Venable learns to sell himself in interviews

Seahawks’ Carroll offered helpful advice

“I don’t think there’s any doubt Will has given teams a clear sense of who he is.” — Seahawks coach Pete Carroll on former Cub Will Venable (right) who has interviewed to be a major-league manager

MESA, Ariz. — Will Venable grew up as the son of a major-league outfielder. He was a talented enough athlete to earn All-Ivy League honors in basketball and baseball at Princeton before playing at least part of nine seasons in the majors.

But when Venable suddenly became a candidate for three major-league managerial openings last fall, the Cubs coach needed some coaching of his own. Through a mutual friend, Venable received advice from an unlikely source: Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

Carroll, 68, one of only three football coaches to win a Super Bowl and college national championship, took a break from the Seahawks’ preparations for the Browns in early October to prep Venable during a 30-minute telephone chat.

“After I got off the phone, I was ready to run through a wall for him,” Venable said. “He’s so passionate and inspiring, and I let him talk. It gave me confidence and a focus going in there.”

Carroll and Venable both grew up in Marin County in Northern California, and a mutual friend thought Carroll’s wisdom and leadership ability could help Venable. The same friend had helped connect Carroll with two previous managerial candidates, Dave Roberts of the Dodgers and Aaron Boone of the Yankees, who were hired shortly after their phone chats with Carroll.

“Pete was great,” said Roberts, who has led the Dodgers to four National League West titles and two NL pennants in four seasons. “He gave me an insight on culture and the consistency of being relentlessly positive and accountable. You talk about sports and leaders and head coaches, he’s in a company of a select few who had that level of consistency.

“For me to reach out to him and him be a sounding board was an honor. I was really appreciative.”

For all the passion Carroll displays on the sideline, he emphasizes having substance behind his message.

“Sell yourself, but don’t sell something you’re not,” Carroll said last week during a break from preparations for the NFL combine. “It may only be one hour, and you might have five minutes to sell yourself.”

Venable wasn’t hired by any of the three teams he interviewed with — the Cubs, Giants and Astros — but he appears to be on the fast track. After his playing career ended in 2016, the Cubs hired him as a special assistant near the end of the 2017 season. He joined the coaching staff the next season.

His blend of a playing background, coaching experience, front-office knowledge and an Ivy League degree in anthropology provide a foundation for Venable. Carroll’s advice could help polish his resume.

“There were resources where I had an opportunity to get a feel for the types of questions that might be asked and get prepared with those,” said Venable, who switched coaching duties in the offseason from first base to third base. “But as far as presenting myself personally, I felt well-prepared to do that, and a lot of that was because of my talk with Pete.

“Not only being yourself, which was a huge message, but also being in touch with those things and making sure you don’t leave the building without getting those things out. That was an important message from him and something that helped me feel good about the process.”

That meshes with Carroll’s theme of “If you lead, you have to get someone to follow you.”

“You have to make a clear point,” Carroll said, “so they can hire a person having a clear idea — how you feel, how you think, trying to have a plan. All these kind of thoughts. They’ve got to tell if it’s from the heart.”

The Cubs wound up hiring David Ross, who possessed more knowledge of their roster as a former player and executive. His leadership skills also swayed team executives.

Ross said he relied on “being himself” but also picked the brains of friends who have managed about the interview process.

“I just prepared the best way I could,” Ross said. General manager Jed Hoyer said at the Cubs Convention in January they usually choose six to eight candidates from an original list of 20 to 30 to interview with selected front-office members.

That pool is usually trimmed to two or three, “and then you dig down on the questions you have remaining,” Hoyer said.

Cubs President Theo Epstein, however, warned that the process can’t be designed solely toward selecting the candidate who interviews best.

“It’s also knowing your team and what situation you’re in,” Epstein said at the Cubs Convention. “Are you in a spot with a lot of young players coming up? Hiring a manager who is going to make them laugh, be themselves, empower them and create that type of sensibility around the club? Or are you in a situation where players need to be accountable and challenged and need to bring their focus to another level?

“It depends on what you have, where you are and where you’re going.”

The Giants opted for Gabe Kapler, who worked with Giants President Farhan Zaidi with the Dodgers and had two years of managerial experience with the Phillies. And the Astros, who interviewed Venable on Jan. 17 after firing AJ Hinch four days earlier, hired three-time NL Manager of the Year Dusty Baker to navigate a championship-caliber team through the fallout of the sign-stealing scandal.

Venable said each interview was similar, with only “a different rhythm.”

“I felt like my interview was the most important thing they had going on that day,” Venable said. “I felt like I got their attention and time and they made it seem like the process was valued, which made me feel good.”

At 37, Venable should receive more interviews and have the opportunity to convey the strong message of which Carroll spoke.

“Pete just understands the idea of paying it forward,” Roberts said. “And with younger coaches that want to learn — and I’m sure he had an opportunity to learn from other people — he’s doing his part.

“His words still resonate. The consistency, the relationship with players — that’s been the most important part.”

Based on their playing days and their teams’ success, Roberts and Boone “have a clear sense of how it’s going,” Carroll said.

“I don’t know about baseball,” Carroll said of the hiring mindset. “But I don’t think there’s any doubt Will has given teams a clear sense of who he is.”