How to Become a Football Coach
Advice on the Qualities, Skills, and Steps Needed to Coach Football
So you want to be a football coach? What does it take to run a football team? What steps should an aspiring football coach take to make it on the gridiron?
Hall of Fame football player and now erstwhile coach Mike Singletary once said: "If anyone would ask me what coaching really means, it's not really about winning. It's not really about Xs and Os. All of those things go into it, but it's about influence."
Singletary's philosophy of coaching sounds pretty compelling. The football coach has no direct control over what actually happens on the field. Rather, he has influence. And the truly great coaches know how to influence not only the plays that are called on the field, but the minds and hearts of the players executing those plays.
In their book Coaching Football, Tom Flores and Bob O'Connor write: "As a coach, you have a deep responsibility to your players. It is your job to know the young people you are teaching, the game you are teaching, and how the game of football can bring your players to their highest potential as happy and contributing citizens, husbands, and fathers."
This article provides a basic overview of the steps needed to break into football coaching - steps provided by experts in the field of coaching.
1) Cultivate Your Character and Coaching Philosophy
Flores and O'Connor write: "We must strive to defeat the often-believed idea that we must win at all costs. Rather, we must always seek to win within the rules. Any victory gained by cheating is a personal loss to the players and coaches."
Your personal character will speak volumes to the players you influence. Will your players see a leader who lives a life of integrity? If your players respect you - and do so genuinely, not only for Xs and Os, but for who you are as a person - you will be on your way to coaching success.
What's more, your philosophy as a coach is critical. "Why are you coaching?" ask Flores and O'Connor. "Is it for your ego or to develop young people to be the best they can be?"
O'Connor and Flores agree that, as players get older, the need to develop them as individuals gives way to the business of football and the goal of winning. Still, they argue that the coach who pushes his players "to be the best they can be" is on track to a winning philosophy and a fulfilling career.
2) Learn the Game and Everything Related to the Game
Different coaches have followed different career tracks over the years, but a common thread is that they took the time to master the game - and all that was related to the game.
The eHow article on becoming a football coach encourages prospective coaches to further their education, explaining that a "Bachelor's degree in physical education or coaching, exercise and sports science, physiology, nutrition and fitness, physical education or sports medicine will help you develop a career in coaching at any level."
In addition, articles on the subject across the Internet encourage wannabe coaches to read as much on the game of football as possible, to play the sport themselves (if they can), and to volunteer in community youth leagues. Some coaches master youth football, then move onto high school, and try for a "lucky break" into collegiate sports. One coach, writing on the Internet, related how he got his start as a referee!
3) Look for Coaching Clinics and/or Classes
Several experts recommend coaching clinics and/or classes offered at various times around the country. These clinics provide nuts-and-bolts training for aspiring coaches and terrific networking opportunities.
Reality Check
This author would suggest a "reality check" before heading too far down this career path. If you're in your thirties, forties, and fifties and haven't yet coached or even played football, the odds for making a successful career change into big-bucks professional coaching (of any sport) are pretty slim.
Of course, if you are content to coach youth football and possibly high school at some point, then it's worth a shot - no matter how old or inexperienced.
If you're in your teens or twenties, time is on your side - especially if you have experience as a college football player.
**********
For more information on football coaching, check out...
Article: "Athletic Coach: "Career Information"
ExpertVillage Video Series: "College Football Coaching - Tips & Advice"
Web Resource: Youth Football Playbook
Blog: The Football Den
and these two great books...
Coaching Football by Tom Flores and Bob O'Connor
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy
