On May first, the Kirkwood Eagles athletic department announced that Nate Oakland, assistant coach with the Northern Iowa Panthers, would be taking over as the head coach of the women’s basketball program following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Kim Muhl.
In his 20 years of experience, Oakland has spent time as the head coach at Upper Iowa University and Coe College and as an assistant at the University of Northern Iowa, North Dakota University, Wartburg College, and the University of Minnesota Morris.
“He’s a very good tactician,” said Tanta Warren, head coach of Northern Iowa Panther Women’s Basketball. “He’s a great teacher of the game and has an outstanding offensive mind. He’s very transformational in how he teaches and how he delivers.”
Jenna Twedt, former Eagle guard and current starting guard for the Panthers, said, “Coach Oak really understands the mental part of basketball. For me personally, he was really good at helping me through the slumps and many frustrations throughout the season.”
Warren praised the leadership skills of Oakland, describing him as “steady.” She said he doesn’t get too high or too low, he’s always cool, calm and collected.
She continued by saying Eagles fans can expect the team to play a pace and space offense going forward, with a five-out offense when they don’t like the options in transition.
“I’ve spent the majority of my career in eastern Iowa, so I’m fully aware of the history that Coach Muhl built at Kirkwood and the national championships and all the wins,” said Oakland. “The opportunity to come to Kirkwood and try to build on the legacy that coach [Muhl] has left, the opportunity to hopefully continue to win a lot of games and continue to impact young people’s lives is my number one.”
Oakland is aware of the large shoes he has to fill following Coach Muhl, calling them “the largest,” but is excited for the challenge. Muhl was one of the first people Oakland spoke to after receiving the head coaching position, and the respect they have for each other is big.
“I’ve gotta operate the way that only I know how to best, and those are the things I’ll continue to focus on,” he said. “I am not gonna try to be somebody I am not, but at the back of my mind, I’d love to do nothing more than to make him proud, and I told him on the phone that it’s always his program and I just want to be here.”
Oakland continued by emphasizing that he wants to build a program that shows up every day and works hard. He understands the high standards set by Kirkwood athletics and believes that if he holds his players to those standards and that level of work ethic, the results will follow.
The opportunity to compete for a national championship was one of the main draws for Oakland. “I loved my time [at Northern Iowa], but we weren’t ever gonna compete for a national championship, so that’s something that I will not take lightly at all,” he said.
“[Kirkwood] can expect nothing but another great coach,” said Twedt. “Coach Oak is gonna do an amazing job.
“They’re getting the best,” said Warren.
Categories: Basketball, Sports
