COACH LIFE

This time of year, the football coaching carousel is hot and heavy. There are thousands of high school head coaching positions, over 700 college football head coaching openings, and 32 head coaching jobs in the NFL. There is no cookie cutter way to get to the top of this profession. The road is windy and long. It’s a nomadic life. When you become the head coach at the high school, college, and pro level it’s a 12 month 24/7 commitment. It doesn’t end in a 2 hour practice or a 3 hour game. There is a sacrifice you make when you become the person in charge. 

The day a staffer becomes a head coach you are now handed the keys to run a program in your image and likeness. You become the leader of athletes, all with different backgrounds, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. It is your job as the head coach to manage all of the diversity and get them to work together as a cohesive unit. This task is one that is never ending. High school and college programs have graduation and NFL franchises have free agency and the draft. One must constantly evolve while still maintaining your core values and being yourself. Anytime you get a head coaching gig in a new situation building trust and mutual respect between you and the players is paramount to running a successful program. 

At all levels, building a staff is one of the most underrated aspects you’ll do as you begin your new job. Finding like-minded people who share your vision is the key. However, in turn you can’t just have mindless yes men. Assistant coaches will be a conduit from the players back to you. In my experience, both as an assistant and a head coach, you have a different relationship with the players in those roles. As a head coach every player has to be on your radar. When you’re an assistant, your focus is on a specific position or unit. You develop a special bond working with certain players every day. This is why your staff is so significant, trusting these coaches to spread your philosophy as a whole and not go into business for themselves. As coaches you must respect each other in front of the players or the situation can become toxic and you better believe if the coaches turn on each other the players will follow suit. It’s like kids watching the way their parents treat each other, you must set the example. 

At every coaching job I have ever interviewed for I always ask the same question at the end of the interview. “What are your expectations for the program”? Whether it’s a principal, an athletic director, a general manger or an owner, their vision has to match yours. In my interviews I have run the gamut of answers to this question. I have heard anywhere from “We expect our kids to have a great football experience” to “we expect to compete for conference and state championships.” No matter the answer, your vision should be in lock step with administration. That support is vital for you to get your job done. Even if it’s the best job in the world if your philosophy and their vision doesn’t matchup it’s not going to work. It’s the same reason you don’t get married based on someone’s appearance. There has to be depth to your decision. 

Once you’re in the position of head coach, a difficult aspect is sticking to your culture and philosophy when you don’t have initial success. People tend to jump to conclusions in today inpatient society that change is the answer for failure. Staying the course on your core beliefs can be difficult in a struggling period but it is imperative. There is a risk in losing your identity as a coach if you change for the sake of change. You can make adjustment but never compromise your principles. When I was a head coach in these situations I always went back to two common themes. One, there is a reason why you were hired for this job. They believed in you and your goals. Two, if you’re going down, go down doing what you believe is right. You will never leave with any regrets. 

The part of coaching that people don’t see is the effects on the family. As I looked through the new coaches in the NFL and college not only are there the pressures of the job, but also the pressures that at any slip up or bad season you can be fired. There are not too many jobs where if you make the wrong call or have a bad week you might be moving across the country to look for work. You’re constantly on the chopping block and putting stress on your spouse and kids that may not know what state they will be living in from year to year. There also aren’t too many jobs where your kid can hear in a classroom how much their dad sucks or a spouse can sit in the stands hear about here dumb husband. These things happen at all levels, and gets more intense as the fan bases gets more passionate. 

Life in the coaching profession is not easy. Coaching is long hours away from family and friends. What burns out most coaches is the outside stuff. The criticism, complaining, and lack of support you can sometimes wear thin on the best coaches. However, what keeps them always coming back and pushing forward is that innate feeling leading a group of people to work collectively together for one goal. The intrinsic value of team sports that people on the outside usually don’t see. Those times when you can help a player through an adverse situation and realize how much it will transfer into their real life. Those factors and the competitive fire to win and succeed is what keep coaches wanting more.  So next time you think about what a “bum” that coach is just take a second to think about the choices and sacrifices that person made to get to that spot .