THE OLD SAYING GOES, “There are two kinds of coaches — ones who are about to be fired and ones who have been fired.” No matter the coach, there comes a time in a career when you are going to be a coach without a team. Regardless of whether you are looking for a step-up coaching job or a step-over (out of necessity) coaching job, follow these simple strategies to secure that coaching job you want (and need).
keep your eyes,
ears & options open
Whether you are entrenched firmly at your current job or you are in search of your first job, one of the most important things to do is to stay aware of the coaching positions around you. Sure, the grass may be greener on the other side but the grass isn’t always greenest on your side either.
There are going to be some coaching positions offering you more opportunities that you do not have at your current position (larger school, better athletes, richer football history, coaching at your alma mater, building a winner from the ground up or taking over a perennial state power year after year). There also could be hidden benefits and opportunities at a new job that are difficult to pinpoint immediately. Keeping all options open makes sure your perfect job doesn’t pass you by. This doesn’t mean jump at any new opportunity just because it is new but don’t rule out any other position either. Getting stuck in a rut at your current job is a great way to lose motivation and eventually get fired, which puts you back into the job market anyway.
interview often
All coaches have that dream job. A select few actually may be in that dream job while reading this. The majority of coaches are not. Following on the initial strategy of keeping your eyes, ears and options open is the strategy of interviewing often. Much like how your players get better by simulating game situations, you as a potential coaching candidate gets better at interviewing with each successive interview you complete. You may not have any intention of taking the available coaching job but it never hurts to listen to what a potential employer has to say. Plus, it give you real-life practice for interviewing, which definitely comes in handy when that dream job becomes available.
The expectations and job requirements for a head football coach are very dynamic in this day and age. If you’ve been out of the interviewing “game” for an extended period of time, you may be surprised at some of the questions posed to coaches now. By consistently interviewing, you stay on top of the latest types of questions asked of coaches and learn about what school administrators outside of your employer are looking for in a coach.
Don’t be caught off guard during your dream-job interview. Practice interviewing to enhance your ability to think on your toes, answer questions under pressure and remain calm when bombarded with an onslaught of difficult questions.
Of course, you never know when one of these “practice” interviews turns out to be a diamond-in-the-rough job and after the interview you believe you could thrive in this environment.
build relationships,
never burn bridges
When you have the opportunity, get to know people in the football business. Introduce yourself to anybody and everybody. You never know what kind of connections you can make at a curriculum meeting, coaching clinic or other professional function. Establish as many relationships in the coaching world as possible.
Coaches need to help each other. Support the candidacy of a football coach when that person is considered for a job. Don’t be afraid to call an administrator and let them know the person they have interviewed would be an excellent hire if you truly believe it. Coaches do this sort of thing all the time and it eventually comes back to help you in the long run. When the time comes, the word of your fellow coaches, teachers and the administrators you know and have worked with could be the key to finding the job you really want.
The second phase of this strategy is not to burn bridges in this profession. It’s definitely easier said than done. However, just as the recommendations of colleagues carry great weight, so too do the words of people who you have crossed. Think about being in line for a job, then finding out 10 years earlier you chewed out another coach who now happens to be the athletic director at the school where you are applying. It happens.
Every now and then, a bridge is burned in a situation beyond your control. But, more times than not, you have the power to maintain professionalism during the most difficult times. It only helps your coaching career down the road.
be prepared & Organized
Great football coaches all share the same trait — they are extremely well-prepared and organized. The key to getting the job you want is being able quickly to convey your philosophy, coaching style and program organization in a way that showcases your preparedness. Do this by compiling a typed copy of your coaching ideals in a presentation format to give to each person involved in the interview. While PowerPoint and video work well, never underestimate the power of the written word on paper, which each person holds and takes with them when the interview concludes. Key on the following points in your presentation:
1. Fundamentals Of Your Program. Some people call these fundamentals your mission statement or tenets.
Basically, the fundamentals are the values you are basing your program. Some fundamental qualities of a championships football team are love, brotherhood, discipline, heart, courage, passion and honesty.
2. Coaching Philosophy. Your coaching philosophy is not so much the Xs and Os but how you coach your team. Include things such as how you treat players in your program, how you and your assistants coach players and other statements effectively conveying your general philosophy in the coaching and development of young people.
3. Team Building Philosophy. This centers on how you are going to shape and build all the individual members of your squad into a cohesive team sharing the same goal.
4. Expectations Of Players. Discuss the expectations you place on your players. What do you expect of players on the practice field, game field, in the weight room, in the community and in the classroom.
5. General Conduct, Team Operation Philosophy. This is something a lot of schools want to know. You need to outline your rules and regulations for team members. Focus on the rules and regulations and your forms of discipline when a player(s) strays from your conduct regulations.
6. Motivation. Administrators also look to motivation as a key point today. Explain how you are going to motivate players to be a championship-caliber team while pushing them to overachieve. Include specifics tactics and strategies you believe work in the football world.
7. Organization Philosophy. Discuss the hierarchy of your team. Explain how you assign staff responsibilities. One of the key components to running any football program is the organization of the program itself and the chain of command when it comes to responsibility.
8. Practice Philosophy. Your program must operate cohesively and functionally in a practice setting. The practice field is where you build your team. Be prepared to answer the question of how a typical practice runs under your watch. Take it one step further and break down an entire week of practice. If you have the time, break down an entire year’s worth of practice by taking the administrators through the four stages — preseason, season, postseason and offseason. Within each stage, break down a week’s worth of practice down to the minute. Organized and effective sessions are one of the key components of a great football coach.
9. Style Of Football. Explain how your teams play the game. This simply is an explanation of the overall brand of football your future bosses should expect to see if/when you are hired.
10. Offensive, Defensive, Special Teams Philosophies. Some administrators could care less about your specific Xs and Os — others are engrossed in how you plan to put points on the board, keep the other team’s offense under wraps and how you plan to return every kick for a touchdown. Whether you take offense or not to an administrator asking you specific questions about your spread offense or 4-3 defense (as examples), you need to be prepared to provide your general philosophies and the key components of your offense, defense and special teams, as well as how they relate to your style of football.
11. Strength And Conditioning Philosophy. Explain in detail how you are going to create better athletes and better teams with your strength and conditioning program.
12. Game Day Preparation. An extra to include in your presentation, which shows your organization skills and attention to detail, is to show specifically how you prepare your team to succeed on game day. Discuss your routines and strategies for the day of the big game.
13. Connection To Community. In a majority of top programs, coaches have a detailed plan of how they are going to “sell” their program to the community and how they are going to get the community involved.
14. Academic Philosophy. Coaches are educators, so you would be wise to address the topic of academics. Hold your athletes to a higher standard that the general student population. Discuss how your players need to be dedicated to the practice field as well as the classroom to survive in your program.
In addition to these 14 points, prepare two separate documents for your coaching interview — one describing how you are planning to turn around a struggling program and one how you plan to continue the tradition of winning at the school. When you are entering a new job, one of those two situations ring true, so be sure to have the document available that applies to your possible new destination.
Also, do your research before entering the interview. Know the school, the football program, the league,
the regular-season schedule and a possible postseason schedule. Plus, don’t just sit there when asked if you have any questions of the administrators. Pepper them with questions about budget, academics and facilities.
finish, Follow Up
Much like how you instruct your players to finish every play, you must finish your interview process even when the interview is complete.
Follow up with a thank-you note to everyone who interviewed you. This shows you care about the position and plan to go the extra mile for the job.
Keep Your nose clean
It’s fantastic to have all of the previously outlined strategies in place when walking into an interview. But, the most important factor in you getting that dream job is you. Coaches are held to a very high standard and you need to hold yourself to a high level of professionalism and morality above that of the average citizen. Too many coaches have missed out on jobs because they have done things that are undisciplined, illegal, immoral, unprofessional or ignorant.
Examine the acts that define you as a person and as a coach. Ask yourself whether the things you are doing are making you a better person or coach. Do the things that make you a better person, parent, husband, coach, etc., and do them to the best of your abilities. Follow that simple philosophy and you already have a leg up on the competition for that dream job.