Dave Tenney is the High Performance Director for Austin FC and has spent almost two decades in elite performance roles in the MLS and NBA. Prior to joining Austin FC in their 2021 expansion year, he spent time in high-performance leadership roles with the Orlando Magic (2017–2020) and the Seattle Sounders (2009–2017).
Nate Huffstutter: A decade ago with the Seattle Sounders, you helped shepherd in the integrated high-performance model that’s now common in the MLS. What are some of the most significant ways you’ve seen that model grow and evolve over the past 10 years?
David Tenney: It’s become more complex, which is true of the world we live in, isn’t it? Things become more complex as they grow, and staffs are getting bigger with interdisciplinary teams working together. Hopefully, we’re moving to a space where, as our leagues all evolve and our staffs grow, we have more of that interdisciplinary approach, where we understand where our skills and competencies overlap with another department’s skills and competencies, and we have people that are speaking the same language to answer questions collectively.
The world we live in is only becoming more complex and interconnected, and understanding that has been important in the development of these high-performance teams. And there’s a difference between complicated and complex. You want a certain level of simplicity, while also understanding complexity and not making things complicated.
This is why the implementation of a common language is so important. You need a simplified and clear language that everyone understands, so that each different discipline isn’t using different phrases and words to discuss the same concept.