Coaches who are not Teachers

It really wasn’t hard for me, but I wasn’t exactly making big money coaching. As long as you have a job that you can finish early to make practice it should be fine.

I work retail 5-130 then go to practice/games.

Thank you guys for all the replies. After lurking on this site for a while it seemed like everyone here was a Teacher also, and most of the guys I know coaching outside of college/professional all seemed to work in education. It's good to know it is still possible haha

Possible heck where I am that's the way of the world.

Last school I worked at out of 19 Varsity sports only three head coaches were in the building (one was bowling) and virtually all the assistants were non-faculty.

I work with Test Development so I had to jump through hoops to even be allowed to coach high school (even thought the tests I develop is for a different state).
But, it was totally worth it!
I can't think of a high school coach who would not be happy to have you around, but be ready to volunteer.

My work was nice enough to let me work 7-3 and then work from home in the evening for the remaining requests of the day.

Depends on if your state is a union state or not as well.   It's almost unheard of anywhere here rural, urban, inner-city to have a in school job attached to a HC job let alone assistant job now.  Why?  Because lots of the teachers with all the time in the districts were once coaches who magically once they got tenure and are basically un-fireable they decided not to coach anymore.   So now jobs are all tied up with people like this.

My previous job was close to school so I could make practice as lunches for my periods. Now I work closer to the school and should be able to make it for more parts. I'll probably take weird breaks and work weird hours during two a days.

it really depends on your location. I would say most places will gladly take on outside the building coaches as assistants, but there are a few areas that don't allow it. With head coaches, there are far fewer areas that will allow you to be outside the building. The biggest obstacle will be in getting time away from your regular job to be able to put in the time to coach.

Never been a teacher, will never, ever, know the secret handshake of the educational world. Have a staff of 8 coaches and 3 volunteers. Only 1 is on-campus and he's an assistant principal. 1 other is in a similar position at a nearby continuation-type school. But he's #2 in tenure there of guys who coach so he has to cover for #1 so he's usually late to practices and such. The coaches on staff are a home-care guy, a prison warden, physical therapist that is still in school, a ski resort maintenance guy, a UPS supervisor, a business owner, a construction guy. 3 guys have kids in the program. I'm a software system engineer with an aerospace company and I work from home/the office in the school library. I start at 6AM and am done by 3 so I can work the coaching aspect.

We are a rural area in California, 700'ish in the school. There are 2 former football HC's on staff who want nothing to do with football any more. Two more are former assistants who coach/help other sports. Coaches are few and far between because of the size of the area and the time commitment. So the staff issue is that we are coming from disparate backgrounds, we're not all on campus with the same schedule, the same administration, the same kids all day. When we meet as a staff there is always 1-2-3 guys that get off work late/get called in/whatever so we usually don't have everyone there. From that aspect I am at a distinct disadvantage in staff unity/direction/capabilities/motivations. And I know that I am not alone, there are a lot of schools, some that are larger and much better athlete-wise, that are in the same boat with off-campus coaches.

Not a lot of teacher turnover. When someone new does come in coaching is not part of their hiring discussion. It's not an expectation for what they will be doing.

It's really hard to be in this situation, but it's not all roses for the school either. They are losing control of what is being taught to the athletes, they are getting who they can get, and are happy to have them. There is no unity on the head coaches because we have nothing in common other than a set of keys and what we have to do to be coaches.

Coaching as a non-educator/administrator is certainly feasible. You have to have an understanding HC, a school that will work with you, a job situation that will work with you, and a larger than life desire to coach/learn/work with players. You get all those, it works. Miss those and it's a living hell for everyone.

Im in law enforcement, for the last 12 years never had an issue as long as the HC knew ahead of time there may be times when the job prevents certain things

I'm an investment adviser and I live out west. The market opens at 6:30 PST so I'm in the office at the open. It closes at 1:00 and I leave around 2:30 to head to the practice field. I have to schedule client appointments around those times from August to November.

I coach at a big school. Most of the coaches are on campus but not all of us. I also volunteer. I don't care about the money. I coach because that's what I will do as long as I'm upright and breathing.

Yeah I was definitely not looking to go that route as a first, second, or third option. And i will be moving to NC in the coming months so as soon as I can i plan on reaching out to schools in my area about positions/volunteer opportunities. 

Not a teacher and don’t think I ever will be. The situation is too messed up to sign myself up for that kind of a pay cut as a new guy.

Have a boss that understands and works with you. Just remember, if they’re willing to be flexible there then you need to pay them back somehow. They won’t forget they let you leave early when those dreaded shifts for weekends and holidays come around.

Try to get a fixed schedule if you can’t be there every day. Otherwise, it might be best to not be a position coach but a position assistant. Can’t be a head position coach with someone else coaching it 50% of the time. Not fair to the kids.

Be organized. If you’re walking straight into the weight room or onto the field from work, you need to know what drills you’re running, what components of play you’re working on, what groups you’re working with, what equipment you’ll need, etc. That all needs to be thought out AHEAD OF TIME. Nothing makes you look like a bigger slap than stumbling out there with no plan.

Think about coaching freshman. The time commitment is far less and the expectations are as well. Those kids need help too. And from my experience, varsity head coaches would KILL for quality lower level coaches who just go out there and teach the kids the system and how to have fun and be a team. Those guys are soooooo hard to find.

I’ve been off campus for 12 years and I love it. It’s my relief from work and the best part of my day. No matter how messed up work gets, I get to see my boys. And they’re usually a lot happier seeing you than the guys on campus they see all day.

Bad leadership can really sap the love from what we do.
A school I know around here has lost about 10 teachers who had coaching positions and has had to replace them with community folk.