Coaching Advancement

[Havoc005]

As a young coach, I'm curious to hear opinions and thoughts on this topic.

 

What is the best/most often followed path for a coach's advancement from a position as an assistant coach to a head coaching position?

 

Is there an order of advancement that must be followed, such as assistant coach, to coordinator, and then head coach? If so, is there a timeframe for this process?

 

Obviously, it's greatly beneficial to learn from older, more experienced coaches and to attend clinics etc., but does it matter where, or under whom you learned your craft?

 

Lastly, what are the intangibles that a coach should possess to be well-respected as a coach and considered as a head coaching candidate? (In essence, who would you want to coach your son?)

[itzme]

I'll answer your last question as a parent of a player, not as someone who has ever hired, fired or promoted a coach, so take it for what it's worth.

 

1) Never lie to a player. Even if it's tough, tell them the truth. They deserve to know where they stand, even when they might not want to.

 

2) Never belittle a player. There's nothing worse you can do as a coach. You can be critical of their play or their effort, but never of them as a human being.

 

3) Don't play favorites, especially with parents. Every coach has some friends who are parents, but they should not let it sway their decisions.

 

4) Live the example, and instill in your players integrity before winning, teamwork before glory, work ethic before achievement, humanity and decency before athletic ability.

[Havoc005]

I'll answer your last question as a parent of a player, not as someone who has ever hired, fired or promoted a coach, so take it for what it's worth.

 

1) Never lie to a player. Even if it's tough, tell them the truth. They deserve to know where they stand, even when they might not want to.

 

2) Never belittle a player. There's nothing worse you can do as a coach. You can be critical of their play or their effort, but never of them as a human being.

 

3) Don't play favorites, especially with parents. Every coach has some friends who are parents, but they should not let it sway their decisions.

 

4) Live the example, and instill in your players integrity before winning, teamwork before glory, work ethic before achievement, humanity and decency before athletic ability.

 

Some very good points to ponder coming from a parent, especially since I don't have any of my own children yet.

-Thanks

[wasplayernowcoach]

well let see! i dont think there is a process out there that has to be followed. out of college i was offerd a job to coach at a high school as the freshman coach. i took it. the next year a new head coach was hired and i was pretty much demoted. i was an assistant for the freshman instead of the man running the program and was unpaid. i was then offed the head varsity job at my old high school. i had been coaching 2 years. i did not take it but did go as an asst. coach. the head coach left after 2 years and 3 wins. i applied for what i thought would be my first head coaching job. it was given to a guy who had just started coaching high school the pervious year there with us. i was promoted to asst head coach and off. cordinator, the next year i was the def. cordinator. after those 2 seasons and 2 win the head coach left. i applied and this time was my time. so with 6 years behind me i had what i wanted my shot to see what i could do. with the disapointment and excitment i had experianced i went to woork. here i was 29 years old head coach of the high school where i once lerked in the secondary and ran routes. i had some tallent and sucssess this past year and have my work cut out to cont. that sucssess.

[TF38478]

Not trying to be negative. In my 6 years of coaching experience I have found out that very rarley is it what you know as far as coaching goes. You can win at one level and never get a chance to move up. You can have every qualification available for that job (short of a state title) and still get that lovely letter in the mail telling you that we decided to go another direction. Simply because of the politics envolved in coaching. So to answer your question, just love what you are doing and look for oppurtuinitys when they arise.