Quasi-OT: Coaching HS Football

I have been a high school football coach for 24 years.  I started at the lower levels- hired as a freshman football coach originally.  Since then have coached both j.v. and varsity.  Coaching freshman allows you to get a great perspective about coaching.  Each level up (j.v. and varsity) requires a lot more commitment and a lot more stress.  Make sure you are ready for that and if you are married that your wife is ready for that (I cannot emphasize that enough).  I did not play college football and neither did about half the coaches that I work with- so that is not a requirement.  Good luck and have fun.

I'm just going into college next year, and I have always had coaching football/basketball in my mind as a possible career goal. Any advice as far as that goes for a college student? I may attempt to get involved with a sports team at GVSU, or possibly even Michigan if I can ever get in by way of a transfer. I have no experience playing football, but I have played a few years of basketball. I was also hoping to get involved in some type of sports management at a university/pro level. I mean all coaches have to start somewhere, so I would think you should just get in contact with some high school coaches to get into it. One of my dad's friends is a D-Line coach at the high school level right now. Worked with Olivet College a few years back, too. I don't think it's a real hard thing to get involved with, but I'm really not sure.

Originally my plans were to work my way to be a college football coach, therefore I went to college with the idea of getting education/Kin. degree and helped coach high school.  I loved it, I loved working with kids, I loved game planning, I loved basically everything about it.

To be honest, I wish I wouldn't have taken the start out at high school route while still in college.  I would have been better served, IME, volunteering at the college level, then coaching high school, then looking for a grad spot.  Anyway, none of it matters now because I switched to engineering.

Sorry for the background info, but thought you'd like to know where others have come from before they give advice.  I'll start off with saying your reasons all seem good.  All that stuff is important.  However, one thing that I struggled with when I first started was learning that you don't run the program your way, because it isn't your program yet.  You have to learn a lot from other coaches, which isn't always bad, but make sure you like them and they like you.  It's easy to look at the connections between you and the players, but you are going to spend a lot of time with other coaches as well, and you have to make sure that connection between you and them is solid also.  Don't be discouraged when you start to realize you don't have complete control over the way everything is run.  Take control of what you can and what you should, try to make suggestions, try to learn as much as you can.  I can't stress learning enough.  As soon as you think you know it all some other coach will kick your ass with something you previously thought you knew.  Learning and making others determined to learn is the most important aspect of coaching in my experience.  A lot of people can do the x's and o's, they aren't that difficult once you start understanding how things work.  Play calling isn't that difficult either relative to other aspects of coaching.  Learning your players skill level, their capabilities, how much they can learn, and how much you can teach, are the hardest parts.

Sometimes you won't like some of the other coaches, and this can be a problem.  But try to find your place, work well with them, if you do your job hopefully they will respect you.  As someone said before me, a winning program is nice.  On a losing program coaches sometimes peak over their backs for those "coming" for their jobs.  Coaching is very much a dog eat dog world, but find the coaches that understand this, and are willing to put their neck out, and those that understand this, and will bite your neck the first chance they get.

I don't mean to scare you off, but some of these things caught me a little more off guard than I expected when I started.  Anyway, for high school coaching I don't think you need playing experience.  It would help, but it's not a huge factor.  For as much grief as he gets, Charlie Weis didn't play, and he's made a good career out of it. 

Start low, work your way up.  Even starting at middle school isn't all bad, as long as it's in a city system that relates it to the high school.  Just try to learn as much as you can, make connects, go to every meeting, every conference you can.  Watch video, tons of it, college, high school, pro, learn, learn, learn.  Stop watching games purely for enjoyment, I haven't done it for years it feels like.  Start analysing every play, watch BTN, ESPN classic, watch for what people are doing right and wrong and try to think of it as fast as you can at game speed and what you would say to them in that position.  Put yourself in every scenerio, what would you do here, would you pull your DE out for losing contain or would you let him go at it again.  Look at smallest of small stuff, not just big picture, did the corner take a false step before breaking on the route.  Just constantly learn and put yourself in the position of the coach and be willing to do whatever, that's how you get started and into coaching.  Getting into coaching at higher levels is a little different, but you didn't ask that so I'll end that topic here.

Others already said it, but volunteer before you make any serious decisions.  Making a career out of just coaching is very difficult, look into teaching or if it's something you can have flex hours at another career at.  I do not recommend dropping everything else and jumping head first into it.  No, you have to keep doing what you're doing and jump head first into it.  It's a lot of hours and dedication, but if you can pull it off it is well worth it, just be prepared for a tough journey, and be prepared to make a lot of your own luck, and have some handed to you too.

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Get ready for a lot of hours.....its a huge commitment.  Odds are you will begin coaching as an assistant for the Freshmen who's games are normally in the middle of the week.  Then on the weekends the Varsity coaches expect for the freshmen/jv coaches to go out and travel to other games to obtain game film for the varsity teams on there future opponents. At least that's how it worked when i coached.

That being said its an awesome experience and worth every minute.

I can tell you that everyone below the I-AA level is looking for quality administrative help. Guys who can volunteer their time doing basic tasks: simple film breakdowns, drawing up run or pass play cards, contacting schools for transcripts, filing recruit film, filming practice, etc. It's fairly meniable labor that takes up an inordinate amount of time and yet has to get done. If you can make ends meet while essentially volunteering full-time (which is upward of 80+ hours within the season) and do a good job, you can start to get on a coaching track whether you've played at that level or not. As for high school, I have to believe that high-level programs are looking for volunteers as well to handle administrative tasks and it would be less time consuming.

If you're a student at a school, become a student manager and be the best one out there. Stand out. Coaches are looking for people they can count on and if you're one of those guys you have a chance to develop from there.

However, in most of these situations, be prepared to have ZERO input into the actual football involved. It's the quintessential "paying your dues" job and there's no guarantee of a coaching position down the road. However, if you haven't played and don't have any connections, it's probably the best way to get involved.

So I thought I'd add a short bit here for those not wanting to read everything above.

I have spoken to some coaches in my day, you may recognize some of the names.  Again, my situation was different, I was looking at coaching college.  Anyway, a guy by the name of Lloyd Carr once told me something along the lines of football isn't everything to you, but others expect it is to you.  A coach by the name of Kirk Ferentz recommended the book "The Education of a Coach."  He also said, basically, make sure you are ready to put  your heart and soul and everything and everyone else into it with you.  That advice seems to contradict each other, but in reality it doesn't.  Coaching isn't everything to you, but everything to you will feel the affect of coaching.

Also, when I was in class, while others used to sketch things ( I guess some people take notes during lecture maybe?), I used to draw up plays and set game plans for hypothetical games and situations.  In 2006, I created my own game plan for App. State and Oregon after we lost those two games.  Take everything personal and with a chip on your shoulder, but don't let it change the way you do things, just come out better and on top the next time around.  And damnit, BE YOURSELF and be confident in that self, or those players will eat you alive.  Don't yell if it's not you, don't be soft spoken if it's not you.  I got that advice from every coach I have every talked to

...if you want to make a living doing it, the first thing you should do is move to Texas.

Now then:

- How did you get into coaching?

A buddy of mine was on the freshman staff at AA Huron, so I used that contact to join their staff as a volunteer on the freshman team.

- How does one, generally speaking, get into coaching?

Go to the state's top clinic and/or coaching website and look for "coaches wanted," or use a contact to get on a staff.  Start at whatever level and be willing to work for free.

- What qualifications/skills are necessary?

• willingness to sacrifice income and status; i.e., do whatever the HC wants
• show initiative to anticipate doing the little things no one else likes doing
• have an undying thirst for knowledge
• have an open mind about schemes and philosophies--there are many ways to skin a cat
• once you develop your own philosophy and belief system, find good coaches you respect personally and professionally and follow them (but don't be a groupie, have some self respect)
• most importantly, keep in mind that you're doing this for the kids' experience first and your own second

- Is it at all common for a coach not to have much playing experience? 

Sure, you'll just have to watch that much more film to see what players can actually pull off compared to "clinic talk"; i.e., x's and o's on a board can seemingly do certain things that never work in reality.

- If someone was trying to figure out if coaching is for them, is there any advice you'd give on how they could best figure that out?

Do it on a volunteer basis.  Make sure you do it for a program and coaching staff you respect personally and professionally.  Also, they have to let you actually coach.  This means you'll need to join the staff as early as possible, preferably as close to the end of the previous season.  That way you can start learning from the staff what your role is, what their system is, and how to execute both.

Before you join a staff, however, you need to find someone you respect who's willing to teach you the basics (A gap, B gap, 3-technique, etc., etc.).  Otherwise there will be too much for you to learn for you to be successful, and your head will be spinning from the moment you start.  I knew some basics when I started in 1997, but when I went to my first Glazier Clinic in 2000 and listened to Bud Foster (DC at Va. Tech) talk about base G defense, my head exploded.  If I went to that same clinic now, I would be bored silly and think it rudimentary.  It never ceases to amaze me how complex the game is.

Hope this helped, and I also echo many of the sentiments already expressed.

I don't have much to add that the rest of these guys haven't, but go for it.  It's a great time.  You'll start off at the lower levels (middle school, freshman), but there's not a whole lot of pressure.  You may think you don't know much, but seriously . . . if you read this board frequently (and you obviously do), then you already know 200 times as much as a 13-year-old.

Read coaching books.  Read smartfootball.com.

Coaching football is an extremely rewarding experience.  You make bonds with kids that can never be broken.  And in 40 years, when that kid is all grown up and still calling you "coach" when you see him at the grocery store, you'll know what it was all about.

This is definitely something that interests me too.

As a student pursuing a teaching degree, one of my biggest goals is to coach football in addition to teaching high school. I've already set out plans for how I plan on achieveing it, much of it is similar to what many have posted here earlier.

Basically I will be student teaching in the Fall of 2011 and I plan on teaching near home in Ann Arbor. I figure while I'll be student teaching I can coach football since they coincide. So I plan on talking to my high school football coach this upcoming January (6 months in advance) about positions. Obviously I'm gonna tell him I'm willing to work at any level and understand it is voluntary.

My coach and I had a pretty good relationship and like was stated earlier, through contacts I plan on getting the job. I'm so excited too. I had the opportunity to coach middle school when I graduated from high school but was unable to take it since I was going away from home for college. This will be the first chance I get to coach hopefully.