Will You Coach Forever??? (Bobby Johnson - Vandy)

interesting question and, yeah, Bobby Johnson's situation is actually a POSITIVE one (despite what you might hear on BooYah Network).

I'm taking this year off, myself, and realistically plan to take a few seasons off. Personal (having my son full-time) and professional (non-faculty coach, I'll be swamped for the next 8 months on my current project) reasons help justify my *emotional (has turned into a 'waste of time' in my opinion at the last program) rationale for stepping out for Fall 2010.

*with the emotion thing (investment), when you've been a header, or coordinator, or serious position coach, and come on to a completely new staff, it can be rough trying to do all the stuff you've done before and investing a great deal of time/effort/resources if the program isn't wired to work at that pace.

It is tough to go through coaching withdrawal, especially after you've been so hard-wired in teaching skill sets.

It does help not being so fixated on making it through the week-by-week ("if we can just get everything in for this week..." and repeating that for 16 weeks) season, to be able to take a bigger picture look at other things going on. For one, I never really get time to watch Sunday football when coaching because I spend so much time game planning, practice planning, etc.

I do think you can't just have a void there, though. You do need to be engaged in something constructive / competitive, even if it isn't as serious as coaching. I think this off-season, I'm going to explore stand-up comedy.

But with Friday/Saturdays free, you have a lot of flexibility on what all you can do in a week...let alone a month.

I think another great thing that happens stepping away is that I find my dogmatic, clenching to the vest attiude regarding scheme loosens up significantly. In all honesty, I'm not all that receptive to looking at doing things radically different than what we're trying to get better at during the season. You can look at the game from many different perspectives and see why certain folks do what they do (differently).

Two years ago, after being a head or assistant coach (HS and college) for 27 years, I became "just" an AD at my new school. I missed coaching, but there was a lot to do to keep busy. I was still on the sidelines every week - had a great relationship with our HC - and it was a fun year.

This past season we needed coaches and the HC asked me to be his OC so I was right back in it. The year was fun even though we struggled with a very young team. This coming season I'm back to being an AD as the HC and I have worked to bring in some new assistants for him.

I still love coaching - I also coach hurdlers for my wife's track team - and I'm not ruling out a return to the sidelines in the future. But right now I have a great job, school, headmaster, staff so my coaching is coaching our coaches and - for what they are paying me - I can see myself doing that for a long time!

I took a year off, and I think I am 10x better a coach because of it. I was fairly young at the time (well I guess I am even now), but what it did was give me a chance to just look at everything from the outside and develop my own ideas. I think a lot of times we coach and teach systems and drills that we were taught, or that the HC wants; taking a year off gave me a chance to evaluate a lot of things without bias and decide what fit me best.

As far as coaching forever, I think me 10 years ago would've said, 'yes' in a heartbeat. But now I'm not so sure, and the funny thing is I love it just as much as before. Over the years I have picked up a wife, kids, and a mortgage; you take this, combined with budget cuts, and then teaching doesn't pay all the bills anymore.

But every time I start to think about doing something new I remember how much I missed it during the year off, I redo the budget, and rationalize it for one more year.

I have coached for 17 years at various levels primarily as a D line coach for freshmen, in 04 I took coaching off due skin cancer that was close to being fatal, in 05 I took a position as a JV HC in Va as well as a asst D Coordinator position for Varsity, the greatest challenge was learning diversity. As our season ended i again had to battle recuring cancer as well as back surgery. Enough with the sobs and woes to answer the question. I love coaching and being on the field, my son is playing this year and I am proud to call myself his coach. I hope LORD providing my health keeps me well, I will finish coaching when he is a SR, then I will hang my hat and whistle proudly knowing that my 20 yrs wasn't waisted. In all the truimphs and defeats and the experience that coaching has taught me through all the different class of kids lives I have been so Blessed to be a part of this is a mans game and if you can't handle all the unexpected results,my recommendation is find a different sport I have loved being a player as well as caoch and will always have football in my life in someway.

10 years ago I would've wholeheartedly agreed I'd be a lifer. Probably would've wagered I'd die on the field. I've kind of mellowed since then. Was seriously considering giving it up this spring, but then I was able to land the kind of job I've always wanted in the first place.

I used to be one of those guys who would've been a you can't keep me out of it guy. Now, not so much. I'm still as addicted to it as ever, but I could see myself without it now. That wouldn't have been the case even two years ago.

Having kids kind of changes one's plans and outlook on life.

25 y/o in yr 6 of my career... Who knows? But I'm not stopping any time soon, that's for damn sure.

I think I'll coach forever. Hate to say it but I'll probably croak while doing it. I learned many things from my parents throughout my life, but recently a couple strokes of bad luck, cancer, and the economic downturn brought this piece of advice from my Dad - "Do what you love and love every minute of it..."

Sounds like a good plan OJW.

Two times in last 15-16 years I got out of head coaching gigs and took assistant jobs with acquaintances, one college and one bigger HS.

I learned things and got different perspectives from both that helped me, were good learning experiences.

And they were at least as enjoyable if not more so than when I've been the big cheese.

I'm 27 and in my 3rd year of coaching now. I took seven years off away from the game for various reasons and now that I'm back in it I'm hooked. My wife has been very supportive thus far and she knows how much I love the game and more importantly love working with the young men on my team.

The past two seasons I have been a HC at the youth level and now this season I'm on the Freshmen staff at the local HS. This season will be an all new experience and I'll be better able to answer this question when it's through, but for right now I see myself being in the game for a very long time.

26, retiring for the second time

Forever? No. I'm going to die some day. Until then I can't imagine what I'd do if I wasn't coaching.

As for the benefits of taking a year off, I've never done it but I can imagine it going one of two ways. It may rejuvenate a guy to the point where he can't wait to get back into it. Or, he may find out what life is like without football and really enjoy it. I remember reading a story about legendary grinder Dick Vermeil when he was in Philly during the strike year. It seems that that was the first time that he noticed that the leaves change colors in the Northeast during the Fall and he was like a little kid about it. Soon after that he "retired" and stayed out for years.

But...what will become of the web site and your 1million + members?!?!

Apologize for the typos. Hawke

That's "calm" now. Back in the early 70s she awakened to the sound of a 16mm projector that was between us and being shown on the bedroom wall. You younguns who have never had the pleasure of watching film on a 16 mm projector and the coach running it back and forth do not know what you are missing. Back to that night, "You are completely insane, why I married an idiot like you I will never know!" She still hasn't figured that out after 42 years of being wed to someone who will have Sinatra's "My Way" played at his wake. Remember, "you gotta love it!!!!"

Hawke