as a team and prepares us better for the postseason.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1723646
