The Devil is in the Details

While the accolades may be important and representative of success, the players are the most important indicator to Klein.

“We want to build sustained success,” Klein said. “But we want to do it in a way where they feel confident, they feel empowered.”

Trophies and titles represent singular teams, and Klein isn’t focused on anything as an individual entity. She’s not building a team — she’s building a program. And with that, the players are prioritized.

If you talk to her players and staff, many of whom have worked and played under other coaches, they all mention that part of her unique coaching philosophy is how she sees every player as a person and a student first. Her top priority is to develop them at the personal level for success, and allow that process to help make them an even better player.

And some of that comes from their WIE classroom sessions.

“Number one (priority) is to build self love, self acceptance in each kid so they understand what they bring to the table,” Michigan Director of Leadership Development Brian Townsend told The Daily. “This understanding of self awareness, we do a lot of work to get them to understand we’re all going through the same challenges.”

WIE sessions help players grow closer to their teammates and work through on-field challenges verbally, building confidence in themselves and their actions. In a team sport that requires 11 people to work in unison, building connections can be the difference between a winning season and a losing one. But most importantly, as Klein has continually emphasized through everything she does, the person comes first. That has helped her create and nurture personal relationships with her players.

Beyond WIE sessions, Klein finds ways to bolster those relationships on the pitch, a place where there’s no use in letting your frustration manifest into anything other than adjusting your play. Klein’s composure on the sidelines shows her players that you gain something from every game, molding a shared mindset that brings her team closer together. She never yells at referees, her demeanor never shifts and her tone of voice never changes.

Whether the Wolverines are winning, losing or tied, Klein always remains level headed. Every game, regardless of the outcome, ends with hugs and high-fives, good jobs and pep talks. Losing is as much a part of the journey as winning is, and she won’t have her unit thinking anything else. Klein never lets her emotions get the best of her, and by keeping her composure in the highlight reel moments as well as the bloopers, she’s making sure her players’ and staff’s confidence never wanes no matter the score.

It’s easy to forget a player’s evening plans or upcoming test. After all, Klein’s job title doesn’t call for that. But it’s not just a title. For Klein, it’s a responsibility to be a coach in facets beyond just the pitch. It’s a responsibility to be supportive of not just successes but also shortcomings off the field. That is what sets Klein apart from other coaches. She’s all in on the students and the people who intertwine to make them players.

But maybe teacher would be a more suitable title.

“I consider myself more of a teacher than anything else,” Klein said. “I’m a teacher first. And so really approaching it from that space of how do we develop them into the best versions of themselves as people, students and athletes.”

But whether she’s teaching, coaching or playing euchre, she’s empowering her players to be the best version of themselves they can be. To her, that's the signifier of success.

“She's extremely involved,” Smith said. “She's a player's coach for sure. She knows what's going on. She jokes around with them and has fun. She deeply cares about the players and their success, both as people and as players.”

Klein and her staff have demonstrated their care through a couple of different ways, but mainly one-on-one coffee chats. It’s not necessarily a time to talk about soccer, it can be if you want it, but it's a time to talk about life and anything else on your mind. Seeing your coaches off the field or out of the weight room helps build and strengthen those bonds.

Beyond coffee chats, Klein finds lots of opportunities to connect with her players. So whether it's sweating it out at scavenger hunts, games of spoon, euchre or coffee chats, Klein is finding ways to relate to them. She’s being a friend rather than a higher up.

“I think that really started to just kind of take away the pressure of being in the office or being out in the field and just getting to know them as people,” Klein said.“So it's just taking down that kind of ‘me over them.’ It's just us together. And we can have a good relationship, laugh and just get to know each other more on a human level.”

So you won’t hear Klein’s players calling her just “coach,” not because they don’t respect or admire her, but because the culture she’s created makes her more than just their coach.

“I don’t know, coach seems so formal,” Klein said. “But Jen has just always been what I’ve gone by and just creating that, I think a little bit of a relationship there. There’s still a massive level of respect, even though they don’t call me coach, but just, I guess (it’s a) less formal approach to it all.”

She’s Jen to them.

She’s a human, a friend, someone they can trust. She teaches through respect, never barking orders.

“She just has fun with it. And I think that's something that brings you joy, but also brings you success,” Woods said.“Like, if you're not having fun with it, then what are you doing?”

That fun, coupled with the respect and trust that Klein has built, has translated to success on the field during her tenure. Players have bought in. They believe the Klein hype and they’ll follow her accordingly. When Woods flashes anger and frustration on the field, Klein taps into their strong-as-steel bond to try to bring back her composure. And regardless of the Wolverines’ less-than ideal season, finishing 7-6-4 and missing the Big Ten Tournament, that demeanor never faulted. The example Klein has set is contagious. The same trust and respect is universal throughout her program, in ups and downs.