Head Coach coordinating both sides of the ball?

One of the most consistent and successful teams in our state has a HC that calls offense, defense, and special teams himself. It is a great program, and they have a ton of state championships and state runner-ups over the last decade.

What do you consider "coordinating", and what do then consider "qualified" to coordinate?

Playcalling is one of the easier tasks on a friday night. You did all the work Sunday-Wed/Thursday

I do it and have done it for 2 years that's why if anyone is looking for work in North Mississippi send me a PM.

sounds pretty efficient. I would love to be an assistant there



show up and get paid....YES!

Let me guess.........a kid screws up and this guy is balling out his assistants. Y'know, the guys that have really no investment in the program (nor is anything invested in them).

This is all ego. But then again he's got rings so who am I to say anything. I've worked under 3 HCs that briefly talked me through how they want ME to coach their systems. So working for a guy that did all the work would be fine by me- IF he told me how to coach his systems. But if a guy isn't going let me help prepare, he's not exactly going to go out of his way to let me in on his secrets of running his system IMO. Brophy nailed. Sell me on your football vision. Then coach me up like I'm a 3 year old. If a HC doesn't want to develop his assistants it's because he's afraid they'll become better than he is. His power is kept by keeping the assistants in the dark..

Not all schools have the same resources.
If you are tied by the teachers union when hiring coaches and those coaches aren't willing to do the work, you can't do much.

I agree with Brophy. Unless you are the only coach grades 9-12, you can probably find a DC. If for whatever reason, nobody on your staff wants the added duties and time, I would do it for a year and either look for a new staff the next year or look for a new job for myself, where the district allows me to hire my own asasistant.

If it were me, I would figure out who on my staff is willing to put in their time (ideally all assistants will be this way, but in smaller schools sometimes you can't be as picky). From there I would take the guy with the most defensive knowledge and teach him the defense. I don't care if the guy has never played football in his life, if he is willing to put in the time and willing to learn and wants to make the program better I can show him on paper, film and chalkboards what the defense's keys and responsibilities are as well as adjustments we will have to make. I have enough confidence in myself as a teacher that I believe I can do this. I would keep a close watch on him to make sure everything is getting done that needs to get done and let him know that I am always available to talk/help at home or at the office. Having someone who can make a defensive game plan so you only have to make the offensive game plan will save many hours, although you will probably have to walk him through this process the first few times. I will say that it is obviously a lot easier if you can get a guy who is motivated with knowledge and experience who can come in, you tell him what you are looking for, come up with a plan together and turn the reigns over so you can focus on the offense and other organizational/day-to-day issues that arise. Either way, the motivation has to be there. As far as not even including assistants during film breakdowns and gameplans, that seems crazy to me. Why would you want to be a part of a program where your opinion doesn't mean anything?

There is a lot of hyperbole responses - the author is suggesting the CHOICE to coordinate everything because the definition of "qualified" is called into question by coachd5085.
What "qualifies" anyone to be considered a coordinator?
What "disqualifies" anyone from being a coordinator?

If you have people on staff, what is the worst case scenario if you TELL them they are "IN CHARGE" of a unit?

ok, having been in the situation to coordinate both O and D twice, I feel like I can offer some thoughts. I was at a small school w/ about 200 or so kids 9-12. the first time I did this we had 20-25 on the team the second we had 18-23. I agree whole heartedly with Brophy that it is not what one would WANT to do.

without going into specifics, I would agree that it IS do able at the small school level where schemes and planning has to be kept simple. However, I would also add this: Never underestimate how hard it is to find qualified, capable people who are willing to put in the time and energy required to coach high school football. This is increasingly difficult when you are new to an area, and have NO contacts whatsoever, and an admin that simply says go find some coaches. The inability/unwillingness to hire on campus coaches also aided in this.
the first time i did both it was out of necessity when the DC quit mid year to take another job, and I was left w/ one other coach.
the 2nd time, i was the one doing the bulk of gameplanning, evaluating, and scouting on the weekends, and got fed up with it, so I took the reins completely the last week of the season. This time was done almost completly based on EGO, and was not the best decision, but both were done b/c I thought it would benefit the program.

the lesson I learned from this was that I had/have a long way to go in motivating and teaching adults. (Thankfully I'm not an HC anymore). As Brophy, put it the buck stops and starts w/ the HC. However, it takes help from the admin to hire people on campus.

I think that's all for the rambling I have for the moment. I could write a book on the lessons I learned from my last job.

brophy for president.

your my hero dude.

Been there, done that. Tried giving the keys to one side or the other over to one of my assistants, but they turned it down. They're great position coaches, but they didn't think they could manage a whole side of a ball yet. So I wasn't gonna push, don't need guys freakin out cause their running a whole team and can't do their job at their positions. I've brought it up again this year, and I think one of them is ready to step up and run with the O.

Playcalling abilities? It isn't like it is magic.