All in the family: Network ties as determinants of reputation and identity in NCAA basketball

In this article I investigate the role of social network ties as determinants of the reputation and identity of individuals. In an extension of research on cognitive factors of social network ties, I propose that an individual's ego-network composition affects his or her career advancement and career resiliency through the mechanisms of reputation and identity. Additionally, I focus on individuals affiliated with a common institution or focal individual who have come to identify themselves as "family members." This form of identification is separate from identification with a formal institution and persists through an individual's subsequent career positions at different institutions with different colleagues. Examples include individuals who worked at Fairchild Semiconductor who identified themselves as "Fairchildren" long after leaving Fairchild for positions at other organizations (Pollack, 1988). I utilize a network perspective to investigate recognized "family" groups of affiliated coaches in NCAA Division I Men's basketball. I propose that coaches affiliated with "coaching families" experience greater career opportunity and exhibit greater resiliency due to external image benefits and internal identity benefits derived from the use of family language. I first analyze all head coaching position changes (n=285) between 2001 and 2007 and find that recognition as a "family member" is a positive predictor of career advancement. I next analyze the subsequent career moves of all coaches that were fired (n=155) between 2001 and 2007 and find that "family membership" and network connectivity to other active coaches are positive predictors of a coach's exhibited career resiliency.