Professional Speakers Bureau International

Professional Speakers Bureau International

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RICH ZVOSEC, "Coach Z"

TOPICS - • Adversity • Coaches • Competitiveness
• Sports • Success

RICH ZVOSEC, "Coach Z" - PROGRAMS

  • A Game Plan to Make A Difference
  • Happy Birthday-- You’re Fired: A Game Plan for Re-Igniting the Passion
  • Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie Your Way to Success
  • Loading Your Backpack for a Lifetime Journey*
  • Picturize Life---- Blueprinting For Success*
  • Turning Adversity into Advantage
(*Can be customized for students)

RICH ZVOSEC, "Coach Z" - BIOGRAPHY

ESPN ANNOUNCER & AWARD WINNING COACH

Coach Z has received awards in the coaching field as well as the television community. In 2005 he became one of only 35 active college basketball coaches to be selected Coach of the Year in two different Division I conferences at two separate schools. That year he was selected the Mid-Continent Conference, College Insider and CBSSportlsine Coach of the Year for his team’s performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).

He has built a strong reputation for turning programs around, has built or rebuilt programs at each of his stops on his coaching journey. At two of his four head coaching assignments he departed as the all-time winningest coach.

At 27, he was the youngest Division I head coach in the country at St. Francis College in New York. In his third season the Terriers recorded their most Division I wins in two decades and was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year.  

He then built the University of North Florida program from scratch. In only their fourth season of existence he led them to the championship game of the Sunshine State Conference. Along the way his team knocked off three nationally ranked teams.

His tenure at UMKC produced historic wins and results. Not only is he the all-time winningest coach, but has the most tournament wins as well as the longest winning streak in school history (11, top ten in the country in 2005). He led the Kangaroos to their first win over Kansas State, a 41 point win that was the fifth largest margin of victory in school history. Coach Z also had the second highest winning percentage in the Mid-Continent Conference during his six seasons.

Coach Z preaches the benefits of living a well-rounded life. The proof is in the actions as he has authored numerous magazine articles and has published two new books titled, “Birds, Dogs and Kangaroos: Life on the Back Roads of College Basketball” and “For Tiger Fans Only.” He has appeared in numerous films, including Along Came a Spider, along with an episode of Friday Night Lights. His latest film, Top Coat Cash, was released in January. He has become a mainstay in the commercial industry. A past Telly Award winner for his UMKC season ticket commercial.

These days he can be found on ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS College Sports working as a college basketball analyst.

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RICH ZVOSEC, "Coach Z" - MEDIA

Birds, Dogs and Kangaroos: Life on the Back Roads of College Basketball
When the 65-team field is announced for the NCAA tournament in March, all the schools are lumped into one bracket. But, with the fact that no No. 16 seed has ever beaten a No. 1 seed serving as evidence, there is a group of schools in the bracket that are worlds apart from the BCS schools. Some of the schools, labeled the ‘mid-majors,’ make it into the Sweet 16, practically their version of making it to The Final Four. Rarely these days does a team go so far as George Mason University from the Colonial Athletic Conference did in 2006 when the Patriots played their way into The Final Four. Or Davidson, a little liberal arts school from Charlotte, taking Kansas all the way to the final seconds in the 2008 Midwest Regional final. The mid-majors have a better shot at knocking off the big boys. The low majors — the schools from The Summit Conference, the Ivy League et al — most often have no shot. Yet coaches from the low majors stake their careers and reputations at getting into the NCAA tournament field. Rich Zvosec was one of those coaches. Zvosec takes you into the world of low majors that’s never been revealed before in detail. It’s a world that involves less coaching and more demands centered on fund-raising, commuting and handling off-the-court affairs. It wasn’t unusual for Zvosec or any other coach on the low major level to be doing the team laundry, searching for housing on  behalf of his players or becoming make-shift mechanics when the commuter vehicles broke down. Zvosec takes you into the world of coaching that makes you ask, “Why do you do it?” And most often the answer is, “Because they love it.”
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