When golf coach Nick Clinard made his way to Auburn from the University of Central Florida three years ago, he brought along his assistant coach, Evan Osteen, as well.
Osteen has worked with Clinard for three years, one of which was spent at the University of Central Florida. Because Osteen made such a good impression, Clinard offered him the assistant coach job at Auburn after he was hired as head coach.
"His interaction with the players is excellent, and he's a great recruiter," Clinard said of Osteen. "He's a great person and really gets involved with their lives, so he's a great addition to the program."
Osteen said he is happy to have been given the opportunity to do something he loves as a profession.
"I love sports. I've been around sports my entire life," Osteen said. "I'd always wanted to get into coaching, and I had a wonderful opportunity to work with coach Clinard. I've loved it ever since. I thank my lucky stars every day I get up that I get to do something that I enjoy and love to do."
There's more to life than sports, however, and Osteen said he hopes to be able to help his athletes with multiple aspects of their lives, no matter what that entails.
"It's not all about golf, it's about life," Osteen said. "Hopefully when they're done with their time at Auburn, they're not only better golfers, but hopefully better people, and they're ready for the real world. We try to be there for them on and off the golf course as often as we can."
Clinard said he thinks Osteen's coaching and recruitment skills are enhanced by his consideration for the players and their families, and his concern for the players goes beyond athletics.
"Evan really puts their lives first," Clinard said. "He puts their families first. He's big into lifestyle management. He's big into just kind of what's going on in their lives, whether it's good or bad, and really kind of being there for them and trying to help them out and help them grow as a person."
Osteen played many sports when he was in college, including golf.
"I've been fortunate enough to play for a lot of good coaches, and I think each of them brought a little something different to the table, whether it's organization skills or the passion and energy they brought to the golf course every day," Osteen said. "You definitely get to learn different things."
Osteen said he is happy with his career and advises everyone to find something they are equally passionate about and pursue it whole-heartedly.
"I think you have to be passionate and love what you do," Osteen said. "If you do those two things, I think you're always headed in the right direction. Obviously in life things don't always go your way 100 percent of the time, but if you have passion and enthusiasm in what you do and you work hard, then more times than not you're going to like where you stand at the end of the day."
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