The great thing about being a football coach is that the job never ends.  Yes – you get a few weeks away here and there, but coaching today is a year-round profession. 

As your equipment managers are packing up your helmets and rolling out the basketballs, you are transitioning into a new season – the Assessment Season.  Ask any coach who has achieved success, they’ll tell you that to get better you have to assess every aspect of yourself and your program.  Regardless if you’re an assistant coach or head coach, truly understanding your strengths and weaknesses is the starting point to winning more games next year.

In January 2002, I was talking with Brian Kelly, then head coach at Grand Valley State, in the exhibit hall of the AFCA convention.  As we were waiting to present him with the 2001 Schutt Sports D-II Coach of the Year award, I asked Coach Kelly, “you’ve been in the playoffs before.  What got you over the hump to win a national championship this year?”  His response was a lesson in assessment.  Coach Kelly explained that they had always had one goal – win a national championship – but prior to winning it all, they had trouble getting deep in the playoffs.  Coach went on to explain that he and his staff had met to identify the problem – which was their recruiting strategy.  They felt their recruiting strategy was designed to win conference championships, but it stopped short of helping them win national championships.  What Coach Kelly and his staff had done was a model of assessment for a football program – they had assessed the program, identified the problem, made the necessary changes and ultimately, achieved their goal of winning it all.

Now I’m sure it wasn’t necessarily that cut-and-dry, but the point is that before you go implementing new systems, you should start by conducting a thorough assessment.  You might find that you don’t need to do too much, just a little ‘click-of-the-dial’ here and there. 

With that said, we look forward to providing you with high-quality information as you work to reach your goals this off-season. 

Respectfully,


Travis Davis
Publisher & Editor