Thinking of hanging it up..

completely understandable and may do good to step back and enjoy your young family. The ultimate question would be....where are you WORKING/TEACHING next year?

Certainly couldn't fault you for feeling the way you do.

In any event, you're going to be in a much better place (for your sanity) next year, regardless if you're coaching or not

That would be an understatement....sorry you've had to endure all you did. You bring up some very good qualifiers/questions for that prospective HC out there. Becareful what you wish for...

In retrospect, though both gigs you took on were close to impossible, what could have made the job more managable if you had to do it over again? What aspects were over/under rated, in your opinion?

Whenever you decide to coach again, there will be kids and football teams that need a good coach.

Right now you are probably questioning if all the sacrifices you have to make for coaching are worth it....the extra stuff you have to do.

You have to work extra hard in the other aspects of your life to make up for all the time you spend on football.....FAMILY and WORK are the main two areas where you have to work double time to get things to where they should be.

Some time off will help you see if you really like coaching enough to make those extra sacrifices. It may take a year to figure it out. It might take 10 years. You may never coach again, or you may after a couple of years come back recommitted and able to do that extra stuff to make it up to the family and classroom students.

My advice would be to forget about coaching now and get reenergized. Its not good for anyone involved (you, your family, your students, your athletes) when you aren't going all out.

Good luck.

Here's my suggestion: instead of hanging it up, find yourself a coordinator position. It may be a step 'down' professionally, but it's a step 'up' in terms of sanity. You run your offense, coach your position and let the HC deal with the unpredictable, stupid bullsh-t.

I am in the running for an HC position, but I don't think I am going to take it. I feel that I am ready for the position, but the football program is in rough shape. Now, I know that, generally speaking, your first HC position could be in a tough school, but, given my current situation, it wouldn't be a good fit.

I have been an HC at a middle school and even given the low level, there was a horrendous amount of crap to deal with. Right now, I am perfectly comfortable working my way towards a coordinator position at a large school and probably just staying there.

I mean, there are times when taking a certain HC position can be SOO detrimental to your career. I have a friend that took over a perennial loser of a program and turned it around in a year. They were a consistent play-off team every year; good teams year in and year out.

But, he benched the 'star athlete' of the school (his QB) because he was missing practice and being lazy. The school board and administration got involved because people were crying "RACISM" (he's a white guy working on a Native American reservation) and it was a nightmare. It was too much for him and he resigned. He's a good coach, great guy, he's not a racist, he took the program to a high level and he still deal with that kind of crap.

Sometimes, it just isn't worth it.

First of all, you have to do what your heart tells you, and IMO, most importantly keep the family at home happy first.......

BUT

Playing devil's advocate here for 1 minute.....why did you not meet with the feeder schools, develop a booster club, or help out with facilities? The reason I ask is these were all things I did/am doing at my current gig......my reasons for this however, may be different- as I know I dont really have people to help me in these areas.....

Again, I dont want to stir the pot, I am just curious.....

If you love coaching you should try and hook on as an assistant somewhere. Learn from someone and get a different perspective after being the head man. I have been a head coach for five seasons and got hired young. Before that I was an OC for 4 seasons. I look back at the BS I had to deal with as an assistant and the BS I deal with now and wonder sometimes why be a head coach. You really spend a lot more time on the stuff that is important to the program but really has nothing to do with football. You do all of that other stuff to help kids and end up with the same gratification that you had as an assistant after a big win, or when one of your players got recruited to the college he wanted to play. I think I made a bigger impact on individual players as an assistant as I do now as a HC but I guess I must just like to be in total control, but who knows? I do not think all the other BS is for everyone. If it is not for you, stick to being a great assistant.

1. I don't know anything about the feeder school issue. There can be a lot of complicated factors there if the middle schools feed into different high schools.

2. As far as the booster clubs go; that's a part of the AD's job description as well. There are specific rules that go along with establishing a booster club and the AD needs to be in on it.

3. I know, from airraider's previous posts that the 'facilities' issue was a crock of sh-t. The complaints were petty; generally something the custodial staff was responsible for.

Coaching and teaching are like any other professions; a manager/administration has a lot of power when it comes to canning you; even if they are trivial issues. There are obviously situations where you have legal recourse but, more often than not, it's not worth it.

Again, this is why I am wary of taking on a HC job in the immediate future. I know guys that have come on with pefectly reasonable program policies involving discipline, playing time, and off season expectations, have followed these policies and dealt with a whole world of crap because of it.

In this case, Air has repeatedly reported that the principal warned or disciplined him for custodial issues such as bathrooms and showers not being clean. So I don't believe facility meant anything other than the actual physical plant.

Air, I appreciate you being as public as you have been with your struggles. Great learning for younger coaches.

As you mentioned, lots of things to realize from this
1) If you don't have a great resume, and are being considered for the job...it is probably because it is a job that few people want.
2) Don't assume the previous guy was a moron. There were probably several reasons that he is no longer the coach, and they might not all involve him specifically
3) ITS NOT SCHEME!!!---I have seen/known many a person who takes a HC just to be the OC. While this works out sometimes, realize that the task at hand is MUCH GREATER than being the OC. And chances are you aren't going to come in and turn around a program just because you have the magic scheme and will work out in the offseason.

4. KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU, and get in writing beforehand. Airradiers principal obviously wanted Airraider to be part HC, part custodian. As absurd as that sounds..you never know what the principal is going to expect.

5. Be prepared to deal with the most a$$holish situations known to man. Things that seem so utterly absurd that they could ONLY be made up, become true hot button issues.

TO BE CLEAR---not saying air didn't know any of this going in, just that his struggle can be used to help others.

I feel for you man. I hope things workout. I was asked to resign as head baseball coach at the school I was at last year. I was there three years. We did great things. Took a team that was 9/10 in conference first year to 4/10 two years in a row. Got a new AD and Principal. Each week during the season I asked them about how the program was going and if there were any issues they would like to address and they said things were great. We went to a sectional championship game and lost a heart breaker. Then all of a sudden at the end of the season AD and Principal started questioning many of the things we were doing such as our summer facility use and schedule, morning workouts among other things.

It hurt like hell to step down. I was pissed at the world. I got a lot of support and realized I wasn't in it for those pricks anyway. I was going to take the year off this year from baseball and bass fish. Got a call from a buddy and I am helping him. The team I left is 1st in conference and playing lights out. I wish I could have reaped the rewards of the sacrifice, but I am just glad to have had the experience.

Good luck. Like the saying goes...there are two types of coaches, those that have been fired and those that will be fired!

Hang in there buddy!

Air, I'm sorry you were let go, but I'm willing to bet that it's going to turn out to be a great thing for you. The situation you've described that you were in sounds intolerable, I can understand being upset for/about the kids, but I'd be pretty grateful for myself and my own situation.

Were I you, I'd look for a great teaching/coordinating position and try to focus on football only, while doing what's best for the missus. I love being a DC because I don't have to do all the crap the header does, I basically get to choose my own level of involvement, kinda like Project Mayhem. I'm involved in damn near everything that I can be because, hey, I'm 25, single, and trying to learn as much as I can, but if I was married, recently axed, and burnt out, I'd be all about trying to limit my football responsibilities and interactions.


I also want to thank you for being so public with all this stuff. I've learned SO MUCH about assessing potential jobs as a young turk, I'm so glad to live vicariously through you. If nothing else, consider what you've gone through very meaningful and important just for the lessons you can offer. Thanks bud.

First, I thinked that it was a really bad news but, like other coaches said it could be a great thing for you (given all the crap you dealt with at your current HS).

The question is: where will you work next year?


PS: may be it's the right time to look at a coaching spot in Europe, too...

There are more good football coaches than there are good football programs.

Too many guys are too eager to be a head coach that they take impossible jobs, wind up unhappy and disillusioned.

Been coaching 36 years, 27 as header. Some of my most enjoyable seasons were when I was assistant, not the boss.

Is this the same guy that told you he had a spot for your wife and then
reneged on it? Where, if she did have a spot you guys would have moved closer? Sounds like, from all the posts, he was a serious Douche...

When a door is closed... Many times it opens up different doors or opportunities you may have never thought of.
Good Luck

I was a HC for 20 years... finally got out a few years ago, and wondered how I managed to do it for all of those years. HC's are forced to wear too many hats... it seems that every time you make a decision, you make an enemy. I've used this time to rejuvenate, learn from other coaches (this board), and appreciate what a great job coaching can be. I look forward to an OC position some day.

Good luck Air. Everything happens for a reason.

For you "devils' advocates"- how do YOU define taking care of the facilities? If you go back to some of Airraider's posts from during the season you'll see some things that I wouldn't consider normal maintenance. I used the example of cleaning the toilet in the coaches' office. I did not make that up. That's from an actual post and that's not the only example. To me the lesson is- when you find out that your boss is nuts get out.