when they dont like football the way you like football

I don't know why anyone would want to spend their time and energy on coaching if they didn't love it. That would drive me crazy.

That said, it's all relative I think. Some guys love football and coaching, but not nearly as much as you do. They may love the IDEA of coaching...but the reality of it is a different story. I tend to judge people's "love" for coaching football against mine...but most will admittedly come up short in that category. I have a phenomenal staff...but I'm not sure any of those guys are as loony as I am about coaching and details. That doesn't mean they aren't good at their jobs, though.

Some guys want to coach. Some guys want to be a coach.

This is very true. Many of the guys are assistant coaches are not all that into it but will show everyday, blow their whistles, and post some pictures of them in their polo shirts. Most aren't subscribers of x and o labs, have a big bookshelf of coaching items, or troll on Huey for the vast majority of the day all while breaking down hours of film.

Maybe that's why they are assistant coaches and not head coaches.

Of course, in come cases the assistants do love football but the HC doesn't think so because he's out of his freakin' mind.

Been in a situation like this. Had a HC whose whole life was football, literally missed his kid's graduation to go work a camp. Only thing he ever wanted to do was football stuff. Conversely the DC was relatively lackadaisical, got his work done, but wasnt gonna watch much film or put forth any extra effort.

Now, please realize that both ends of this spectrum hurt the team. Im sure most here see the issues with the DC, and his lack of effort; but the HC's passion was also misguided and led to issues. Not only was football his job, but it was his hobby, so he'd try to install a dozen new things in a given week during the season (not an exaggeration). He'd call in players at all times during the school week for relatively unimportant things (watch films of a drill he found); and in turn burn his players out. He'd want to meet constantly regardless if it was needed.

Eventually there reached a point when the team reached a point of negative returns; there came a point where the constant amount of football overwhelmed the team (sometimes people just need to sleep and things like that). In some cases we need to find a balance between our love of the game, and what is most conducive to building a successful program.

That's right. Obsession and love are two different things. You can't fault people for not having the same level of passion for something that you do. 

yes I agree, and selfishly, the other thing that bothers me is the Frosh coach makes like $300 less me and does almost nothing

I've recently taken the middle school wrestling job and middle school track job just to get a relationship built up with kids to get them to know my face and my attitude when it comes to coaching. There's been a major disconnect between varsity and junior high at our school, almost like it's 2 completely separate programs. And the HC wonders why we get >30% of kids out for football that were out their 8th grade year.  

I truly believe that many assistant coaches genuinely don't realize the amount of time and commitment needed for them to be OUTSTANDING at their jobs.

I think many of them think they are doing a GREAT job when they are doing a good job. And many think they are doing a good job when they are doing a mediocre job and so forth.

BTW, I'm sure the same could be said for many HC's. 

I have a very good staff, but I do find that many guys seem to think b/c they work in the off season that they should be given more duties/ prestige and I have to keep explaining to them that "extra stuff" is really the norm. 

That for me has been the biggest issue.

With that said, I cannot complain. My guys are pretty solid.

Most of them don't want to be HC's so I try not to have "HC expectations " of them. 

Obsession: a state in which someone thinks about someone or something constantly or frequently especially in a way that is not normal

Is obsession necessarily a healthy thing? Do you need to be obsessed with something to be good at it?

I think there is a huge difference of being obsessed with something and being good at it. Seems like people are confusing not doing your job/assigned duties/meeting expectations and having some kind of intense love/obsession/passion for the game.

I'm not obsessed with football, I love it, I think I do a good job coaching, I spend a lot of time on it, I study it the off-season but it doesn't control every aspect of my life. I mean heck honestly outside of our games and scout film or being at a local game I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a whole football game.

Someone once remarked to me, I wish I had the passion about something that you have for football..that was pretty cool

Gotta find coaches with passion. Kids can sense when a coach doesn't really care. Surrounding yourself with good assistants is just as important as being a good coach yourself.

And regarding obsession; here's my thought: You don't have to be obsessed to be good at something, but you do have to be obsessed to be great.

First game last year, Down 6-0 at half. Couldn't get anything going on offense ( I was OC) . Im taking a piss at halftime, one of the other coaches was too and I was just venting and really talking to myself (little back story: This guy was assigned to us, he didnt wanna be here, he was just a warm body in place. He couldnt run a drill, even warmups, the kids didnt respect him.) As I was finshed, he looked at me, "Hey man, chill out, its just for fun. What time will we be done you think?" I nearly lost it right there. I told the Head Coach on the bus ride home what happend, and said, "look, one of us isn't going to be at practice Monday. I'll let you choose." Never saw that guy again, not even on campus.